Month: January 2026

Synthesia hits $4bn valuation with $200m round led by Google Ventures Powered by WPeMatico https://sifted.eu/articles/synthesia-4bn-valuation-200m-google-ventures

Now it’s time for Europe to get really serious about tech Powered by WPeMatico https://sifted.eu/articles/eu-europe-tech-sovereignty-trump-davos

South Korea’s Edenlux set for U.S. debut of eye-strain wellness device Edenlux builds wearable tech to protect and train your eyes, inspired by its founder’s personal vision recovery. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/26/south-koreas-edenlux-set-for-u-s-debut-of-eye-strain-wellness-device/

Qualcomm backs SpotDraft to scale on-device contract AI with valuation doubling toward $400M SpotDraft now processes over 1 million contracts annually using its AI tool, with contract volumes up 173% year-over-year. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/26/qualcomm-backs-spotdraft-to-scale-on-device-contract-ai-with-valuation-doubling-toward-400m/

Google pays $68M to settle claims its voice assistant spied on users Google did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement of the class-action case, which accused the firm of “unlawful and intentional interception and recording of individuals’ confidential communications without their consent and subsequent unauthorized disclosure of those communications to

AI chip startup Ricursive hits $4B valuation two months after launch Ricursive joins Recursive and Unconventional AI in raising massive funds at multi-billion valuations out of the gate. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/26/ai-chip-startup-ricursive-hits-4b-valuation-two-months-after-launch/

Meta to test premium subscriptions on Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp In the coming months, Meta is going to explore a premium experience on Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp that gives users access to special features and more control over how they share and connect, while keeping the core experiences free.  Powered

This founder cracked firefighting — now he’s creating an AI gold mine The nozzle is just the beginning – what company founder Sunny Sethi calls “the muscle on the ground.” Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/25/this-founder-cracked-firefighting-now-hes-creating-an-ai-gold-mine/

ChatGPT is pulling answers from Elon Musk’s Grokipedia Information from the conservative-leaning, AI-generated encyclopedia developed by Elon Musk’s xAI is beginning to appear in answers from ChatGPT. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/25/chatgpt-is-pulling-answers-from-elon-musks-grokipedia/

Humans& thinks coordination is the next frontier for AI, and they’re building a model to prove it Humans&, a new startup founded by alumni of Anthropic, Meta, OpenAI, xAI, and Google DeepMind, is building the next generation of foundation models for collaboration, not chat. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/25/humans-thinks-coordination-is-the-next-frontier-for-ai-and-theyre-building-a-model-to-prove-it/