It took Rebecca Yu seven days to vibe code her dining app. She was tired of the decision fatigue that comes from people in a group chat not being able to decide where to eat.  Armed with determination, Claude, and ChatGPT, Yu decided to just build a dining app from scratch — one that would recommend restaurants to her and her friends based on their shared interests.    “Once vibe-coding apps emerged, I started hearing about people with no tech backgrounds successfully building their own apps,” she told TechCrunch. “When I had a week off before school started, I decided it…

Anthropic has appointed Irina Ghose, a former Microsoft India managing director, to lead its India business as the U.S. AI startup prepares to open an office in Bengaluru. The move underscores how India is becoming a key battleground for AI companies looking to expand beyond the U.S. for major growth markets. Ghose brings deep big-tech operating experience to the role. She spent 24 years at Microsoft before stepping down in December 2025. Her appointment gives Anthropic a seasoned executive with local enterprise and government relationships as it gears up to establish an on-the-ground presence in one of the world’s fastest-growing…

OpenAI and Microsoft tried to dodge a courtroom showdown with Elon Musk, but a federal judge on Thursday rejected their requests to dismiss the case. Source link

India’s top court has ruled against Tiger Global in a tax case stemming from its Flipkart exit during Walmart’s 2018 takeover, a decision that strengthens New Delhi’s ability to challenge offshore treaty structures and could raise tax risk for global funds counting on predictable exits from one of the world’s fastest-growing major markets. On Thursday, the Indian Supreme Court backed the tax authorities in a dispute over whether Tiger Global could use its Mauritius-based entities to claim protection under the India–Mauritius tax treaty and avoid paying capital gains tax in India on profits linked to its exit in the Walmart–Flipkart…

Berlin-based Parloa has raised $350 million in Series D funding from existing investors, valuing the six-year-old customer service AI startup at $3 billion. The round comes just eight months after the company raised $120 million at a $1 billion valuation. The new round was led by General Catalyst, with participation from returning backers, including EQT Ventures, Altimeter Capital, Durable Capital, and Mosaic Ventures. Parloa is one of many startups developing AI agents that promise to automate the kind of customer service work previously handled by human representatives and help desk staff. The company’s competitors include Sierra, co-founded by OpenAI chairman…

Spotify raised prices for its subscription plan in the U.S. for the third time in three years, as it hiked the monthly plan from $11.99 per month to $12.99 per month. The company sent an email to its paid users notifying them of the new price, which is applicable from the next monthly billing cycle. Image Credits:Spotify “Occasional updates to pricing across our markets reflect the value that Spotify delivers, enabling us to continue offering the best possible experience and benefit artists,” the company said in a blog post. In November 2025, the Financial Times reported that the audio platform…

Five years from now, the world might start running short on copper, the critical mineral used in everything from data centers to electric vehicles. Absent any changes, the world could face a severe shortfall as early as 2040, with demand exceeding supply by as much as 25%.  If copper seems expensive today, just wait a few years. Companies and investors have been pouring money into the sector as demand ramps up. AI minerals startup KoBold, for example, raised $537 million last year to exploit a copper deposit it found in Zambia. But with a little help from some microbes, today’s…

Newsrooms have been experimenting with AI for several years now but, for the most part, those efforts have been just that: experiments. A relatively unknown startup, Symbolic.ai, wants to change that, and it just signed a major deal with News Corp, the media conglomerate owned by Rupert Murdoch. News Corp, the major assets of which include MarketWatch, the New York Post, and the WSJ, is set to begin using Symbolic’s AI platform with its financial news hub Dow Jones Newswires. Symbolic.ai, which was founded by former eBay CEO Devin Wenig and Ars Technica co-founder Jon Stokes, says its AI platform…

Just when you thought the circular deals couldn’t get any more circular, OpenAI has invested in CEO Sam Altman’s brain computer interface (BCI) startup Merge Labs.  Merge Labs, which defines itself as a “research lab” dedicated to “bridging biological and artificial intelligence to maximize human ability,” came out of stealth on Thursday with an undisclosed seed round. A source familiar with the matter confirmed previous reports that OpenAI wrote the largest single check in Merge Labs’ $250 million seed round at an $850 million valuation. “Our individual experience of the world arises from billions of active neurons,” reads a statement…

AI labs just can’t get their employees to stay put. Yesterday’s big AI news was the abrupt and seemingly acrimonious departure of three top executives at Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines lab. Source link