Cathie Woods’ ARK makes its first lead investment in startup Lucra — and it isn’t AI
Lucra offers corporate loyalty programs reimagined as interactive eSports. But winning ARK as a lead wasn't easy.
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OpenAI teams up with Infosys to bring AI tools to more businesses
Infosys said the integration will be used to help its clients modernize software development, automate workflows and deploy AI systems, initially focusing software engineering, legacy modernization, and DevOps.
UK government says 100 countries have spyware that can hack people’s phones
The U.K.'s cybersecurity chief warned that U.K. businesses and critical infrastructure are underestimating the threat from spyware attacks and other cyberthreats, with more governments having access to the powerful surveillance technology than ever.
X makes it more expensive to post links through its API
Posting links on X through its API is now 1,900% more costly
Amazon Music partners with Bandsintown for concert listings
Users will be able to see live events of an artist on their Amazon Music profile
Snap Map’s new ‘Place Loyalty’ badges will show the spots you visit most often
If you’re in the top 25% of users who visit a certain place, you’ll see your ranking on the Snap Map and can choose to share it with others.
AI is spitting out more potential drugs than ever. This start-up wants to figure out which ones matter.
10x Science has raised a $4.8 million seed round to help pharmaceutical researchers understand complex molecules.
SpaceX secures option to buy AI coding startup Cursor for $60B
SpaceX announced the deal on X, pre-empting a New York Times report that framed it as a completed acquisition. The structure gives SpaceX optionality: exercise the call by year end or walk away having paid $10B for shared compute access and joint model work. Cursor CEO Michael Truell called it a partnership to ‘scale up […]This story continues at The Next Web
Google Maps is about to get a big dose of AI
Generative AI is being infused into Google's popular feature within Maps.
Duolingo is now giving free users access to advanced learning content
Duolingo is opening up its advanced language learning content offering to free users, allowing them to acquire skills that were previously reserved to paid subscribers.
The most interesting startups showcased at Google Cloud Next 2026
Google wants AI startups on its cloud and has showcased a long list of them at its annual conference.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT ads just went cost-per-click, and the AI advertising war has its battle lines
Summary: OpenAI has shifted ChatGPT’s advertising from CPM to cost-per-click pricing, with bids between $3 and $5, after the $60 CPM it charged at launch in February eroded to as low as $25 within ten weeks. The move puts OpenAI in direct competition with Google and Meta for performance ad budgets, while Perplexity and Anthropic […]This story continues at The Next Web
Florida launches criminal investigation into OpenAI over ChatGPT’s alleged role in Florida State University shooting
Attorney General James Uthmeier said prosecutors reviewed chat logs showing ChatGPT advised the suspect on weapons, ammunition, and timing. The probe is the first criminal investigation into an AI company over an alleged role in a mass shooting in the US. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced on Tuesday that the state’s Office of Statewide […]This story continues at The Next Web
A Japanese TV shopping company bet on Anthropic in 2021, and now it is quadrupling its fund
Summary: Japanet Holdings, the Japanese TV shopping company based in Nagasaki, has quadrupled its venture capital fund to $200 million after early investments through Pegasus Tech Ventures in Anthropic, xAI, SpaceX, and OpenAI generated extraordinary paper returns. Anthropic alone has appreciated from a $550 million valuation in 2021 to $380 billion in 2026. The expansion […]This story continues at The Next Web
Meta is installing tracking software on employees’ computers to capture mouse movements and keystrokes for AI agent training
The move, disclosed in an internal memo seen by Reuters, is framed as a way to teach AI agents how humans navigate software. Critics say it is workplace surveillance under a different name. Meta is installing new tracking software on US-based employees’ work computers to capture mouse movements, clicks, keystrokes, and occasional screenshots, which will […]This story continues at The Next Web
Bond wants AI to cure your doomscrolling, then monetise your memories
In short: Bond, a new “post-feed” social network founded by former Index Ventures principal Dino Becirovic and ex-Google DeepMind researcher Arthur Brazinskas, launched on 21 April with no infinite scroll and no algorithmic feed, instead using AI trained on users’ photos, videos, and audio to recommend real-world activities. The app enters a growing “healthier social […]This story continues at The Next Web
Meta projected $16 billion in scam ad revenue. Now the lawsuits are piling up.
In short: Meta faces a convergence of lawsuits across the US, Australia, and the UK alleging the company knowingly profited from scam ads on Facebook and Instagram, with its own internal documents projecting that 10% of 2024 revenue, roughly $16 billion, came from fraudulent advertising. The cases span a $500 million pump-and-dump scheme, deepfake celebrity […]This story continues at The Next Web
OpenAI to commit up to $1.5B of its own capital to DeployCo, a joint venture with PE firms valued at $10B
The FT reports that OpenAI’s $500M initial equity stake, with an option for $1B more, will go into a Delaware LLC designed to accelerate AI adoption across PE portfolio companies. OpenAI is guaranteeing backers a 17.5% annual return. A close is expected in early May. OpenAI is set to commit up to $1.5 billion of […]This story continues at The Next Web
NeoCognition raises $40M seed to build AI agents that specialise through experience rather than pre-training
The Palo Alto startup, spun out of Ohio State University by Yu Su, argues that current agents complete tasks as intended only half the time, a reliability gap it plans to close by giving agents a mechanism to build world models of the domains they operate in, learning on the job as a specialist rather […]This story continues at The Next Web
ATMOS Space Cargo raises €25.7M to build Europe’s first routine orbital return service
A year after flying and recovering the continent’s first private re-entry capsule, the German-French startup is moving from demonstration to operations. Three PHOENIX 2 vehicles, a new defence entity, and a next-generation 1-tonne capsule are all funded by the round. ATMOS Space Cargo, the European company developing orbital transport and re-entry vehicles, has closed a […]This story continues at The Next Web