Earlier this month, Meta laid off 10% of the staff for Reality Labs, its virtual reality unit, reportedly cutting as many as 1,000 employees. Now, in a development that seems directly related, the company has revealed that the unit lost many billions of dollars last year. On Wednesday, Meta’s earnings report showed that its embattled virtual reality business had lost some $19.1 billion in 2025, which is slightly more than it lost in 2024 (that year, the losses hovered around $17.7 billion). In its fourth quarter, the unit posted a loss of $6.2 billion, the report shows. Those losses stood…

For the last several months, nuclear startups have been raising large sums of money — well over $1 billion so far. Data centers and their thirst for electricity have been one driving force. But recent changes to federal nuclear safety policies could be another accelerant that helps clear the way for speedy reactor development and at a potential cost to human and environmental health. The Trump administration has quietly changed how the Department of Energy oversees the safety and security of nuclear power plants built on its properties, according to a report from NPR. About a third of the rulebook has…

Mark Zuckerberg says Meta users will start to see new AI models and products from the company in a matter of months. “In 2025, we rebuilt the foundations of our AI program,” Zuckerberg said on an investor call Wednesday, referring to the company’s recently restructured AI lab. “Over the coming months, we’re going to start shipping our new models and products… and I expect us to steadily push the frontier over the course of the new year.” But while Zuckerberg didn’t give specific timelines or products, he highlighted AI-driven commerce as a particular area of focus for Meta. “This also…

Three weeks ago, Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, revealed it raised $20 billion in a Series E funding round. Now, we know Tesla is among its investors. Tesla disclosed in a letter to shareholders on Wednesday that it invested $2 billion in xAI, the startup behind the Grok chatbot that also owns Musk’s social media company X. Other previously disclosed investors in xAI include Valor Equity Partners, Fidelity, Qatar Investment Authority as well as Nvidia and Cisco as “strategic investors.” This is a truly circular deal and one that Tesla shareholders voted against last year. In November, shareholders were asked…

Meta announced Wednesday that it will charge developers for running chatbots on WhatsApp in regions where regulators are forcing the company to allow them. The move comes after the company’s ban on third-party chatbots on WhatsApp took effect on January 15.  For now, Meta will charge developers in Italy, where the country’s competition watchdog asked the company to suspend its policy last December. The company said that the new pricing for non-template responses will begin on February 16. Meta plans to charge $0.0691/ €0.0572 / £0.0498 per message to developers for AI responses. This could result in steep bills for developers…

Organic food company Once Upon a Farm, known for its baby food and kids snacks, is resuming its IPO plans, per an SEC filing and Reuters. The company had initially planned to hold its IPO last year, though it paused it amid the government shutdown. But it filed an updated S-1 on Tuesday which offered a price range of $17- $19 a share, indicating that the process has resumed, perhaps signalling that the overall IPO market is starting to thaw. The company is expected to make its debut on February 6, according to IPO Scoop. Once Upon A Farm was…

Elon Musk is eyeing sometime in June for SpaceX’s blockbuster IPO, according to the Financial Times. The billionaire reportedly wants the offering to coincide with both his birthday (June 28th) and the rare alignment of Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter (which is happening in early June). Regardless of when it happens, though, SpaceX’s IPO will likely be one of the largest in history: It’s looking to raise at least $50 billion at a $1.5 trillion valuation, per the FT (which also noted that those figures are likely to change). The company wants more funding as it builds its Starship rocket, aiming…

The plus-one passes at 50% off are almost sold out. Now the clock is really ticking. In just 3 days, the best deal at the lowest ticket prices for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 disappear. With demand already surging and early inventory moving fast, this is the final window to lock in record-low pricing and secure a plus-one for half the price while limited passes remain. If Disrupt has been on your must-attend list, now is the time to save up to $680 on your pass and bring a plus-one at 50% off. This pricing ends January 30, 11:59 p.m. PT, or the moment the remaining plus-one passes sell out. No extensions. No exceptions. Register…

Amazon said today that it is cutting 16,000 jobs across the company. This reduction comes after the e-commerce company laid off 14,000 people in October. In a letter to employees, Senior VP of people experience and technology, Beth Galetti, said that these layoffs were made for “reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy.” She noted that the reason for the second round of massive layoffs within three months was that several teams in the company hadn’t finished their restructuring. Galetti didn’t outright deny that there might be more job slashes in the company, but said that the company is not…

A trip in a Waymo robotaxi still costs more, on average, than a comparable ride in a human-driven Uber or a Lyft. But that gap is narrowing, according to new data published Tuesday by Obi, a company that aggregates real-time pricing and pickup times across multiple ride-hailing services. Two factors, working together, are behind the change. Waymo has lowered its pricing, at least in the San Francisco Bay Area where the data was pulled, while traditional ride-hailing rides on the Uber and Lyft networks have risen, according to Obi. The new data was collected between November 27 and January 1,…