AI & Robotics

Meta today said that it is pausing teens’ access to its AI characters globally across all its apps. The company mentioned that it is not abandoning its efforts but wants to develop an updated version of AI characters for teens, the company exclusively told TechCrunch. The move comes days before a case against Meta is set to go to trial in New Mexico, in which the company is accused of not…

Companies and governments are looking for tools to run AI locally in a bid to slash cloud infrastructure costs and build sovereign capability. Quadric, a chip-IP startup founded by veterans of early bitcoin mining firm 21E6, is trying to power that shift, scaling beyond automotive into laptops and industrial devices, with its on-device inference technology. That expansion is already paying off.

Language learning marketplace Preply is now valued at $1.2 billion after raising a $150 million Series D round that marks a new chapter for the 14-year-old company, whose previous backers include Horizon Capital, Hoxton Ventures, Owl Ventures and Techstars Berlin. While Preply has been connecting language learners with tutors since 2013, it has now been EBITDA profitable for 12 months. Not…

Humans&, a startup with a philosophy that AI should empower people rather than replace them, has raised $480 million in seed funding at a $4.48 billion valuation, reports The New York Times. Investors in the round include chipmaker Nvidia, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and VC firms SV Angel, GV, and Laurene Powell Jobs’ firm Emerson Collective. The megadeal for the three-month-old company…