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Some of the most recognizable artwork depicting the American West is heading to auction at Christie’s, where dozens of pieces from billionaire Bill Koch’s collection are expected to fetch at least $50 million.The in-person “Visions of the West” sale will take place in New York over two sessions beginning Jan. 20, with the final lots offered — appropriately — at high noon the following day. Koch’s holdings include major works by Frederic Remington, Charles Marion Russell and Albert Bierstadt, artists whose images of cowboys, Native Americans and sweeping landscapes helped define how generations came to picture the American frontier.Tylee Abbott,…
Unacademy, once one of India’s best-known edtech startups, may now be worth less than $500 million, 85% less than its pandemic-era peak valuation, as the company undergoes a steep reset and explores merger and acquisition options. In a detailed note posted on X on Wednesday marking the startup’s 10th anniversary, Unacademy’s CEO Gaurav Munjal said the startup’s valuation has fallen sharply from its $3.5 billion peak three years ago to less than $500 million today. He also confirmed the startup is in M&A talks. India’s edtech landscape has fractured since the pandemic, when the sector saw a rare moment of…
AI agents are being sold as the solution for planning trips, answering business questions, and solving problems of all kinds, but getting them to work with tools and data outside their chat interfaces has been tricky. Developers have to patch together various connectors and keep them running, but that’s a fragile approach that’s hard to scale and creates governance headaches. Google claims it’s trying to solve that by launching its own fully managed, remote MCP servers that would make its Google and Cloud services — like Maps and BigQuery — easier for agents to plug into. The move follows the…
The American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) has announced the finalists for its highly anticipated 2025 advisor awards.Honoring outstanding excellence, innovation and leadership across the travel advisor community, winners will be revealed at the inaugural ASTA Globes celebration at Chicago’s historic Palmer House on January 22, 2026. “Travel advisors fuel the creativity, expertise and human connection that inspire travelers to explore the world,” ASTA President and CEO Zane Kerby said in a statement.”The finalists for this year’s advisor awards embody the very best of our profession. We’re proud to honor their achievements at the first ASTA Globes, an event created…
Oboe, a learning startup from Anchor co-founders and former Spotify execs Nir Zicherman and Michael Mignano, said today it has raised $16 million in Series A funding led by a16z, with participation from existing investors Eniac, Haystack, Offline, and Factorial. The round also saw investments from individuals such as Adam D’Angelo, Garry Tan, Lenny Rachitsky, Mati Staniszewski, Mikey Shulman, Jared Hecht, and M.G. Siegler. That platform, which officially launched in September, allows users to define a learning goal and use AI to create a course for them. The startup’s fundraise comes three months after the app’s launch and a year…
by Phil Cappelli Last updated: 11:25 AM ET, Wed December 10, 2025 Holland America Line is enhancing its 2027 Alaska cruisetour season with a new inclusive dining package and an expanded Denali lodge for trips into Denali National Park. The upgrades coincide with the cruise line’s 80th year exploring Alaska, a milestone season that will offer 19 itineraries paired with a three- to seven-day cruise aboard Koningsdam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Westerdam or Zaandam. The Denali Lodge is currently undergoing a $70 million transformation that will be complete ahead of the 2027 season. It will feature an updated main lodge, a contemporary restaurant…
Amazon announced on Wednesday that customers in over 2,300 cities and towns in the U.S. can now get fresh groceries through its Same-Day Delivery service. The e-commerce giant says it will expand the service to additional cities in 2026. Amazon launched the ability to order perishable items via Same-Day Delivery in August, a move that was seen as a way for the company to compete more directly with Instacart and Walmart+ in the quick-commerce space. Since launch, customers have ordered fresh fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, seafood, baked goods, and frozen foods alongside electronics, books, pantry staples, and snacks, as well…
Apple on Wednesday released its annual list of the most downloaded apps and games for the year. For the U.S. market, OpenAI’s ChatGPT topped the ranks of free iPhone apps (not including games) with the most installs in 2025. The AI app was followed by Threads, Google, TikTok, WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, Google Maps, Gmail, and Google’s Gemini. ChatGPT made it to No. 4 last year, but the top spot was taken by Chinese shopping app Temu. In 2023, the AI app didn’t make the top-10 list despite being released on the iPhone in May 2023 to a strong debut. The…
by Lacey Pfalz Last updated: 9:00 AM ET, Wed December 10, 2025 A survey found that a major New Year’s resolution for Americans is to travel more in 2026, and Marriott Bonvoy is launching a new way for travelers to reach their travel goals: a giveaway with one million Marriott Bonvoy points. The survey was conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of Marriott Bonvoy, asking over 2,000 American travelers what they hope to achieve next year. The survey found that 91 percent of Americans plan to travel next year, with 49 percent wanting to travel more in 2026 than they…
ElevenLabs has made a name for itself building realistic AI voices. What started as two Polish engineers annoyed by terrible movie dubbing has grown into a profitable company now valued at $6.6 billion, doubling from just nine months ago. The company recently announced a $100 million tender offer led by Sequoia and ICONIQ, with participation from a16z and others, as its tech powers everything from Fortnite characters to customer service bots and goes toe-to-toe with OpenAI to become the default voice of AI. Today on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, we’re bringing you a conversation with CEO Mati Staniszewski from this year’s Disrupt, where…