Techcrunch blog!: Amazon acquires minority stake in Anthropic for $4B that expands AWS integration

Monday, September 25, 2023

In today's top story, we confirm that market interest in artificial intelligence has indeed grown — dare we say skyrocketed? — since 2016. Amazon wants to continue taking stakes. The e-commerce giant plans to invest up to $4 billion in AI startup Anthropic. Go inside this strategic move.

Meanwhile, in ChatGPT's latest evolution, OpenAI gives it a voice for verbal conversations. Oh, and image-based smarts, too.

And for all you Tinder users just waiting for your spotlight, the dating app now offers a $499-per-month tier to be matched with the "most-sought after" profiles. It's Tinder Select.

Image Credits: Getty Images

More top reads

When underwater literally means just that: Google expands its subsea cable infrastructure with Nuvem to connect the U.S. with Bermuda and Portugal. Here's when it will be operational.

Grammar, Spanish-style: Correcto grabs $7 million to build out its "Grammarly for Spanish." Common phrases get a digital treatment.

Take Goodnotes on this new deal: Note-taking app Goodnotes invests $1.9 million in digital stationery company WeBudding. Find out why the startup pivoted.

You gotta pay to play with X: Rumors have swirled recently about what X plans to put behind a paywall. Today, audio and video calls will become a premium subscriber–only feature. Ring-a-ching-ching.

Diamond in the rough: The current labor market is a gold mine of talent for startups. Here's why. (TC+)

Search no more for that scientific needle in a haystack: Elicit is building a tool to automate scientific literature review. It's like having a digital card catalog.

Finally those fake coins are worth something: Reddit will start paying you real money for your karma. Now, that's some good karma.

Meet Jenkins: Nx lands $16 million to build "monorepo" tools, like Jenkins, for software developers. Don't worry, we tell you what that is.

Lesson learned: TeachMe.To lands $2 million to connect beginner athletes with local coaches. You now have no excuse to learn pickleball.

This Mixin was not on the frozen yogurt menu: Hackers steal $200 million from crypto company Mixin. This one broke some records.

Sometimes it's best to just listen: What's the best way to run a startup in a world full of advice? We have some answers. (TC+)

Weekend warriors you may have missed:

California governor vetoes bill to ban driverless AV trucks

Building an equitable cap table puts more tools in a startup's toolbox (TC+)

India’s PhonePe launches app store with zero fee in challenge to Google

Image Credits: Dragon Claws / Getty Images

How CFOs can reduce SaaS spend by 30% in these tough times

Software is a company’s third-largest expense, but because it’s spread across multiple departments, it’s the CFO’s responsibility to find places to cut.

In a TC+ column that includes spending benchmarks (based on employee size), CloudEagle founder and CEO Nidhi Jain shares her “cost-optimization playbook” for SaaS startups.

“The primary objective for CFOs should be to identify where they're spending, recognize departments with the highest costs, and identify instances of low utilization and application redundancies,” she says.

TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack. You can sign up here. Use code "DC" for a 15% discount on an annual subscription.

How CFOs can reduce SaaS spend by 30% in these tough times image

Image Credits: Getty Images

On the pods

Equity is back from Disrupt and getting you caught up on stocks around the world, as well as the Cisco-Splunk deal, why everyone loves Anthropic, how Meta is building AI chatbots while Apple is working to build more in India, and Correcto’s latest round.