People without coding backgrounds are discovering that they can build their own custom apps using so-called vibe coding — solutions like Lovable that turn plain-language descriptions into working code. While these prompt-to-code tools can help create nice prototypes, launching them into full-scale production (as this reporter recently discovered) can be tricky without figuring out how to connect t...
People without coding backgrounds are discovering that they can build their own custom apps using so-called vibe coding — solutions like Lovable that turn plain-language descriptions into working code. While these prompt-to-code tools can help create nice prototypes, launching them into full-scale production (as this reporter recently discovered) can be tricky without figuring out how to connect the application with external tech services, such as those that can send text messages via SMS, email, and process Stripe payments. Ilan Zerbib, who spent five years as Shopify’s director of engineering for payments, is building a solution that could eliminate these backend infrastructure headaches for non-technical creators. Last summer, Zerbib launched Sapiom, a startup developing the financial layer that allows AI agents to securely purchase and access software, APIs, data, and compute — essentially creating a payment system that lets AI automatically buy the services it needs. Every time an AI agent connects to an external tool like Twilio for SMS, it requires authentication and a micro-payment. Sapiom’s goal is to make this whole process seamless, letting the AI agent decide what to buy and when without human intervention. “In the future, apps are going to consume services which require payments. Right now, there’s no easy way for agents to actually access all of that,” said Amit Kumar, a partner at Accel. Kumar has met with dozens of startups in the AI payments space, but he believes Zerbib’s focus on the financial layer for enterprises, rather than consumers, is what’s truly needed to make AI agents work. That’s why Accel is leading Sapiom’s $15 million seed round, with participation from Okta Ventures, Array Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Anthropic, and Coinbase Ventures. Techcrunch event TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026: Tickets Live On June 23 in Boston, more than 1,100 founders come together at TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026 for a full day focused on growth, execution, a...
Iran’s state-run Press TV said on Thursday that “one of the country’s most advanced long-range ballistic missile Khorramshahr 4” has been deployed at one of the Revolutionary Guards aerospace underground missile cities. The Khorramshahr 4 has a range of 2,000 km (1,240 miles) and is capable of carrying a 1,500kg (3,3300lbs) warhead, it added. State media said: “The operational deployment of ...
Iran’s state-run Press TV said on Thursday that “one of the country’s most advanced long-range ballistic missile Khorramshahr 4” has been deployed at one of the Revolutionary Guards aerospace underground missile cities. The Khorramshahr 4 has a range of 2,000 km (1,240 miles) and is capable of carrying a 1,500kg (3,3300lbs) warhead, it added. State media said: “The operational deployment of the Khorramshahr-4 in missile cities on Wednesday coincides with the announced shift in the armed forces’ doctrine from defensive to offensive and carries a clear message to regional and extra-regional adversaries.” Advertisement Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, meanwhile, has departed for the Omani capital Muscat at the head of a diplomatic delegation for nuclear talks with the United States to be held on Friday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s spokesman said. The US and Iran have agreed to hold talks, officials for both sides said, even as they remain at odds over Washington’s insistence that negotiations must include Tehran’s missile arsenal and Iran’s vow to discuss only its nuclear programme. Advertisement Iran will engage in the talks “with authority and with the aim of reaching a fair, mutually acceptable and dignified understanding on the nuclear issue”, the spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, said on Thursday. “We hope the American side will also participate in this process with responsibility, realism and seriousness,” Baghaei added.
On an earlier than usual Six Nations opening night, Ireland fluffed their lines in Paris on Thursday, beginning their 2026 campaign with a resounding 36-14 defeat by France that was as bruising to the ego as it was the body. These sides may have won the past four titles in this competition between them but, for the second season in a row, there was only one winner when they went head-to-head. An I...
On an earlier than usual Six Nations opening night, Ireland fluffed their lines in Paris on Thursday, beginning their 2026 campaign with a resounding 36-14 defeat by France that was as bruising to the ego as it was the body. These sides may have won the past four titles in this competition between them but, for the second season in a row, there was only one winner when they went head-to-head. An Ireland performance that was described by their head coach Andy Farrell as lacking "intent" continued a number of worrying trends from both the autumn and prior. Coming into the game as considerable underdogs, the head coach had tried to reframe the changing narrative as his side now being the hunter rather than hunted. For much of the 80 minutes in Paris, they looked like easy prey for superior opposition. "It's coming again next week [against Italy]," former Ireland lock Donncha O'Callaghan told BBC Sport. "This Irish team are on the ropes and everyone is coming after them - they might be the hunted again. They have to find the answers because Six Nations rugby is ruthless and they need to stop the rot."
tiero/iStock via Getty Images IREN Limited ( IREN ) shares are dropping after hours on Thursday as the company reported second quarter results amid a sector-wide selloff that has made investors suddenly very wary of high-multiple AI players. The current downtrend could accelerate, and I continue to see IREN as overvalued from a long-term perspective. Data by YCharts In my last piece on IREN, I dis...
tiero/iStock via Getty Images IREN Limited ( IREN ) shares are dropping after hours on Thursday as the company reported second quarter results amid a sector-wide selloff that has made investors suddenly very wary of high-multiple AI players. The current downtrend could accelerate, and I continue to see IREN as overvalued from a long-term perspective. Data by YCharts In my last piece on IREN, I discussed the company's risk factors as a Bitcoin transplant with no real competitive moat to speak of, and I rated the stock a Sell on these concerns. That article was published when the stock was trading at $67 per share, after which it promptly fell off a cliff and is down 40% since (and another 10% in the after hours trading session as I write this). That article can be read here . Before we get into any earnings results, I think it's important to note that the actual contents of the report matter a good deal less than the industry wide selloff that is crushing AI stocks left and right at the moment. Microsoft ( MSFT ), Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ), and now Amazon ( AMZN ), which is down 10% after hours, have all been battered by the market as the ongoing sector rotation speeds up rapidly. And if the heavy hitters in tech are losing 13%, it's no surprise stocks like IREN are getting it even worse. While the bull market sometimes makes us forget they can happen at all, this is what a risk-off correction looks like. Neocloud companies like IREN are even more acutely at risk because much of their revenue is backlogged and dependent on the continued health of the industry -- when things start to go south, that has major ripple effects for future earnings expectations. To make matters worse still, IREN is really the only major neocloud operator whose operating results still have a tangible dependence on Bitcoin, which is what its GPUs were previously used for. Like the rest of the market, Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) is cratering, down 30% in the last month and down 12% just today! Ok...