X is launching its X Money app for paid X subscribers in the United States.
X is launching its X Money app for paid X subscribers in the United States. Users get an X Visa debit card, which they can immediately add to Apple Pay and use to make instant peer-to-peer transfers within the app without fees or limits. They will also receive a physical X Visa debit card which, according to X Money, has no foreign transaction fees and offers free cash withdrawals at worldwide ATMs. X Premium+ users (who pay $40 per month or $395 per year) are eligible for 6% APY, while Premium users (who pay $8 per month or $84 per year) can access the 6% rate if they link a direct deposit to their X Money account. X Money also says that users can get up to 3% cash back on certain purchases, and if they link a direct deposit, they can access that money a few days early. The release of X Money reflects a decades-long dream for Elon Musk. In 1999, he founded X.com as a financial services startup, which later merged into PayPal. When he acquired Twitter in 2022, Musk changed the name of the platform to X and repurchased the X.com domain name. Since the Twitter acquisition, Musk has repeatedly stated that he wants to turn the social platform into an “everything app,” and the rollout of X Money is part of that ambition.
Databricks on Thursday announced a new round of funding that values the company at $188 billion. The round was led by Coatue. Databricks didn’t disclose exactly how much it raised; it said the money isn’t in its hands yet and that the round will close later in this summer. (Other outlets have since reported the raise is roughly $3 billion.) While it’s unusual for a company to announce before it gets the money, a VC tells TechCrunch that the deal is solid, with so many firms wanting in that the company had no reason to keep its shiny new valuation a secret. In fact, Databricks has been on a year-and-a-half fundraising tear as it successfully transitioned its image into an AI provider and not just a yesteryear SaaS sensation. Yesteryear being back in the BC times (Before ChatGPT). Only five months ago, in February, Databricks closed a $5 billion Series L raise at a $134 billion valuation. Five months before that, in September 2025, it raised $1B at $100 billion valuation. And roughly nine months before that, in December 2024, it raised what was a record-breaking round at the time of $10 billion at a $62 billion valuation. Databricks has raised so many rounds over the years that this latest one became the subject of memes about running out of letters of the alphabet. “Turning on alerts for when we get a Series AA,” one person posted. But its image reconstruction has been legit. Founded in 2013, it initially grew to success back in the big data era, with software that enabled enterprises to store enormous amounts of data in the cloud, yet produce speedy analytics. Because it already sat on troves of enterprise data, Databricks was then well-positioned to respond as companies started wanting AI with the same security and governance they expect from traditional enterprise software. The company began rolling out one AI product after another, like Lakebase, its database built for AI agents, and Unity, its AI gateway, along with a “meta-harness” called Omnigent that manages multiple agents. Databricks also increasingly became known as one of the big examples of enterprises adopting more affordable Chinese-based open-weight models (models whose underlying code is published for anyone to use and modify) for cost control, one of the big trends of 2026. It is a particular champion of Z.ai’s GLM 5.2 as a model for coding. Last week Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi shared the results of some internal benchmarking done to manage his own AI costs for his 3,000 software engineers. The company compared AI models on the actual tasks its programmers do. Not surprisingly, in the blog post revealing the results, Databricks shared that “open models, and GLM 5.2 in particular, are now able to handle even the highest level of task difficulty” in coding, and at a total lower cost than proprietary models from Anthropic and OpenAI. But it did surprise people by finding that the choice of harness — the agentic coding tool, like Codex or Claude Code, that wraps around a model and manages its context and instructions — equally impacted costs. It found that open-source harness Pi to be one of the best at managing context surrounding each prompt, and therefore one of the lowest costs choices without sacrificing quality. “The lesson here isn’t that one harness is always cheaper or that native harnesses are worse,” the post declared. “Instead, model choice is only one piece of the puzzle.” All of this has added to Databricks image as an AI company, even if it wasn’t founded as an AI lab. This, in turn, has granted it the AI-halo for raising money and leaping its valuation. As we previously reported, the AI effect is so strong these days, that even sandwich shop Jersey Mike’s mentioned AI 22 times in its S-1 documents. When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
With just two weeks to go, StrictlyVC Los Angeles is quickly approaching. On Thursday, June 18, at The Aerospace Corporation Campus in El Segundo. Investors, founders, and tech leaders will gather for an evening of conversations exploring some of the most consequential shifts taking place across venture capital, defense technology, artificial intelligence, and advanced industry. Secure your spot here. For executives navigating a rapidly changing technology landscape, StrictlyVC offers something increasingly difficult to find: direct access to the people building, funding, and shaping the next generation of companies. The conversations are candid, the audience is highly curated, and the insights extend far beyond what can be found in headlines, podcasts, or social media feeds. Image Credits:Slava Blazer Photography / TechCrunch Who’s taking the stage in Los Angeles The evening begins with Ethan Thornton, founder of Mach Industries. In his session, “Built for a New Era of Defense Technology,” Thornton will share his perspective on building a hard tech company at speed and how advances in autonomy, manufacturing, and national security are transforming the defense sector. His story reflects a broader movement of founders tackling ambitious challenges in industries undergoing rapid change. The conversation continues with Delian Asparouhov of Founders Fund and Saif Khawaja of Shinkei Systems. Together, they will discuss the rise of physical AI and how developments in robotics, automation, and artificial intelligence are creating new opportunities to transform the physical world. Their discussion will offer insight into what it takes to build and scale breakthrough technologies beyond software alone. Also joining the lineup is Carter Reum, co-founder and partner at M13. In his session, “Finding the Next Big Thing,” Reum will explore how AI is reshaping industries and how investors are moving beyond short-term hype to identify companies built for long-term durability. He will share his perspective on where innovation is creating the most meaningful opportunities and how venture investing is evolving as new categories emerge. Image Credits:Slava Blazer Photography / Flickr (opens in a new window) Additional speakers and conversations will be announced soon as the StrictlyVC Los Angeles agenda continues to grow. Stay updated on the latest speaker announcements and event news. Grab your pass and join the conversations Beyond the conversations on stage, StrictlyVC Los Angeles is designed to bring together the people driving innovation across technology and venture capital. Throughout the evening, attendees will have opportunities to connect with founders, investors, and operators in an environment that encourages meaningful discussion and the exchange of ideas. Whether you are looking to expand your network, gain new perspectives, or discover emerging opportunities, the value of the event extends well beyond the scheduled sessions. Secure your spot here. Image Credits:TechCrunch When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
Loading the player… Defense tech is red hot right now. Anduril and Mach Industries just doubled and quadrupled their valuations, respectively, and the U.S. government is proposing a 40% increase in defense budget. A wave of new startups is chasing those government contracts, but according to Ross Fubini, the venture investor who wrote Anduril’s first check, most of them will get lost in the Valley of Death between prototype contract and real production deal. Watch as, on this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan asks Fubini — the founder and managing partner of XYZ Venture Capital, built on the Palantir alumni network and now approaching $2B AUM — what separates the survivors from the rest. Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Topics Theresa Loconsolo is an audio producer at TechCrunch focusing on Equity, the network’s flagship podcast. Before joining TechCrunch in 2022, she was one of 2 producers at a four-station conglomerate where she wrote, recorded, voiced and edited content, and engineered live performances and interviews from guests like lovelytheband. Theresa is based in New Jersey and holds a bachelors degree in Communication from Monmouth University. You can contact or verify outreach from Theresa by emailing theresa.loconsolo@techcrunch.com. View Bio Subscribe for the industry’s biggest tech news
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