While users may be averse to bots visibly taking notes during meetings, many are indifferent if an application on a participant’s computer is performing the transcription. This fundamental aspect has contributed to Granola’s rise, enabling it to secure $125 million in Series C funding led by Danny Rimer at Index Ventures, with contributions from Mamoon Hamid at Kleiner Perkins. This has increased the company’s valuation to $1.5 billion, up from $250 million in the previous funding round.

The company also noted that current investors like Lightspeed, Spark, and NFDG took part in this financing round. Following this round, which is less than a year since its $43 million round, the startup has accumulated $192 million in total funding.

Transitioning from a prosumer application that operates on your computer, transcribes meetings, and produces notes, Granola has been developing features tailored for enterprise use. For example, last year, it began allowing team members to collaborate on notes. It has now established its presence in companies such as Vanta, Gusto, Thumbtack, Asana, Cursor, Lovable, Decagon, and Mistral AI, according to its claims.

Alongside the fundraising announcement, Granola is introducing a feature called Spaces, which essentially act as workspaces for teams. Users can also create Folders within these spaces. Spaces have detailed controls determining who can access specific sections. Users can search for notes from Spaces and folders individually.

The company acknowledges that AI meeting notes are now ubiquitous, with numerous providers offering this capability. Consequently, after launching a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server in February, the company is unveiling two new APIs for integrating the context of notes into AI workflows.

Granola has introduced a personal API that enables users to access their notes and those shared with them, along with an enterprise API for admins to utilize team context. The personal API is available to business and enterprise plan users, while the enterprise API is exclusive to enterprise clients.

The API introduction follows dissatisfaction from several users, including an a16z partner, over Granola’s decision to restrict its local database, disrupting on-device AI agent workflows previously established. Granola co-founder Chris Pedregal explained that the intent was not to restrict data but to reorganize how the local cache managed AI workflows. This alteration affected the agent workflows. Pedregal pledged at that time that Granola would release APIs to facilitate bulk data access and promised to find a solution for compatibility with local AI agents.

The company indicated that it is updating its MCP server to allow users to view notes in folders and notes that have been shared with them. It highlighted that its app is already compatible with tools such as Claude, ChatGPT, Lovable, Figma Make, Replit, Manus, v0, Bolt.new, Duckbill, and Dreamer, and the startup is actively pursuing additional partnerships.

As the practice of taking meeting notes becomes standard, startups in this field should focus on empowering users and businesses to act on the notes and transcriptions. This could involve writing follow-up emails, scheduling subsequent meetings, or extracting knowledge from company databases and CRMs to assist in finalizing leads. Several companies, including Read AI, Fireflies, and Quill, are already moving in this direction.

Meta is introducing Meta Small Business, a comprehensive initiative aimed at fostering entrepreneurship and promoting AI adoption, as reported by Axios on Wednesday.

Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, mentioned in a memo to employees that small enterprises have always played a significant role in the company’s business model, with millions of entrepreneurs currently utilizing its platforms to expand and engage with clients. The firm now intends to enhance its efforts in this area.

“In the AI age, it should be simpler than ever for individuals to establish new ventures,” Zuckerberg stated. “We aspire to develop the tools that facilitate this. This is crucial for ensuring that the wealth generated by superintelligence is widely shared.”

According to Axios, Meta Small Business will be overseen by Dina Powell McCormick, Meta President and Vice Chairman, along with product head Naomi Gleit.

Zuckerberg has encouraged product managers, designers, engineers, and other staff members to get in touch if they are keen on participating in the new initiative.

On Wednesday, energy startup Arbor Energy announced the sale of up to 5 gigawatts of its modular turbines to GridMarket, which supports power project arrangements for data centers and industrial clients. 

“Demand for power is high. They desired it yesterday,” stated Arbor co-founder and CEO Brad Hartwig to TechCrunch. “Deadlines are tightening, and the scale is expanding.”

Arbor’s Halcyon turbines leverage rocket turbomachinery, advanced engine technology originally intended for space missions, with the inaugural commercial turbines being 3D printed and capable of producing 25 megawatts each. GridMarket’s order could total 200 units if completely fulfilled.

Neither company revealed the specific deal price; however, Hartwig mentioned that Arbor has noted a “willingness to pay of over $100 per megawatt-hour.” An insider shared with TechCrunch that the overall amount is in the single-digit billion range.

The startup aims to link its first turbine to the grid by 2028 and increase production through 2030, at which point it aspires to provide over 100 turbines each year. Hartwig explained that the long-term target is to generate sufficient capacity for 10 gigawatts annually.

Initially, Arbor designed Halcyon to operate on a vegetarian diet — the power plant would process organic materials such as crop residues and wood waste from agriculture and timber industry, transforming them into syngas — a flammable gas mixture — and combusting it with pure oxygen. The outcome would be pure CO₂, which could be captured and stored underground.

Through this process, each Halcyon turbine would produce carbon-negative electricity. The organic materials used would have otherwise decomposed, emitting methane and carbon dioxide into the environment.

Subsequent to that, Arbor has adapted Halcyon to utilize natural gas alongside biomass — effectively turning it into an omnivore. The procedure essentially remains unchanged, meaning the CO₂ produced can still be sequestered. 

Due to the incorporation of natural gas, it would not be carbon negative in that framework. In fact, since methane escapes from pipes and valves within the supply chain, Halcyon turbines operating on fossil fuels will generate some greenhouse gas emissions while also sustaining ongoing natural gas demand. Hartwig indicated that the firm collaborates with low-leak natural gas providers and that it’s “economically advantageous to sequester that CO₂.”

“We envision a long-term trajectory of less than 10 grams of CO₂ for each kilowatt-hour,” Hartwig remarked. This is considerably lower compared to conventional natural gas power plants without carbon capture, which emit approximately 400 grams of CO₂ per kilowatt-hour.

Arbor continues to pursue its biomass-powered initiatives, and the contract with GridMarket is not limited to a solitary fuel type. Nonetheless, other confirmed agreements based on biomass are significantly smaller than the one with GridMarket.

Like many energy startups, Arbor has gained considerable momentum from the surge in data center demand. Manufacturers of traditional gas turbines were unprepared, and given the past volatility of such markets, they have hesitated to substantially increase output. Hartwig expressed that they would struggle to rapidly boost production, even if they desired to. 

“Supply chains for traditional turbines mainly get bottlenecked by blades and vanes. These are quite rigid supply chains, both in terms of the artisanal production method — creating directionally solidified, single-crystal turbine blades — as well as the highly specialized labor that supports it,” he explained. “If you were to place an order for a turbine now, you would be waiting until 2032.”

Arbor is banking on its machined and 3D printed components to accelerate its market entry. “People require power in the near future and in substantial quantities,” Hartwig noted.

Meta aims to harness the potential of AI to guide and possibly affect shoppers in order to boost sales on its social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.

During the Shoptalk 2026 conference this week, the technology leader revealed plans to pilot a new feature that enables users to access more detailed product information and a summary of customer reviews after interacting with an ad or browsing a website via Facebook or Instagram.

This new feature resembles Amazon’s implementation of generative AI to improve its product reviews, which was rolled out in 2023. Rather than forcing customers to sift through numerous reviews to gauge public opinion on a product, Amazon utilizes AI to condense the reviews into a concise summary presented on the product page.

Meta intends to apply AI similarly. In the updated pop-up feature that will display, the AI tool can provide a summary of “what consumers are saying” regarding the specific product. This summary may feature a short introduction followed by essential bullet points.

Moreover, within Meta’s applications, the function will also deliver additional general information, including insights about the brand, suggested products, possible discounts or promotions, and a button to add the product to the user’s cart found on each product page.

Subsequently, users will experience an improved checkout process developed in collaboration with payment service providers Stripe and PayPal, which enables customers to finalize their purchases with a simple tap. Meta mentions that it is also in the process of integrating with Ayden and Shopify, which will be introduced later.

Advertisers have the flexibility to choose their preferred checkout partner, ensuring that when a user clicks the “Buy Now” button, they can seamlessly complete their purchase and fulfill the order without leaving Meta’s app.

These modifications to the checkout process coincide with further enhancements to Meta’s product discovery functionalities and features.

This encompasses an update designed for creators, which provides them with a broader array of affiliate partners to collaborate with on Facebook, in response to increasing competition with TikTok. The affiliate newcomers feature brands like Amazon, eBay, and Temu in the U.S., Mercado Libre in Latin America, and Shopee across Asia.

Later this year on Instagram, Meta will also trial affiliate partnerships with Amazon (U.S.) and Shopee (Asia). Partners will select the products they wish to highlight and decide the commission rates for sales made through the creator’s account.

Additionally, creators on Instagram Reels will have access to product catalogs from businesses in 22 countries, assisting them in identifying products to showcase in their videos.

Sony Honda Mobility, the collaboration formed by the two Japanese giants, has chosen to abandon the two “Afeela”-branded electric vehicles that it has been working on for the last few years.

This choice follows Honda’s announcement earlier this month regarding a significant reversal, leading to the cancellation of three electric vehicles intended for the U.S. market — a move that could cost the Japanese carmaker nearly $16 billion. Honda cited President Trump’s tariffs and increasing competition from China as factors in this decision.

Sony Honda Mobility announced on Wednesday that it had intended to utilize “certain technologies and assets” from Honda to create and support the Afeela sedan and SUV, explaining that Honda’s shift in strategy has left the partnership unable to proceed with the development of these vehicles. The Afeela 1 sedan was set to debut later this year with a staggering starting price of approximately $90,000.

The future of the joint venture, and the several hundred employees it has in Tokyo and California, remains uncertain. Sony Honda Mobility stated in a press release on Wednesday that it will “continue to discuss and evaluate the future of” the venture with Sony and Honda, indicating that the parties will “jointly announce SHM’s future direction, mid to long-term positioning as well as contributions to the future of mobility at the earliest possible opportunity.”

The world first became aware of Sony’s ambitions to create a car at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show, when the electronics behemoth unveiled a concept vehicle known as the Vision-S at the conclusion of its keynote presentation. This unexpected reveal caught even Sony off guard regarding the level of interest the prototype garnered.

Initially, it appeared that the Vision-S was designed to highlight Sony’s entertainment and electronics capabilities. It boasted a screen that spanned the dashboard, 360 audio, screens for rear passengers, and a collection of 33 sensors around the vehicle. “This prototype embodies our contribution to the future of mobility,” stated then-CEO Kenichiro Yoshida during the event.

The Vision-S was also reportedly a functioning vehicle, built on a platform supplied by leading automotive supplier Magna. It has never been entirely clear whether Sony’s initial intention was to build a real car. However, in 2022 the partnership with Honda was announced, with commitments to develop the sedan and an SUV version. In 2023, both companies introduced the Afeela branding.

The U.S. electric vehicle market has transformed dramatically since that time, impacted by tariffs and the Trump administration’s withdrawal from initiatives that promoted EV adoption. Numerous EV-centric startups have gone bankrupt. Others have shifted to hybrids and postponed their releases. Major automakers have scrapped plans for various electric vehicles in the pipeline. The federal EV tax credit has vanished, although state incentives persist.

The market prospects for the Afeela electric vehicles appeared dubious even before Honda’s recent announcement. The joint venture was entering a market already saturated with luxury vehicles boasting stronger branding (like Rivian) and cutting-edge technology (like Lucid Motors). The last decade has demonstrated that launching a new and sustainable automotive business in the U.S. is an exceptionally challenging undertaking, even for companies with substantial institutional support.

The social networking service X quickly reversed its statement concerning new guidelines for creator monetization, which had concentrated on earnings linked to engagement from a creator’s local audience.

On late Tuesday, X’s Head of Product Nikita Bier declared that beginning Thursday, the platform would revise its payout policy to prioritize impressions from the creator’s local area. He explained that the platform should discourage manipulating the algorithm by discussing topics related to the U.S. or Japan to attract larger audiences.

“We will prioritize impressions from your home region—to promote content that connects with individuals in your country, in surrounding countries, and those who speak your language,” Bier posted on X.

“While we value everyone’s input on American politics, we hope this will deter attempts to grab the attention of U.S. or Japanese accounts and instead, foster diverse discussions on the platform. We encourage creators to start cultivating a local audience. X will thrive as a community when there are relevant posts for individuals worldwide.”

This announcement sparked considerable backlash from users globally who indicated that they discuss a variety of subjects in multiple languages, such as English, to attract more readers, especially since the usage of X in their home countries was relatively limited.

Just hours after the announcement, in response to a user, Elon Musk stated that the company will “halt any progress on this until further review,” effectively pausing the proposed changes.

Over the years, X has modified how account details are presented to prevent the spread of misinformation. Last November, the platform added a new section in the profile details to inform users about the country or region an account originates from. This initiative aimed to identify if an account is genuine or a malicious actor intending to disseminate misinformation—especially politically charged misinformation.

The new creator payout feature appears to have similar foundations, as accounts might be discussing issues pertinent to a specific region to attract attention. However, in its present form, the adjustment would have also affected individuals discussing sports, fashion, movies, or technology globally, not just political figures.

Earlier this year, X altered its policies to incorporate a clause preventing accounts from receiving creator payouts for 90 days if they utilize AI to disseminate misleading content about warfare without any disclosures. The company indicated it would employ its AI capabilities and community notes to identify such contributors. Last month, Wired reported that X had become a fertile ground for misinformation following attacks by the U.S. and Israel on Iran, featuring AI-generated videos and misrepresenting video game clips as actual war footage.