The creator economy’s ad revenue problem and India’s AI ambitions

Admin4 months ago02 mins

The creator economy is evolving fast, and ad revenue alone isn’t cutting it anymore. YouTubers are launching product lines, acquiring startups, and building actual business empires. In fact, MrBeast’s company bought fintech startup Step, and his chocolate business is outearning his media arm. This isn’t just one creator’s strategy. For many, it’s the new playbook. On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Rebecca Bellan unpack how creators are diversifying beyond ads,…

India’s Sarvam launches Indus AI chat app as competition heats up

Admin4 months ago04 mins

Sarvam, an Indian AI startup focused on building models for local languages and users, on Friday launched its Indus chat app for web and mobile users, entering a fast-growing market dominated by global players including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. The launch comes as India has become a key battleground for generative AI adoption. Recently, OpenAI…

Peak XV raises .3B, doubles down on AI as global VC rivalry in India heats up

Peak XV raises $1.3B, doubles down on AI as global VC rivalry in India heats up

Admin4 months ago06 mins

Peak XV announced on Friday that it has raised $1.3 billion across new India and Asia-focused funds. The firm, which now manages more than $10 billion in assets, is sharpening its focus on artificial intelligence and cross-border bets amid intensifying competition for deals in the region. The capital will be deployed across its India seed…

General Catalyst commits B to India over five years

General Catalyst commits $5B to India over five years

Admin4 months ago05 mins

General Catalyst, a Silicon Valley-based venture firm with more than $43 billion in assets under management, has announced it plans to invest $5 billion in India over the next five years, sharply expanding its push into the country’s startup ecosystem less than two years after merging with local venture firm Venture Highway. The commitment, unveiled…

Nvidia deepens early-stage push into India’s AI startup ecosystem

Admin4 months ago07 mins

Nvidia is stepping up efforts to court India’s artificial intelligence startups earlier in their lifecycle, unveiling a string of partnerships this week aimed at reaching founders even before their companies are formally established. The push is intended to help the AI chipmaker cultivate relationships with future customers in one of the world’s fastest-growing developer markets….

Google’s new Gemini Pro model has record benchmark scores — again

Admin4 months ago03 mins

On Thursday, Google released the newest version of Gemini Pro, its powerful LLM. The model, 3.1, is currently available as a preview and will be generally released soon, the company said. Google’s new model may be one of the most powerful LLMs yet. Onlookers have noted that Gemini 3.1 Pro appears to be a big…

Reddit is testing a new AI search feature for shopping

Admin4 months ago04 mins

Reddit announced on Thursday that it’s testing a new AI search tool that takes community recommendations and matches them with products from some of the company’s shopping and advertising partners. A small group of users in the U.S. will start to see search results that include interactive product carousels with pricing, images, and direct where-to-buy…

Freeform raises M Series B to scale up laser AI manufacturing

Freeform raises $67M Series B to scale up laser AI manufacturing

Admin4 months ago05 mins

Tech investors haven’t given up on the dream of making physical products with the same speed and ease as coding software. Executives at Freeform, a startup developing a novel 3D printing system for metal components, told TechCrunch that the company raised a $67 million Series B to expand its manufacturing platform. Investors include Apandion, AE…

OpenAI taps Tata for 100MW AI data center capacity in India, eyes 1GW

Admin4 months ago08 mins

OpenAI has partnered with India’s Tata Group to secure 100 megawatts of AI-ready data center capacity in the country, with plans to scale to 1 gigawatt. The move is part of a broader push to deepen the company’s enterprise and infrastructure footprint in one of its fastest-growing markets. OpenAI announced on Thursday that the partnership…

OpenAI deepens India push with Pine Labs fintech partnership

Admin4 months ago09 mins

As India pitches itself as a global hub for applied artificial intelligence, OpenAI has partnered with Pine Labs to integrate AI-driven reasoning into the fintech firm’s payments stack, automating settlement and invoicing workflows in a move the companies say could help accelerate AI-led commerce in India. The partnership will see Pine Labs embed OpenAI’s application…