Lilian Weng, co-founder of Thinking Machines, announced this week that she was stepping down from her role, citing health concerns. “I don’t feel like I can continue at the pace a startup requires,” he wrote in an internal Slack message, which he also shared on X. “After thinking about it for several months, I finally
If you can’t seem to get out of your Instagram scroll, it’s no accident. During Meta’s second-quarter earnings call on Wednesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said global time Spending on Instagram grew by double digits year-over-year this quarter, “largely driven by improvements to our Reels feed and recommendations.” “Our recommendations are also becoming more personalized, showing
AI hasn’t just changed the way startups are built; It’s unclear how they sell, protect their data and customers, and scale faster than ever. At TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, AI Stage returns to delve into the hottest topic in the community in recent years, brought to you by Google for Startups. This time, we’re exploring the
Whatnot is proving that there is still room for consumer startups in the age of AI. Live shopping startup Whatnot is in talks to raise financing at a valuation of about $20 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. This would be a significant jump from the $11.5 billion valuation at which the company
When Microsoft reported excellent earnings in the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2026 year (which ended June 30), it included an interesting little tidbit about how its investments in the two largest and competing AI labs are faring. For the quarter, it recorded its investment in Anthropic as a gain of $3.2 billion, increasing diluted
Meta’s AI strategy once again worries investors. Shares of the social media giant fell 10% on Wednesday after revealing that its capital spending growth far outpaced revenue growth. Meta has a central problem: much of this spending still has no financial return. About 98% of Meta’s revenue still comes from its traditional advertising business, according
