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Unpacking Rippling vs Deel: corporate espionage and a $16B plot twist

Despite courtroom chaos, Rippling is still going full steam ahead. The HR tech startup at the center of an increasingly dramatic legal battle with rival Deel just raised a fresh $450 million () in funding at a $16.8 billion valuation, and launched a new “Startup Stack” to woo early-stage companies—winning over Y Combinator as both…

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11 months ago

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Despite courtroom chaos, Rippling is still going full steam ahead. The HR tech startup at the center of an increasingly dramatic legal battle with rival Deel just raised a fresh $450 million () in funding at a $16.8 billion valuation, and launched a new “Startup Stack” to woo early-stage companies—winning over Y Combinator as both an investor and a client.

The funding lands amid the company’s high-profile legal fight with Deel () , which Rippling accuses of movie-worthy corporate espionage, complete with secret crypto payments and decoy Slack channels. Deel has denied the claims and fired back with its own lawsuit, calling Rippling’s accusations a “distraction.”

Today on Equity () , Mary Ann Azevedo and Charles Rollet are digging into the HR tech showdown from legal drama to IPO implications and global intrigue.

Listen to the full episode to hear more about:

•

The alleged spy, Rippling’s evidence, and Deel’s denials

•

YC’s involvement in Rippling’s latest project, and why the move is raising eyebrows

•

The potential impact on IPOs for both companies 

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

Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts () , Overcast () , Spotify () and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X () and Threads () , at @EquityPod. For the full episode transcript, for those who prefer reading over listening, check out our full archive of episodes here () .

Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. We’d also like to thank TechCrunch’s audience development team. Thank you so much for listening, and we’ll talk to you next time.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices ()

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Science & Technology

Why Snowflake is no longer just a data warehouse

Snowflake is betting that the future of AI isn’t just analyzing data, it’s acting on it. That means a shift away from chatbots and toward autonomous agents that can actually get work done. And Snowflake is reorganizing fast to keep up, from shipping hundreds of AI features to restructuring teams along the way. On this…

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14 hours ago

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April 8, 2026

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Snowflake is betting that the future of AI isn’t just analyzing data, it’s acting on it. That means a shift away from chatbots and toward autonomous agents that can actually get work done. And Snowflake is reorganizing fast to keep up, from shipping hundreds of AI features to restructuring teams along the way.

On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan sits down with Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy to unpack the company’s transformation and what it signals about where AI is headed next.

Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:17 Snowflake’s AI shift and agentic future
01:45 Why 2026 marks the end of chatbots
04:09 Cortex Code, Snowflake Intelligence, and new products
06:09 Who benefits: non-technical users & enterprises
07:35 Adoption challenges and why AI pilots fail
12:11 How AI is reshaping jobs and skills
14:39 Layoffs, automation, and the future of documentation
18:37 Snowflake’s evolution into an AI platform
21:04 Competition: Databricks, hyperscalers, and AI giants
25:01 Outro

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Popular Science

The Experiment That Tried to Weigh the Human Soul

It’s a little complicated to weigh a dying person on a hospital bed, but that didn’t deter Duncan MacDougall. In the early 20th century, MacDougall’s unique bed-scale detected that 21 grams left the human body at the moment of death. He had finally discovered it: the weigh of the human soul … or so he…

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1 day ago

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April 7, 2026

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It’s a little complicated to weigh a dying person on a hospital bed, but that didn’t deter Duncan MacDougall. In the early 20th century, MacDougall’s unique bed-scale detected that 21 grams left the human body at the moment of death.

He had finally discovered it: the weigh of the human soul … or so he thought.

Read more about the cultural legacy of MacDougall’s flawed but influential experiment:

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CNET

NASA’s Artemis II Moon Flyby Livestream

Watch the excitement as NASA sends four astronauts on a historic mission to the moon, potentially farther into space than any humans have ever traveled. Follow CNET’s Live Blog at CNET.com NASA Artemis II Day 6: Monday Is Moon Flyby Day Add CNET as a trusted news source Never miss a deal again! See CNET’s…

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2 days ago

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April 6, 2026

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Watch the excitement as NASA sends four astronauts on a historic mission to the moon, potentially farther into space than any humans have ever traveled.

Follow CNET’s Live Blog at CNET.com
NASA Artemis II Day 6: Monday Is Moon Flyby Day

Add CNET as a trusted news source
Never miss a deal again! See CNET’s browser extension 👉
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#nasa #artemis #moon #space #moonmission #artemismission

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