AI • EducateKaro - Tech & Startup News Updates

Uber Bets Big on Robotaxis with Massive Deal Involving Lucid and Nuro

July 17, 2025July 17, 2025 by educatekaroin News, AI, Business, EV, TechLeave a Comment

Uber is making a bold move into the robotaxi space by investing hundreds of millions in Lucid and Nuro, planning to launch 20,000+ autonomous SUVs starting in 2026. Lucid’s luxury Gravity SUV will be fitted with Nuro’s Level 4 self-driving tech, available exclusively through the Uber app. Honestly, this is a huge gamble, especially when both Lucid and Nuro have faced financial trouble lately. Still, Uber’s aggressive bet shows it’s serious about leading the autonomous ride market. If they pull this off, it could finally push robotaxis out of test mode and into reality — something the industry has long overpromised.

Credit: The Verge

Scale AI Lays Off 200 Staff, Shifts Focus After Meta Deal Shakeup

July 17, 2025July 17, 2025 by educatekaroin News, AI, Business, TechLeave a Comment

The data-labeling startup just laid off 200 employees and dropped 500 global contractors, about a month after Meta hired its CEO in a $14.3 billion deal. According to a memo, interim CEO Jason Droege admitted the company scaled too fast in its original data-labeling business. Now, Scale plans to refocus on enterprise and government sales. The timing’s tough — with major clients pulling back after Meta’s investment, Scale seems to be paying the price of rapid growth. Like other AI firms that peaked too soon, it’s now scrambling for a second act.

Credit: Bloomberg

Google Rolls Out Gemini 2.5 Pro, Deep Search & AI Calling Features in Search

July 17, 2025July 17, 2025 by educatekaroin News, AI, TechLeave a Comment

Google is upgrading Search with Gemini 2.5 Pro and Deep Search, now available to AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers. Gemini 2.5 Pro helps tackle complex reasoning, coding, and math questions, while Deep Search performs deep research by scanning hundreds of sources to deliver cited, comprehensive answers — ideal for major decisions or study. A new AI calling feature can even contact local businesses for info like pricing or availability, saving users time. This is rolling out across the U.S., with extra perks for paid subscribers. Google says these features reflect its push to build smarter, more helpful AI-powered Search.

Credit: Google

Anthropic Eyes $100 Billion Valuation as Claude Chatbot Revenue Soars

July 17, 2025July 17, 2025 by educatekaroin News, AI, Funding, Startup, TechLeave a Comment

AI startup Anthropic is drawing strong investor interest with talks of a possible valuation crossing $100 billion. Though the company isn’t officially fundraising, top VCs are making unsolicited offers, driven by the rapid growth of its Claude chatbot, whose annualized revenue jumped from $3 billion to $4 billion in just a month. Earlier this year, Anthropic raised $3.5 billion at a $61.5 billion valuation, led by Lightspeed Ventures. Founded in 2021 by siblings Daniela and Dario Amodei, the company is backed by tech giants like Amazon, Alphabet, and Salesforce Ventures.

Credit: Bloomberg

Indian Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla Returns to Earth After 18-Day Space Mission

July 15, 2025July 15, 2025 by educatekaroin News, AI, Funding, TechLeave a Comment

Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla successfully completed his 18-day space mission and has now returned to Earth. On July 15, his spacecraft, Dragon, made a safe landing in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. Shukla launched into space on June 26 alongside astronauts from the U.S., Poland, and Hungary as part of the Axiom-4 mission, traveling over 6 million miles while conducting key experiments. After undocking from the ISS, the crew spent nearly 22.5 hours before splashdown. Shukla will undergo a 7-day rehab program to readjust to Earth’s gravity. His family expressed joy and anticipation at his safe return.

Credit: TOI

Bitcoin Nears Double YoY as Wall Street & Washington Fuel Surge

July 15, 2025July 15, 2025 by educatekaroin News, AI, Funding, TechLeave a Comment

Bitcoin has nearly doubled in value over the past year, recently touching $123K before settling around $116K. Unlike past rallies, this surge is being driven by growing institutional demand, massive ETF inflows, and rising adoption from major firms like BlackRock and GameStop. Spot Bitcoin ETFs traded on U.S. exchanges have now amassed more than $150 billion in assets. Meanwhile, Congress is actively discussing crypto regulation during “Crypto Week,” with bills that may reshape the legal landscape. The proposed Clarity Act could finally provide clear oversight, giving the CFTC control over digital commodities like Bitcoin — paving the way for broader institutional involvement.

Credit: CNBC

Rwazi Raises $12M to Bring Real-Time Consumer Insights to Global Brands

July 15, 2025July 15, 2025 by educatekaroin News, AI, Funding, TechLeave a Comment

After years of struggling to find accurate data on global consumer behavior, Joseph Rutakangwa launched Rwazi in 2021 to solve the problem. The startup has now secured $12 million in Series A funding led by Bonfire Ventures. Rwazi offers companies real-time, voluntarily shared data directly from consumers — also known as zero-party data—instead of relying on outdated reports or surveys. With operations in 190+ countries and clients like Coca-Cola and Visa, the company plans to scale its AI tools and expand its engineering team to better serve global markets.

Credit: TechCrunch

Cognition Acquires Windsurf to Boost AI Engineering Future

July 15, 2025July 15, 2025 by educatekaroin News, AI, Business, Funding, TechLeave a Comment

Cognition has officially acquired Windsurf, the agentic IDE, bringing in its product, IP, brand, and talented team. With $82M ARR, 350+ enterprise clients, and a rapidly growing user base, Windsurf strengthens Cognition’s mission to revolutionize software engineering. The Windsurf team will continue operations for now, while their tools and IP will soon integrate into Cognition’s offerings like Devin. Notably, all Windsurf employees will benefit financially and receive full equity vesting. This move signals a major leap toward the future of autonomous software development, positioning Cognition as a powerful force in the evolving AI engineering landscape.

Credit: TechCrunch

Windsurf Deal Slips From OpenAI’s Grasp, Google Wins in the AI Talent War!

July 15, 2025July 15, 2025 by educatekaroin News, AI, Business, Funding, TechLeave a Comment

In a surprise twist, OpenAI’s $3B deal to acquire AI coding startup Windsurf has collapsed — and Google swooped in smartly. Instead of buying the company, Google acqui-hired key Windsurf talent, including CEO Varun Mohan, for $2.4B. They also secured a non-exclusive license to Windsurf’s tech. The rest of Windsurf stays independent under a new interim CEO. This clever move gives Google DeepMind top AI coding brains without full acquisition hassles. Meanwhile, OpenAI is left empty-handed. The race for elite AI talent is heating up, and Google just played a masterstroke.

Credit: CNBC

Grok AI Is Coming to Tesla Cars Next Week, Says Elon Musk

July 11, 2025July 11, 2025 by educatekaroin News, AI, Business, TechLeave a Comment

Elon Musk just confirmed that Grok, the AI chatbot built by his company xAI, is coming to Tesla cars “very soon”—possibly by next week. This update came hours after the launch of Grok 4, xAI’s latest AI model. Musk says Tesla drivers will be able to talk to their cars and ask Grok to do tasks. Firmware leaks also reveal Grok comes with wild personality modes like “therapist,” “conspiracy,” and even “NSFW.” However, it’ll only work in newer Teslas with Hardware 3. Grok will also power Tesla’s humanoid robot, Optimus.