Apple’s US App Store topped $400B in developer billings and sales in 2024

Just ahead of its Worldwide Developers Conference next month, Apple on Thursday announced new figures related to the U.S. App Store’s financial success. The company says its U.S. App Store ecosystem has generated $406 billion in developer billings and sales in 2024 — a figure that’s n

DeepSeek’s updated R1 AI model is more censored, test finds

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek’s newest AI model, an updated version of the company’s R1 reasoning model, achieves impressive scores on benchmarks for coding, math, and general knowledge, nearly surpassing OpenAI’s flagship o3. But the upgraded R1, also known as “R1-0528,”

A decade in, bootstrapped Thinkst Canary reaches $20M in ARR without VC funding

This month, cybersecurity company Thinkst will mark its 10th anniversary since the launch of its now-flagship product, Canary. The company debuted Canary after seeing companies spend millions of dollars on cybersecurity products, yet were still taking months or longer to realize that they had been

Volteras wants to connect to more EVs than anyone else

For years, people have been worried — both rightly and otherwise — that electric vehicles could strain the grid to the breaking point. But as they spread, and as EV technology advances, some think these rolling battery packs could become a lifeline for the United States’ aging electr

Meet LoveJack, the dating app designed for users to find love using just five words

As Kevin Malone from “The Office” once said, “Why waste time say lot word when few word do trick?”  For Julia LeStage and Lisa Le, the creators of a new dating app called LoveJack, finding love online doesn't have to feel like filling out a mountain of paperwork. Sometimes

Buildots raises $45M to help companies track construction progress

In the construction industry, managers can easily become disconnected from what's happening on-site. Among the many tasks to juggle are staying apprised of costs, communicating with all stakeholders, and assessing risk related to aspects like contractor billing and performance. Buildots wants

Lightspeed backs Indian home services startup Snabbit as the next big consumer trend

Home services in India — whether it is cleaning, dishwashing, or laundry — have traditionally been offline and informally run. This has often resulted in delays and uncertainties for consumers, as well as inconsistent pay and job insecurity for workers. Recently, however, startups have begun vi

Founder Sahil Lavingia says he was booted from DOGE after just 55 days 

Sahil Lavingia has published a diary recounting his time as a member of Elon Musk's DOGE workforce. It’s a short read — Lavingia’s DOGE stint lasted just 55 days — but it does provide new details on the temporary government organization formed by President Trump’s executiv

Security startup Horizon3.ai is raising $100M in new round

Horizon3.ai, a cybersecurity startup that provides tools like autonomous penetration testing, is seeking to raise $100 million in a new funding round and has locked down at least $73 million, the company revealed in an SEC filing this week. NEA led the round, according to two people familiar with

Nvidia expects to lose billions in revenue due to H20 chip licensing requirements

As Nvidia reports earnings for the first quarter of its fiscal year 2026, which closed on April 28, the company has released numbers on how the Trump administration’s recent chip-export restrictions are affecting business. Nvidia reported that it incurred a $4.5 billion charge in Q1 due to l

GameStop bought $500 million of bitcoin

GameStop announced on Wednesday that it bought 4,710 bitcoin, which is worth over $500 million at the time of the purchase. The video game retail chain has struggled to stay relevant in a time when digital gaming purchases are increasingly popular — plus, the company took on a new kind of no

Stellantis pivots to Google’s Android as in-car partnership with Amazon ends

Three years ago, Stellantis announced it was pairing up with Amazon to create in-car software that would bring a slew of connected products and services to vehicles by 2024 as part of the automaker's broader plan to generate $22.5 billion annually from software. That never happened. And now th

DeepSeek: Everything you need to know about the AI chatbot app

DeepSeek has gone viral. Chinese AI lab DeepSeek broke into the mainstream consciousness this week after its chatbot app rose to the top of the Apple App Store charts (and Google Play, as well). DeepSeek's AI models, which were trained using compute-efficient techniques, have led Wal

Karat Financial is bringing business banking to creators

Karat Financial, the company known for its credit cards for creators, is launching a creator-focused business banking product. Powered by digital bank Grasshopper, Karat’s banking product is a natural extension of its credit card offering with Visa. “Six years in, the problem we’