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Ripple has made a slew of acquisitions to control key transaction rails and route them through XRP and its stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLUSD), drawing comparisons to Japanese investment firm SoftBank. The $1.25-billion acquisition of Hidden Road on April 8 allows Ripple to use RLUSD as collateral in the firm’s prime brokerage products. Hidden Road will also migrate its post-trade operations to the XRP Ledger, the blockchain that underpins cryptocurrency XRP (XRP) and several of Ripple’s institutional services.Omni Network co-founder Austin King knows Ripple’s strategy firsthand. He sold his startup, Strata Labs, to Ripple in 2019 and describes the approach as a…

Microsoft employees aren’t allowed to use DeepSeek due to data security and propaganda concerns, Microsoft Vice Chairman and President Brad Smith said in a Senate hearing today. “At Microsoft we don’t allow our employees to use the DeepSeek app,” Smith said, referring to DeepSeek’s application service (which is available on both desktop and mobile). Smith said Microsoft hasn’t put DeepSeek in its app store over those concerns, either.  Although lots of organizations and even countries have imposed restrictions on DeepSeek, this is the first time Microsoft has gone public about such a ban. Smith said the restriction stems from the…

OpenAI is enhancing its AI-powered “deep research” feature with the ability to analyze codebases on GitHub. On Thursday, OpenAI announced what it’s calling the first “connector” for ChatGPT deep research, the company’s tool that searches across the web and other sources to compile thorough research reports on a topic. Now, ChatGPT deep research can link to GitHub (in beta), allowing developers to ask questions about a codebase and engineering documents. The connector will be available for ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Team users over the next few days, with Enterprise and Edu support coming soon, according to an OpenAI spokesperson. OpenAI’s…

Sankaet Pathak’s last startup, fintech Synapse, filed for bankruptcy in 2024 amid issues with partner Evolve Bank & Trust. Tens of millions of dollars in deposits made by consumers, mostly customers of fintechs that worked with Synapse, remain unaccounted for. Yet according to The Information, Pathak is reportedly moving full steam ahead on attempts to fundraise for his new venture, humanoid robotics startup Foundation. Pathak is said to be in the midst of raising $100 million for Foundation at a whopping $1 billion valuation. The numbers seem particularly ambitious considering the startup only debuted its humanoid robot, Phantom, earlier this…

Google is rolling out a feature in its Gemini API that the company claims will make its latest AI models cheaper for third-party developers. Google calls the feature “implicit caching” and says it can deliver 75% savings on “repetitive context” passed to models via the Gemini API. It supports Google’s Gemini 2.5 Pro and 2.5 Flash models. That’s likely to be welcome news to developers as the cost of using frontier models continues to grow. We just shipped implicit caching in the Gemini API, automatically enabling a 75% cost savings with the Gemini 2.5 models when your request hits a…

Google announced on Thursday that it’s rolling out new AI-powered defenses to help combat scams on Chrome. The tech giant is going to start using Gemini Nano, its on-device large language model (LLM), on desktop to protect users against online scams. It’s also launching new AI-powered warnings for Chrome on Android to help users be aware of spammy notifications. Google notes that Chrome’s Enhanced Protection mode of Safe Browsing on Chrome offers the highest level of protection, offering users twice the protection against phishing and other online threats compared to the browser’s Standard Protection mode. Now Google will use Gemini Nano…

If you’ve been waiting for the right moment to act, this is it. You have just 24 hours left to secure your exhibit table at TechCrunch Sessions: AI and position your brand at the center of the conversation shaping the future of the AI industry. TechCrunch Sessions: AI is bringing together the brightest builders, boldest thinkers, and sharpest investors to UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall on June 5. At a venue nestled right in the heart of the AI community, your company will get the chance to rub elbows with a crowd of investors and innovators looking for the next standout…

It took seven years of hard work for Kareem Amin, co-founder and CEO of sales automation startup Clay, to see the company’s product finally take off in 2022. Since then, the startup has experienced explosive growth, reached a valuation exceeding a billion dollars, and expanded its employee count from low double digits to over 200. Despite the team’s average short tenure at the company, Amin made a rare decision: Clay is allowing employees who have at least a year of tenure to sell some of their shares at a relatively high share price to one of its existing investors, Sequoia.…

Summary Nezuko’s role in the Infinity Castle arc is disappointing due to her absence from major action scenes. The final arc has a massive plot twist where Muzan turns Tanjiro into a demon, leading to a battle against him. Nezuko is important in the Sunrise Countdown arc, preventing Tanjiro from becoming a demon and playing a crucial role. The following article contains spoilers for the final arc of Demon Slayer (Infinity Castle and Sunrise Countdown). This year will be huge for Demon Slayer fans, as the first movie of the Infinity Castle trilogy will be released soon. Every fan is…

Comprehensive ecosystem offers institutional-grade trading, custody, and wealth management solutions—all under one roof. As bitcoin matures from niche asset into essential financial cornerstone, individuals and institutions require an integrated, trustworthy, and sophisticated partner across their entire bitcoin journey. At Onramp, we’ve meticulously developed a full-suite bitcoin financial services ecosystem designed to seamlessly support you from initial accumulation through long-term stewardship, inheritance planning, and beyond. Introducing Onramp Trade We’re proud to announce the launch of Onramp Trade, our institutional-grade trading platform dedicated exclusively to bitcoin. With Onramp Trade, clients benefit from: Industry-leading liquidity, ensuring optimal trade execution. Bitcoin-only focus, reflecting our unwavering…