Charlie Javice, the founder of student loan application startup Frank that was purchased by JPMorgan for $175 million, was found guilty on Friday of defrauding the bank by greatly inflating the customer count. After a five-week trial, the jury found Javice guilty, agreeing with prosecutorsā claims that she fabricated the vast majority of Frankās customer [ā¦]
Tech Crunch
āTesla Takedownā protesters are planning a global day of action on March 29, and things might get ugly
āTesla Takedownā organizers have promised their biggest day of global action this weekend, encouraging thousands to protest outside Tesla showrooms, dealerships, and even charging stations to peacefully object to Elon Muskās role in slashing government spending.Ā As Tesla protests have spread, so has the backlash. Activists holding up signs are being conflated with masked vandals [ā¦]
Elon Musk says xAI acquired X
Elon Muskās AI startup, xAI, has acquired his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, he announced in a post on X Friday. āxAI has acquired X in an all-stock transaction. The combination values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion ($45B less $12B debt),ā Musk said in the post. āxAI and [ā¦]
Fintech VC powerhouse Frank Rotman stepping down from QED Investors to found his own startups
Prolific fintech investor and QED Investors co-founder Frank Rotman said Friday that he will transition to a partner emeritus role by yearās end to focus on founding his own startups. But those startups wonāt necessarily be financial technology companies. In a post on X, Rotman ā who helped start QED in 2007 ā declared that [ā¦]
Nintendo used its new app to announce the āLegend of Zeldaā movie release date
Nintendo announced on Friday that its live-action āThe Legend of Zeldaā movie will premiere on March 26, 2027. Itās a little weird to announce this the day after a Nintendo Direct livestream, where the gaming company usually unloads all of its recent news. But that was intentional. The company wants fans to download its new [ā¦]
TechCrunch Mobility: Inside the Rivian skunkworks program, and Trumpās gift to Tesla
Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility ā your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free ā just click TechCrunch Mobility! Before we jump into the transportation news of the week, itās worth pointing you to a couple of articles that are focused on Elon Musk, the CEO [ā¦]
Inside the Rivian skunkworks program, and Trumpās gift to Tesla
Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility ā your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free ā just click TechCrunch Mobility! Before we jump into the transportation news of the week, itās worth pointing you to a couple of articles that are focused on Elon Musk, the CEO [ā¦]
Breast pump startup Willow acquires assets of Elvie as UK femtech pioneer moves into administration
Femtech and its startups building connected breast pumps, period trackers and other apps and hardware designed for womenās health have collectively pulled in more than $5 billion in funding in the last five years, but the market is tight, and now, two of the trailblazers in the space are coming together as consolidation beckons.Ā Willow, [ā¦]
OpenAI peels back ChatGPTās safeguards around image creation
This week, OpenAI launched a new image generator in ChatGPT, which quickly went viral for its ability to create Studio Ghibli-style images. Beyond the pastel illustrations, GPT-4oās native image generator significantly upgrades ChatGPTās capabilities, improving picture editing, text rendering, and spatial representation. However, one of the most notable changes OpenAI made this week involves its [ā¦]
Lucid to ramp customer deliveries for Gravity SUV by end of April
Lucid Motors plans to resume customer deliveries for its new all-electric Gravity SUV at the end of April. Getting the Gravity into customer hands is a big milestone for Lucid, whose success will hinge on being able to offer vehicle types popular with American drivers. The Gravity is Lucidās second vehicle and its first SUV [ā¦]