Even a16z VCs say no one really knows what an AI agent is
Buzzwords that are stretched to the point of being meaningless are as old as the tech industry itself. The top current one is “AI agent” and its variants, like “agentic.”…
Durin digs up $3.4M to automate drills for critical minerals exploration
Finding new sources of critical minerals is a costly business. Worldwide, companies spent $12 to $13 billion on exploration in 2023. The upshot: mining is the definition of a hit-or-miss…
a16z backs Base Power in $200M round for home backup batteries
In less than a year, Base Power has grown from a stealthy startup to one of the largest battery fleets in Texas. Now, the company has raised $200 million to…
Ben Horowitz donates Cybertruck fleet to the Las Vegas police
Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Ben Horowitz has donated a fleet of Tesla Cybertrucks to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police, the department has confirmed to TechCrunch. The Cybertruck fleet is the latest…
Mistral board member and a16z VC Anjney Midha says DeepSeek won’t stop AI’s GPU hunger
Andreessen Horowitz general partner and Mistral board member Anjney “Anj” Midha first spied DeepSeek’s jaw-dropping performance six months ago, he tells TechCrunch. That’s when DeepSeek introduced Coder V2, which rivaled…
Once high-flying proptech startups Divvy Homes and EasyKnock are the latest to struggle
Many proptech startups, born and funded during the low-interest-rate heydays, are in the throes of struggle. With investments into U.S.-based real estate startups falling from $11.1 billion in 2021 to…
KoBold used AI to find copper. Now investors are piling in to the tune of $537M
KoBold Metals closed a $537 million Series C round on Wednesday to help build a multi-billion dollar mine to exploit a copper deposit it found using AI. The new funding…
Las Vegas Sheriff tells a16z partners what’s next on his wish list: AI for bodycams
Las Vegas police have received funding for tech like drones, license plate readers, and more from Andreessen Horowitz partner Ben Horowitz. Next on its wish list? Artificial intelligence to go…
Brazilian fintech Tako emerges from stealth with sizable seed round led by a16z and Ribbit Capital
Running payroll is hard in any country, but perhaps especially so in Brazil thanks to consistently changing laws and extremely influential unions that make it significantly harder to get it…
a16z VC Martin Casado explains why so many AI regulations are so wrong
The problem with most attempts at regulating AI so far is that lawmakers are focusing on some mythical future AI experience, instead of truly understanding the new risks AI actually…