Bluesky-based Instagram alternative Flashes launches publicly

Instagram alternative Flashes publicly launched its Bluesky-based photo-sharing app on the App Store this week, gaining nearly 30,000 downloads in its first 24 hours. The app offers a classic Instagram-like experience, allowing users to upload up to four photos and videos of up to a minute in length. Built by Berlin-based developer Sebastian Vogelsang, Flashes […]

Read more

Google Sheets gets a Gemini-powered upgrade to analyze data faster and create visuals

Google is giving Sheets a Gemini-powered upgrade that is designed to help users analyze data faster and turn spreadsheets into charts using AI. With this update, users can access Gemini’s capabilities to generate insights from their data, such as correlations, trends, outliers, and more. Users now can also generate advanced visualizations, like heatmaps, that they […]

Read more

Researchers uncover unknown Android flaws used to hack into a student’s phone

Amnesty International said that Google fixed previously unknown flaws in Android that allowed authorities to unlock phones using forensic tools. On Friday, Amnesty International published a report detailing a chain of three zero-day vulnerabilities developed by phone-unlocking company Cellebrite, which its researchers found after investigating the hack of a student protester’s phone in Serbia. The […]

Read more

Good hype for fusion, bad buzz for YC

Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. Hype can be good or bad. This week, we’ve seen startups on both sides of that fence — and being on the good side warranted large funding […]

Read more

Tesla applies for ride-hail permit in California — but there’s a catch

Tesla applied for a permit with the California Public Utilities Commission to operate a transportation service in the state — a required first step if the automaker wants to eventually operate a robotaxi service there. Tesla’s application for a transportation charter-party carrier permit was first reported by Bloomberg. TechCrunch has independently confirmed with the CPUC […]

Read more

Alkami is buying fintech Mantl for $400 million

Digital banking services provider Alkami Technology is acquiring Mantl, which has been described as “the Shopify of account opening,” for $400 million. Mantl, founded in 2016 by Nathaniel Harley and Benjamin Conant, developed software to make it easier for people to open accounts digitally at community banks and credit unions. The end goal is that […]

Read more

Apply to Speak at TechCrunch All Stage 2025

Founders, VCs and startup experts, now’s your chance! Have crucial scaling insights to offer? Share them with 1,200+ founders, investors, and entrepreneurs at TechCrunch All Stage 2025 presented by Fidelity, on July 15 in Boston, and share your expertise! We’re assembling the best minds from the startup and VC communities to lead exciting sessions, interactive […]

Read more