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A market research startup turned down a $125 million Series C term sheet, likely due to acquisition talks with a CRM giant. The startup, valued at $1.5 billion, has about $30 million in annualized revenue and is three times more profitable than a competitor valued at $2 billion. Fortune 500 companies rely on this startup's AI to develop survey questions and package customer interviews into reports. If acquisition talks fail, the startup will likely return to the market aiming for a $2 billion valuation or higher. The CRM giant may find the 67 times revenue multiple too steep, leading to uncertainty in the startup's future.
Automattic's CEO was put on leave by the board against his will, sparking accusations of conspiracy from the CEO himself. The CEO, who was informed of the decision just 50 minutes before the board meeting, claims he was denied time to review the resolution with legal counsel. This move comes amidst a series of controversies, including lawsuits with WP Engine and layoffs of 16% of the staff in April 2025. Despite the internal strife, the CEO's role as the leader of the WordPress project remains unaffected. This is a significant shift for Automattic, a company with a history of legal battles and internal conflicts. Let's dive deeper…
In today's ContentBuffer update:
AI Risk Expert Joins OpenAI Board to Tackle Model Safety
Apple Reveals iPhone Duo: A Foldable Phone for $1,999
Apple's AI Strategy: iPhone as the Central Hub
Apple Launches iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max with 48MP Camera
5 new AI tools & 5 new AI jobs
More tech news
Latest Development
Image source: techcrunch.com
Summary: A market research startup rejected a $125M term sheet, potentially due to acquisition talks with a CRM giant. If talks fail, the startup aims for a $2B valuation.
Key Points:
Startup rejected a $125 million Series C term sheet at a $1.5 billion valuation.
Annualized revenue of $30 million, three times that of a competitor valued at $2 billion.
Fortune 500 companies use the startup's AI to develop survey questions and package customer interviews into reports.
Acquisition talks with a CRM giant are ongoing, potentially valued at $2 billion.
If acquisition fails, startup aims for a $2 billion valuation or higher.
Why it matters: If you're a Fortune 500 company relying on market research to gauge customer needs and satisfaction, the startup's technology helps reduce the time and cost of these projects. The uncertainty around the startup's future could impact the reliability and cost of market research services.
Image source: techcrunch.com
Summary: Automattic's CEO put on leave amid accusations of conspiracy by the CFO. The decision comes as the company faces ongoing legal battles and recent layoffs.
Key Points:
CEO put on leave by board, accused of conspiracy by CFO, 50 minutes before board meeting
CEO denied time to review resolution with legal counsel, layoffs of 16% in April 2025
CEO's role in WordPress remains unaffected despite internal turmoil at Automattic
Company involved in lawsuits with WP Engine since October 2024, allegations of abuse of power
Automattic owns brands like Tumblr, WooCommerce, and Pocket Casts, founded in 2003
Why it matters: This decision impacts Automattic's leadership and internal dynamics, affecting the company's direction and its relationship with the open-source community. The CEO's leave could influence the company's stance in ongoing legal battles and future product development. For developers and users of Automattic's products, this could mean changes in the company's approach to open-source contributions and community engagement.
Image source: techcrunch.com
Summary: AI risk expert joins OpenAI board to address safety concerns. The researcher will focus on mitigating catastrophic risks due to rapid AI advancements.
Key Points:
AI researcher joins OpenAI board to tackle risk of catastrophic loss of control due to rapid advancements in AI capabilities.
The researcher left OpenAI in 2021 to focus on determining if an AI model could threaten its human creators.
The researcher founded the Alignment Research Center to focus on AI safety issues.
The researcher will continue advising the U.S. government's AI Safety Institute while serving on the OpenAI board.
The Safety and Security Committee, led by a professor from Carnegie Mellon University, has final say on model releases.
Why it matters: If you're working on AI projects, this move by the researcher could impact your safety protocols and model release decisions. The researcher's affiliation with both OpenAI and the U.S. government's AI Safety Institute highlights the growing concern over AI risk management and the need for robust safety measures.
Image source: techcrunch.com
Summary: Apple unveiled the iPhone Duo, a foldable phone with a 7.6-inch display. Priced at $1,999, it's a must-have for power users craving a large screen in a compact form.
Key Points:
iPhone Duo features a 7.6-inch Retina display when unfolded and a 5.4-inch outer display, priced at $1,999 for 256GB.
Custom nanotexture finish hides the crease and reduces glare, making the under-display camera almost invisible.
A20 Pro chip powers the device, enabling faster uploads and supporting Apple Pencil usage later this year.
iOS 27 adapts to the new form factor, with essential controls like Wi-Fi moving to the side and dock vertically oriented.
Foldables contribute to less than 2% of shipments, but Apple's entry could garner up to 25% market share by year-end.
Why it matters: The iPhone Duo is a game-changer for power users needing large screens but wanting a compact form factor. Its 7.6-inch display, dual 48MP cameras, and iOS 27 adaptation make it a serious tool for those who can afford the $1,999 price tag. Pre-orders start October 16.
Image source: techcrunch.com
Summary: Apple's AI strategy is all about the iPhone, focusing on data privacy and on-device processing. This makes the iPhone the ideal AI device for users.
Key Points:
Apple's AI platform runs on-device whenever possible, prioritizing data privacy and security.
The iPhone's powerful processor can run AI models locally, ensuring quick and secure processing.
High-quality cameras and microphones in the iPhone enhance AI capabilities like voice and image recognition.
Seamless integration with other devices and services makes the iPhone an 'intelligent personal hub'.
Apple's focus on the iPhone as the central AI device sets it apart from competitors in the market.
Why it matters: If you're developing AI applications for mobile devices, Apple's focus on the iPhone means you need to prioritize data privacy and on-device processing. This approach ensures a more secure and integrated user experience, setting the iPhone apart from other devices in the market.
Image source: techcrunch.com
Summary: Apple unveiled the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max with a 48MP camera and improved battery life. Pro photographers and videographers will love the new features.
Key Points:
iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max feature 48MP camera with variable aperture and six thin blades for improved low-light photography.
New pro controls in camera software include white balance, shutter speed, aperture, and histogram for precise adjustments.
4K videos in Dolby Vision HDR can be recorded and edited with cinematic effects post-shooting, enhancing video quality.
iPhone 18 Pro supports 36 hours of video playback, while the Pro Max supports 45 hours, offering extended battery life.
Pre-orders start Saturday, September 9, with devices available September 18, priced at $1,199 and $1,299 respectively.
Why it matters: If you're a professional photographer or videographer, the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max's 48MP camera and improved battery life are a game-changer. The new pro controls and cinematic effects make post-production easier and more efficient. However, the $100 price increase might make you think twice.
New Tools & Job
MachineTranslation.com - MachineTranslation.com is an AI-powered translation platform that translates text and documents by comparing outputs from multiple leading AI translation models. Its consensus technology helps users choose the most accurate translation, reducing errors and improving quality across more than 330 languages. What it does Translates text and documents using AI. Compares translations from multiple AI models. Provides a consensus translation to improve accuracy. Supports 330+ languages. Helps users evaluate and refine translations. What makes it good Higher accuracy: Compares multiple AI translations instead of relying on a single model. Better quality: Consensus technology helps identify the strongest translation. Fast and easy: Delivers results in seconds with a simple interface. Broad language support: Covers over 330 languages. Useful for professionals and travelers: Suitable for business, marketing, legal, technical, and everyday communication.
Format Factory - Format Factory is a browser-based workbench for common audio and video conversion jobs. It supports batch processing for video and audio conversion, compression, merging, audio extraction, and audio removal, with transparent credits and temporary results. Try Format Factory for practical media conversion without installer bundles or per-file setup.
HappyHorse.AI - HappyHorse.AI is a multimodal AI video generator for creators, marketers, and social media teams. Users can create videos from text prompts, animate images, or generate videos from reference characters. The platform focuses on browser-based video creation and native audio support.
NeatScribe - NeatScribe is designed for anyone who needs to reuse information from recorded speech. It creates timestamped transcripts, supports translation, and exports results as text files, documents, subtitles, captions, or timed lyrics.
Sakana Marlin - Sakana Marlin is Sakana AI's first commercial product: an autonomous 'Ultra Deep Research' agent positioned as a Virtual Chief Strategy Officer. Given a research topic, Marlin works autonomously for up to roughly eight hours, forming hypotheses, gathering and reconciling information from online sources, and synthesizing a detailed strategy report up to ~100 pages plus executive-summary slides. It builds on Sakana AI research including AB-MCTS (NeurIPS 2025 Spotlight) and The AI Scientist (published in Nature). A closed beta ran from April 2026 with ~300 professionals across finance and consulting.
Forward Deployed Engineer - UK - Forward Deployed Engineer - UK at GitLab — sourced first-party from greenhouse:gitlab on 2026-05-25.
Staff Machine Learning Engineer (Fullscript) - Staff ML engineer at Fullscript building AI capabilities for clinicians on the integrative-medicine platform.
AI Engineer (Impiricus) - AI engineer designing LLM interaction pipelines and integrating GenAI into Impiricus's healthcare-comms platform.
Sr. AI Engineer (24-month fixed term) — Khan Academy - Senior AI engineer integrating AI into Khan Academy's learning products on a 24-month fixed-term contract.
Applied AI Engineer (Future) - Applied AI engineer at Future building agentic, tool-calling LLM systems for end users.
QUICK HITS
DOJ Sends Second Request to Fox and Roku Over $22B Deal - DOJ sends a second request to Fox and Roku over their $22B deal, raising questions about bias and impact on rivals. This is a big antitrust test for politically sensitive mergers.
AI Researchers Push for Radical Approach to Stop Superintelligence - AI safety advocates, including ControlAI's U.S. Executive Director, are pushing for a radical approach to halt the development of superintelligent AI systems due to recent safety incidents and the inability to reliably control such systems.
Instinct Launches Email Accounts for $2.5B AI Assistant - Instinct, valued at $2.5 billion, launches email accounts for its AI assistant, enabling autonomous task management and enhancing user privacy. Worth watching for anyone tired of email clutter.
inDrive Adds 25 Markets to Its Ad Business, 2B+ Impressions - inDrive's ad business has grown 25X in 6 months, targeting a unique audience through its Ride Media platform. Why it matters: inDrive can now offer advertisers a new way to reach users based on location data.
AI Researcher Resigns Over Unchecked Self-Improving AI Risks - AI researcher quits over fears of unchecked self-improving AI, citing potential human extinction by 2030. Policymakers and industry insiders push for stricter regulation.
Shipt Launches AI-Powered 'Ask Shipt' Tool - Shipt launches 'Ask Shipt', an AI assistant that turns natural language prompts into customized shopping carts, making grocery shopping more intuitive and efficient.
THAT'S A WRAP
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Automattic's CEO was put on leave by the board, accused of conspiracy by the CFO. The decision comes amid ongoing legal battles and layoffs. The CEO's leave doesn't affect his role in WordPress.
A16z Crypto has revamped its Jolt proof system with post-quantum security, enhancing both performance and security for quantum computing. This upgrade is a major step forward in quantum-resistant cryptography.
Apple doubles down on the iPhone as its core AI device, despite 20 years of wearables and other gadgets. The iPhone's power and adaptability make it irreplaceable in the AI era.