Waymo has spent the past three years refining and testing a minivan-like vehicle made by Chinese automaker Zeekr. And now, before this robotaxi joins Waymo’s official commercial fleet, it’s getting a new name, the company told TechCrunch. The Zeekr RT robotaxi will now be named Ojai (pronounced “oh-hi”) — after the village in the Topatopa Mountains above Los Angeles that is known for its arts community and focus on wellness. Waymo’s official explanation, per spokesperson Chris Bonelli, is that the company determined the U.S. public isn’t familiar with the Zeekr brand. That branding may even carry through to the rider…

In what may mark the tech industry’s first significant legal settlement over AI-related harm, Google and the startup Character.AI are negotiating terms with families whose teenagers died by suicide or harmed themselves after interacting with Character.AI’s chatbot companions. The parties have agreed in principle to settle; now comes the harder work of finalizing the details. These are among the first settlements in lawsuits accusing AI companies of harming users, a legal frontier that must have OpenAI and Meta watching nervously from the wings as they defend themselves against similar lawsuits. Character.AI founded in 2021 by ex-Google engineers who returned to…

After leading General Catalyst’s seed strategy for years, Niko Bonatsos has departed the firm. Known for backing an IPO-hopeful Discord and the $10 billion startup Mercor, Bonatsos told TechCrunch he intends to launch a new early-stage VC firm alongside “friends.” Bonatsos is the latest investor to leave General Catalyst, a firm that recently expanded beyond the traditional venture model. Over the last few years, General Catalyst unveiled a wealth management business, a strategy focused on PE-style AI roll-ups, and a Customer Value Fund (CVF), which provides late-stage startups with nondilutive financing secured by recurring revenue. Other recent General Catalyst departures include Deep Nishar and…