Google closed its $32 billion acquisition of cybersecurity company Wiz this week — the biggest acquisition in Google’s history, as well as the largest ever acquisition of a venture-backed startup. On the latest episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan, Sean O’Kane, and I were joined by Shardul Shah, a …

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. To get this in your inbox, sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! This newsletter was wrapped and ready to go and then Travis Kalanick brought me back to …

Unacademy, once a one of India’s most valuable edtech startups, is set to be acquired by rival upGrad in an all-stock deal that would bring together two major online learning platforms in the country. On Sunday, Unacademy co-founder and CEO Gaurav Munjal said in a post on X that the …

ByteDance has paused plans to launch its new AI video model globally, according to a report in The Information. The Chinese company, best known as TikTok’s parent organization (and now a minority shareholder in its U. spinoff), launched Seedance 2. 0 in China back in February. Brief videos generated by …

Many artificial intelligence startup ideas are still little more than superficial “wrappers” built on top of existing models. But as the AI model makers add more features, investors are wary of startups that could become so easily unnecessary. Case in point: when reviewing more 4,000 applications for the joint AI …

Two Netflix films, “Frankenstein” and “KPop Demon Hunters,” won multiple Academy Awards tonight. Director Guillermo del Toro’s reimagining of “Frankenstein” won for Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling, while Netflix’s most-watched movie ever “KPop Demon Hunters” won for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song. …

In 2010, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates launched a disarmingly simple campaign they called the Giving Pledge: a public commitment, open to the world’s wealthiest people, to give away more than half their fortune during their lifetime or upon their death. The moment seemed to call for it. Tech was …

The Labour Party has asked His Majesty's Revenue and Customs to investigate the tax affairs of Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice. Party chair Anna Turley wrote to the tax authority after the Sunday Times reported Tice had "avoided nearly £600,000 in corporation tax" through his property company. Turley said …

Iran is taking steps to prevent anti-establishment protests, with checkpoints appearing across the streets of the capital, internet access restricted, and mass text warnings sent to residents. In Tehran, people have been telling the BBC about new security checkpoints around the city, where they say residents are stopped and searched. …

Care leavers who were given a one-off, no strings attached £2,000 grant were less likely to become homeless or spend time in hospital or prison, according to a new study. Leaving care, without a family safety net, has consistently been found to be associated with higher levels of homelessness, unemployment …