Nickie Louise

Author

Nickie is a writer, editor, and co-founder of TechStartups.com based in the Washington Metropolitan Area. She covers early-stage startups, AI, emerging technologies, cryptocurrencies, gaming, and gadgets. When she’s not writing about innovation, Nickie enjoys crafts, spending time with her family and children, hiking, and exploring God’s majestic creation.

Artificial Intelligence / Deep Tech / Defense / Featured / Legal / Startup Spotlight / Startups / Tech Startup News / Tech Startups / Technology News

Former Google engineer convicted of stealing AI trade secrets in landmark U.S. espionage case

Nickie Louise Posted On January 30, 2026

A federal jury in San Francisco has delivered a verdict that lands at the center of the global AI race, the Department of Justice announced Friday. On Thursday, jurors convicted a former Google software engineer of stealing sensitive AI trade […]

259 Views

Latest Tech News / Technology News

Top Tech News Today, January 30, 2026

Nickie Louise Posted On January 30, 2026

It’s Friday, January 30, 2026, and today’s global tech landscape is being reshaped by the rising cost of AI scale, deepening regulatory scrutiny, and the physical limits of infrastructure. Big Tech earnings exposed how capital-intensive the AI race has become, […]

929 Views

Acquisition / Artificial Intelligence / Featured / Space / Startup Spotlight / Startups / Tech Startup News / Tech Startups / Technology News

SpaceX explores merger with Tesla or xAI as Elon Musk weighs empire consolidation

Nickie Louise Posted On January 30, 2026

Elon Musk may be preparing his boldest corporate reshuffle yet, and this one could redraw the lines between rockets, electric cars, and artificial intelligence. SpaceX is quietly weighing deals that would bring one of Musk’s other companies under the same […]

568 Views

Artificial Intelligence / Startup Funding / Startup Spotlight / Startups / Tech Startup News / Tech Startups / Technology News

Top Startup and Tech Funding News – January 29, 2025

Nickie Louise Posted On January 29, 2026

It’s Thursday, January 29, 2026, and we’re back with today’s top startup and tech funding news. Today’s deals reflect deepening investor commitment to AI cloud infrastructure, chiplet interconnects, fintech orchestration, and scalable biotech. As competition accelerates in AI and advanced […]

765 Views

Acquisition / Artificial Intelligence / Featured / Startup Spotlight / Startups / Tech Startup News / Tech Startups / Technology News

Apple acquires Israeli AI startup Q.ai for close to $2B to boost audio and on-device intelligence

Nickie Louise Posted On January 29, 2026

Apple just made one of its biggest bets yet on AI and audio, and it did it in its usual quiet way. The company has acquired Israeli artificial intelligence startup Q.ai, Apple confirmed Thursday. Financial terms were not officially disclosed, though […]

763 Views

Cryptocurrency / Partnerships / Startup Spotlight / Tech Startup News / Tech Startups / Technology News

KuCoin partners with Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar to advance trust and performance in crypto

Nickie Louise Posted On January 29, 2026

Trust rarely announces itself. It shows up after years of pressure, scrutiny, and repeated proof. That idea sits at the center of KuCoin’s new partnership with Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar, a collaboration that links elite sport and global […]

473 Views

Cryptocurrency / Startup Spotlight / Startups / Tech Startup News / Tech Startups / Technology News

Sodot Launches Exchange API Key to Secure Automated Institutional Crypto Trading

Nickie Louise Posted On January 29, 2026

Crypto exchange hacks rarely start on-chain. They start quietly, off-chain, with a leaked API key. That weak spot has already cost the industry billions. From Safe-related breaches tied to Bybit, to incidents involving Swissborg and Dimo, attackers keep exploiting the […]

492 Views

Featured / Latest Tech News / Technology News

Top Tech News Today, January 29, 2026

Nickie Louise Posted On January 29, 2026

It’s Thursday, January 29, 2026, and today’s tech cycle is being shaped by a single force: AI moving from feature to infrastructure. Google is pushing Gemini directly into Chrome as a hands-on browsing agent, while OpenAI and Meta’s latest funding […]

1.1K Views

Artificial Intelligence / Featured / Startup Funding / Startup Spotlight / Startups / Tech Startup News / Tech Startups / Technology News

Tesla to invest $2B in Elon Musk’s xAI as Grok faces global regulatory pressure

Nickie Louise Posted On January 29, 2026

Tesla is writing a much bigger check into Elon Musk’s AI ambitions, linking the electric-vehicle maker more tightly to xAI at a moment when the startup is drawing attention from regulators across several continents. The company said Wednesday it has […]

565 Views

Artificial Intelligence / Featured / Startup Funding / Startup Spotlight / Startups / Tech Startup News / Tech Startups / Technology News

Top Startup and Tech Funding News – January 28, 2025

Nickie Louise Posted On January 28, 2026

It’s Wednesday, January 28, 2026, and we’re back with today’s top startup and tech funding news. Today’s capital flows reflect growing investor conviction in AI-native infrastructure, digital security, industrial autonomy, and next-gen productivity platforms. As AI applications mature across sectors, […]

1.1K Views

Artificial Intelligence / Cybersecurity / Featured / Security / Startup Funding / Startup Spotlight / Startups / Tech Startup News / Tech Startups / Technology News

Ex-Palantir engineers’ cybersecurity startup Outtake raises $40M with backing from Satya Nadella

Nickie Louise Posted On January 28, 2026

Alex Dhillon spent nearly five years inside Palantir, working on the company’s AI platforms and seeing firsthand how security systems strain under modern attack volume. He left in 2023 to start Outtake, betting that cybersecurity needed a reset built around […]

825 Views

Artificial Intelligence / Featured / Startup Funding / Startup Spotlight / Startups / Tech Startup News / Tech Startups / Technology News

SoftBank in talks to invest $30 billion more in OpenAI, pushing valuation toward $830B

Nickie Louise Posted On January 28, 2026

SoftBank is preparing to go even deeper on OpenAI. The Japanese conglomerate is in talks to invest up to $30 billion more in the company behind ChatGPT, according to a person familiar with the discussions. The new capital would form […]

562 Views

Cryptocurrency / Startup Spotlight / Tech Startup News / Tech Startups / Technology News

Oobit launches ‘Plug and Pay’ to let crypto wallets enable Visa payments with a single integration

Nickie Louise Posted On January 28, 2026

Crypto wallets have spent years promising everyday use. Oobit says that the moment is finally here. The Tether-backed payments company today introduced Plug and Pay, a turnkey embedded payments product that lets crypto wallets enable real-world spending inside their own […]

558 Views

Featured / Latest Tech News / Technology News

Top Tech News Today, January 28, 2026

Nickie Louise Posted On January 28, 2026

It’s Wednesday, January 28, 2026, and here are the top tech stories making waves today — from AI and startups to regulation and Big Tech. Today’s technology landscape reflects a widening divide between those building the infrastructure of the AI […]

1.5K Views

Artificial Intelligence / Featured / Layoff / Startup Spotlight / Startups / Tech Startup News / Tech Startups / Technology News

Amazon lays off 16,000 corporate employees in push to reduce bureaucracy and fund AI

Nickie Louise Posted On January 28, 2026

Amazon is cutting roughly 16,000 corporate jobs, marking its second major round of layoffs since October and extending a multiyear effort to slim down the company’s white-collar workforce. The move lands at a moment when the tech giant is pouring […]

537 Views

Artificial Intelligence / Startup Funding / Startup Spotlight / Startups / Tech Startup News / Tech Startups / Technology News

Top Startup and Tech Funding News – January 27, 2025

Nickie Louise Posted On January 27, 2026

It’s Tuesday, January 27, 2026, and we’re back with today’s top startup and tech funding news. Today’s capital flows underscore continued investor appetite for verticalized AI agents, industrial automation, cybersecurity, and orbital infrastructure. As generative AI settles into enterprise stacks, […]

1.7K Views

Artificial Intelligence / Featured / Startup Funding / Startup Spotlight / Startups / Tech Startup News / Tech Startups / Technology News

Anthropic closes over $10B in funding round at $350B valuation as AI mega-rounds accelerate

Nickie Louise Posted On January 27, 2026

Anthropic is no longer just part of the AI conversation. It is starting to dominate it. The San Francisco–based company has closed its latest funding round above its original $10 billion target, landing somewhere between $10 billion and $15 billion […]

701 Views

Artificial Intelligence / Cryptocurrency / Featured / Startup Funding / Startup Spotlight / Startups / Tech Startup News / Tech Startups / Technology News

Consio AI raises $3.3M to build the phone layer of e-commerce after 10× revenue growth

Nickie Louise Posted On January 27, 2026

Most ecommerce teams live inside dashboards, email flows, and chat widgets. The phone often gets ignored, even though it remains the final step for shoppers making large purchases. Consio AI is betting that this blind spot is costing brands real […]

596 Views

Featured / Space / Startup Funding / Startup Spotlight / Startups / Tech Startup News / Tech Startups / Technology News

From Disney Star to Space CEO: Bridgit Mendler Raises $100M for Space Startup Northwood

Nickie Louise Posted On January 27, 2026

Two years ago, when Bridgit Mendler quietly stepped into the space industry, the story wasn’t about splashy valuations or government contracts. It was about antennas, ground stations, and a belief that the hardest part of space wasn’t getting rockets off […]

618 Views

Artificial Intelligence / Cryptocurrency / Featured / Layoff / Startup Funding / Startup Spotlight / Startups / Tech Startup News / Tech Startups / Technology News

Pinterest lays off 15% of employees as it shifts resources to AI

Nickie Louise Posted On January 27, 2026

Pinterest is laying off 15% of its workforce as it doubles down on artificial intelligence, joining a growing list of tech companies reshaping teams around AI-first priorities. In a securities filing released Tuesday, Pinterest said it plans to cut its […]

770 Views

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