Charles Rollet

Artificial intelligence is a big trend in cancer care, and it’s mostly focused on detecting cancer at the earliest possible stage. That makes a lot of sense, given that cancer is less deadly the earlier it’s detected. But fewer are asking another fundamental question: If someone does have cancer, is an aggressive treatment like chemotherapy necessary? That’s the problem Ataraxis AI is trying to solve. The New York-based startup is focused on using AI to

Longevity is a hot trend in Silicon Valley these days, driven by rising interest — especially among the wealthy — in preventing disease through regular testing. A new player, Biograph, has just emerged from stealth, and it’s co-founded by one of the biggest names in longevity science: Dr. Peter Attia. Attia is a Canadian-American physician best known as the author of the bestseller “Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity” and for his podcast. Biograph’s

AI has brought attention to all kinds of futuristic technologies, from humanoid robots to autonomous warships. But there’s a quieter boom happening in a highly traditional industry: accounting. VCs are excited by the prospect of automating costly human labor with AI, funding companies like Numeric and Kick last year, to name a few.  The latest startup to ride this wave is Quanta, which sells an AI-powered accounting platform to software companies and has raised a

A demo from Optifye.ai, a member of Y Combinator’s current cohort, sparked a social media backlash that ended up with YC deleting it off its socials. Optifye says it’s building software to help factory owners know who’s working — and who isn’t — in “real-time” thanks to AI-powered security cameras it places on assembly lines, according to its YC profile. On Monday, YC posted an Optifye demo video on X (and on LinkedIn), according to

The CEO of Clearview AI, the controversial facial recognition startup that created a searchable database of 30 billion photos by scraping the internet, has resigned, according to a statement he supplied to TechCrunch. The CEO, Hoan Ton-That, said “it is time for the next chapter in my life” and that he would remain on as a board member of Clearview AI. He declined to comment when asked for more details on what specifically sparked his

Austin-based defense startup Saronic has raised a $600 million Series C to build an autonomous ship factory called “Port Alpha,” it announced yesterday, quadrupling its valuation to $4 billion from its last round.  Investor Elad Gil led the round, with General Catalyst joining existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, 8VC, and Caffeinated Capital, among others. That should make Saronic the second, possibly third, most valuable defense tech startup in the U.S. after Anduril’s last round valued it

Silicon Valley-based robotics startup Figure AI is in talks to raise a massive $1.5 billion round at a $39.5 billion valuation, Bloomberg reports. That’s a whopping 15 times higher than Figure’s $2.6 billion post-money valuation for its $675 million Series B last year. Figure’s current round is expected to be led by Align Ventures and Parkway Venture Capital, Bloomberg reported.  Figure builds humanoid robots for commercial and residential purposes. Humanoid robots are all the rage

Cap table management firm Carta made headlines in 2020 when its former marketing VP Emily Kramer filed a lawsuit alleging gender discrimination and retaliation.  That case was settled in 2023. But since then, Carta has settled two other lawsuits filed by women who worked at the firm and alleged sexual harassment and discrimination, legal filings seen by TechCrunch show.  On January 9, 2025, Carta settled a 2023 lawsuit from former sales manager Alexandra Rogers, who

A clearer picture of Bench’s downfall is emerging thanks to newly released bankruptcy filings. The records show that the Canada-based startup, which ironically enough offered cloud accounting software for small businesses, consistently struggled to reach profitability. It burned through $135 million from its founding in 2012 to September 2024. By the time of its collapse, Bench was forced to shut down due to a “liquidity crisis,” the records say. Bench had $800,000 left in cash

Tech is upbeat about more companies going public this year, thanks in part to a new presidential administration that has promised to ease regulations and embrace industries like crypto and AI.  But there were already early signs of bullishness — especially in fintech — thanks to the wildly successful 2024 IPO of ServiceTitan, a SaaS platform for the trades. TechCrunch has compiled a chronological list of companies that have either announced that they plan to