Global Markets Today: Asia, Europe & Emerging Markets News

International

Cursor continues acquisition spree with Graphite deal

AI coding assistant Cursor announced that it has acquired Graphite, a startup that uses AI to review and debug code. Although the terms of the deal were not disclosed, Axios reported that Cursor...

International

Elon Musk’s $56B Tesla pay package restored by Delaware Supreme Court

The state supreme court’s decision likely draws to a close a years-long battle that left such a bad taste in Musk’s mouth that he moved Tesla’s incorporation from Delaware to Texas, which prompted...

International

Anonymous messaging app NGL was acquired by ‘EarnPhone’ startup Mode Mobile

NGL also came under fire for its shady growth hacking tactics, like sending fake messages to users that seemed like they were from real people but were actually automated by the app. Some users were...

International

Hundreds of Cisco customers are vulnerable to new Chinese hacking campaign, researchers say

Cisco has not said how many of its customers have already been hacked, or may be running vulnerable systems. Now, security researchers say there are hundreds of Cisco customers who could potentially...

International

Yann LeCun confirms his new ‘world model’ startup, reportedly seeks $5B+ valuation

The press release also confirms what everyone knew as well: that AMI Labs is working on world model AI. This is an alternative to LLMs where the AI attempts to understand its environment (aka the...

International

Netflix is betting on podcasts to become the new daytime talk show

When you tune in to a podcast, you’re probably not opening the Netflix app — at least for now. “As people begin to spend less time watching traditional television, and more time watching short form...

International

OpenAI adds new teen safety rules to ChatGPT as lawmakers weigh AI standards for minors

In its latest effort to address growing concerns about AI’s impact on young people, OpenAI on Thursday updated its guidelines for how its AI models should behave with users under 18, and published...

International

Tech provider for NHS England confirms data breach

DXS International, a U.K.-based company that provides healthcare tech for England’s National Health Service (NHS), disclosed a cyberattack in a statement on Thursday. “There was minimal impact on...

International

Coursera and Udemy enter a merger agreement valued at around $2.5B

Coursera will acquire Udemy in an all-stock transaction, marking a pivotal moment in online education. The companies said the merger will be finalized in the second half of next year, pending...

International

Google’s vibe-coding tool Opal comes to Gemini

Google notes that the visual editor also includes a new view in Gemini that will take the user’s written prompts and turn them into a list of steps. This makes it even easier to build apps and see...

International

Google tests an email-based productivity assistant

Productivity is one space where companies keep wanting to experiment with AI assistants in the hope that they will save time for users, and as a result, they will want to use those assistants more....

International

Lidar-maker Luminar files for bankruptcy

The company aims to sell off its lidar business during the bankruptcy proceeding, and has already reached a deal to sell its semiconductor subsidiary. While the company will continue to operate...

International

How iRobot lost its way home

There’s something painfully American about the arc of iRobot, the company that taught your vacuum to navigate around the furniture. Founded in 1990 in Bedford, Massachusetts by MIT roboticist Rodney...

International

Canadian peer-to-Peer clothing rental company Rax is expanding to the U.S.

Marley Alles started out in accounting. She thought that her dream was to work at a big company. “And then once I got there, I was like ‘oh, that’s it,” she told TechCrunch. Alles began fostering...

International

Instagram brings Reels to the big screen, starting with Amazon Fire TV

Instagram is expanding Reels-viewing beyond mobile, the social network announced on Tuesday. The company is piloting IG for TV, a new experience that lets you watch Reels on TV, starting with Amazon...

International

Apple TV adds support for Google Cast even as Netflix ditches the feature

Apple is making it easier for Android users to watch Apple TV content on the big screen. The company on Monday said the Apple TV app for Android will now support Google Cast functionality, which lets...

International

Hacking group says it’s extorting Pornhub after stealing users’ viewing data

The hacking group Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters, which includes members of a gang known as ShinyHunters, said it is attempting to extort porn site Pornhub, after claiming to have stolen personal...

International

India’s Digantara raises $50M for space-based missile defence tech

Founded in 2020, the Bengaluru-headquartered startup initially focused on space situational awareness, tracking debris and objects that could damage satellites. The startup has since expanded its...

International

Databricks raises $4B at $134B valuation as its AI business heats up

This is Databricks’ third major venture fundraise in less than a year, and it comes as the company focuses on building products that address the needs of the AI revolution: a database for AI agents,...

International

Adobe Firefly now supports prompt-based video editing, adds more third-party models

Adobe is updating its AI video-generation app, Firefly, with a new video editor that supports precise prompt-based edits, as well as adding new third-party models for image and video generation,...

International

Nuclear startup Last Energy raises $100M for its steel-encased micro reactor

After years in the wilderness, it’s a good time to be a nuclear startup. “For the first half a decade that I was telling people I was doing nuclear, I had to convince them, ‘Hey, here’s why nuclear...

International

Everbloom built an AI to turn chicken feathers into cashmere

Cashmere sweaters are everywhere these days, often at unbelievably low prices. The appeal is obvious: if you’ve ever worn cashmere, you know it’s soft, light, and warm — an impressive fiber that’s...

International

Solo VC and Lovable investor Neil Murray raises third Nordic-focused fund

The Nordic red-hot startup movement continues. On Tuesday, Neil Murray, founder and general partner at Copenhagen-based firm The Nordic Web Ventures, announced the close of a $6 million Fund III to...

International

VCs discuss why most consumer AI startups still lack staying power

Even three years after the generative AI boom started, most AI startups are still making money by selling to businesses, not individual consumers. Although consumers quickly adopted general-purpose...