Connect with us

Who knew you could get a $500 million valuation without launching a product? | Equity Podcast

AI agent startup /dev/agents announced a massive $56M seed round, putting the company’s valuation at a whopping $500 million. The amount is impressive given the company won’t have a first version of its product available until at least early next year. The reason behind investors’ trust, however, becomes a bit clearer when you consider the…

Published

on

AI agent startup /dev/agents announced a massive $56M seed round, putting the company’s valuation at a whopping $500 million. The amount is impressive given the company won’t have a first version of its product available until at least early next year. The reason behind investors’ trust, however, becomes a bit clearer when you consider the founders’ pedigree:  /dev/agents’ co-founders were both on Google’s Android team during the early days of the smartphone era.

The round, as well as whether or not to include “slash” when pronouncing the company’s name, was the first of many deals discussed on today’s episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast. 

Listen to the full episode to hear hosts Margaux MacColl, Devin Coldewey and Anthony Ha dig into:

• How Yurts plans to become the DoD’s go-to AI integration platform and compete with AI chatbot the Pentagon is developing itself.
• Why ServiceTitan’s IPO keeps getting weirder and if it’s a sign of IPOs to come. 
• The latest wave of VC turnover, including Brian Singerman’s choice to step back from Founders Fund and Sriram Krishnan’s departure from a16z, and where they’re going next. The crew was left wondering if we’ll see other investors following in Krishnan’s footsteps. 
• Strange AI. Who is David Mayer? And why does ChatGPT hate him so much?

Equity will be back next week, so stay tuned!

Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday. 

Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We’d also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

People & Blogs

It is cheaper than ever to power the world without burning fossil fuels #TEDTalks

We’re living through oil wars, wildfire smoke and extreme weather driven by a warming planet. But environmentalist Bill McKibben says one thing is finally going right: the price of clean energy has plunged, making it cheaper than ever to power the world without burning fossil fuels. He breaks down how energy from the sun became…

Published

on

We’re living through oil wars, wildfire smoke and extreme weather driven by a warming planet. But environmentalist Bill McKibben says one thing is finally going right: the price of clean energy has plunged, making it cheaper than ever to power the world without burning fossil fuels. He breaks down how energy from the sun became the best option on Earth — and why this narrow window of time may be our last real shot at a different future. “Energy from heaven, not from hell,” he says.

Continue Reading

CNET

NASA Launches The Roman Space Telescope: Earth’s New Orbiting Observatory

NASA and SpaceX successfully launched the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope from the historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Orbiting Observatory was named after NASA’s first chief astronomer, Nancy Grace Roman and can produce images from deep space 100 times larger than NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Read more about…

Published

on

NASA and SpaceX successfully launched the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope from the historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Orbiting Observatory was named after NASA’s first chief astronomer, Nancy Grace Roman and can produce images from deep space 100 times larger than NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.

Read more about NASA’s Roman Space Telescope on CNET.com:
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Telescope Is About to Start Its Cosmic Survey

0:00 Liftoff & Ascent
1:03 Max Q
1:54 Side Booster Cutoff & Separation
2:07 Boostback Burn
2:40 Main Core Separation & Second Stage Ignition
2:57 Fairing Separation
3:34 Side Booster Entry Burn
4:09 Side Booster Landing Burn & Touchdown
4:47 Second Stage Cutoff (SECO-1)
5:14 Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Deployment
5:43 Post-Deployment Wrap-Up

Video Credits:
Producer: Stephen Beacham

Add CNET as a trusted news source
Never miss a deal again! See CNET’s browser extension 👉
Check out CNET’s Amazon Storefront:
Subscribe to CNET on YouTube:
Follow us on TikTok:
Follow us on Instagram:
Follow us on Bluesky:
Like us on Facebook:
CNET’s AI Atlas:
Follow us on X:
Visit CNET.com:

#nasa #spacex #space #spaceexploration #romanspacetelescope #astronomy #spacenews #hubble #observation

Continue Reading

People & Blogs

How Doodling Unlocks Your Imagination | Joe Whale | TED

Artist Joe Whale used to get in trouble for doodling in class, until a local restaurant let him cover an entire wall with his artwork … and the internet took notice. He traces his unlikely beginning to a bigger story: your imagination is a muscle, and it weakens when you hand it off to AI.…

Published

on

Artist Joe Whale used to get in trouble for doodling in class, until a local restaurant let him cover an entire wall with his artwork … and the internet took notice. He traces his unlikely beginning to a bigger story: your imagination is a muscle, and it weakens when you hand it off to AI. Through a live doodling demo, he shows in real time what it looks like to let a thought become a drawing, one line at a time. (Recorded at Play@TED on May 14, 2026)

Join us in person at a TED conference:
Become a TED Member to support our mission:
Subscribe to a TED newsletter:

Follow TED!
Instagram:
LinkedIn:
TikTok:
Facebook:
X:

The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world’s leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less) — plus originals, podcasts and exclusive content. Look for videos on Technology, Entertainment and Design as well as science, business, global issues, the arts and more. Visit for our entire library, transcripts, translations and personalized recommendations.

Watch more:

TED videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with the TED Talks Usage Policy: . For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), submit a request at

#TED #TEDTalks #Art

Continue Reading

Trending