Tech
Lidar-maker Ouster buys vision company StereoLabs as sensor consolidation continues
Lidar-maker Ouster has acquired StereoLabs, a company that makes vision-based perception systems for robotics and industrial applications, for a combination of $35 million and 1.8 million shares.
The deal is the latest in a march toward consolidation among perception sensor suppliers. Just last month, MicroVision bought the lidar assets of the buzzy-but-now-bankrupt Luminar for $33 million. Ouster itself has played the M&A game a fair amount, too. In 2022, the company merged with rival player Velodyne. The year before that, it bought lidar startup Sense Photonics.
This consolidation is happening right as companies and investors rush to build businesses around “physical AI” — a broad term that encompasses everything from humanoid robotics and drones to self-driving cars and automated systems in warehouses. Even more obscure suppliers are raising big funding rounds as these technologies develop. Some startups are even trying to spin up entirely new sensor modalities.
Ouster co-founder and CEO Angus Pacala told TechCrunch in an interview that he had been eyeing StereoLabs for years. He said he sees lidar as “the core component of safety-critical, capable systems,” but that he wanted to “move up the stack.”
The “obvious additional sensors” to start working with in addition to lidar, Pacala said, are cameras. Pacala said 15-year-old StereoLabs is “best in class” on the hardware side, but he was especially drawn to how the company has been getting the most out of those cameras by being “incredibly savvy in adopting the cutting edge of AI models and edge compute.”
In particular, Pacala highlighted StereoLabs’ development of a foundational AI model that can determine depth of objects from stereo cameras.
“It was a no-brainer for us to go out and approach them and basically pitch this vision of working with us to become a unified sensing and perception platform — a tier one [supplier] for these advanced physical AI systems,” Pacala said.
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Despite the focus on integration, Ouster said StereoLabs will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary.
And while the hype has been feverish, Pacala said he didn’t buy StereoLabs simply because of the attention and money being thrown at physical AI. In fact, he committed maybe the gravest sin one can during a hype cycle: he poured some cold water on the buzz, especially around humanoid robotics.
“The business model here is not to just sell the fervor, it’s to actually make working systems that are certified, that are safe, that are really solving customer problems,” he said. “There’s going to be a little bit of disillusionment in physical AI as it turns out that it’s much longer time to market for all these humanoids.”
Pacala isn’t the only one trying to take a realistic view. In a recent interview with TechCrunch, MicroVision CEO Glen DeVos said the sensor industry is “ripe for consolidation” because he believes there isn’t enough revenue to support all the current competition.
“You’re going to get consolidation, or you’re going to get kind of a weeding out of the industry as people fall to the wayside,” he said.
Tech
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Tech
Uber to buy delivery arm of Turkey’s Getir
Uber has agreed to acquire the delivery business of Turkey’s Getir, once one of the biggest success stories of the country’s startup ecosystem, the company announced on Monday.
The deal will see Uber paying $335 million at the outset to purchase Getir’s food delivery business. The ride-hailing giant will also pay $100 million for a 15% stake in Getir’s grocery, retail, and water delivery business, and said it would complete the acquisition of the division over the next few years.
Uber is buying the business from Getir’s biggest shareholder, the Emirati sovereign wealth fund Mubadala. The investment firm was reportedly seeking to sell its stake in the company last year.
The deal comes after a turbulent few years for Getir, which once enjoyed a valuation of $12 billion, that saw the startup scale down its operations massively. The company launched to great traction in 2015, and invested aggressively to expand its operations in the U.S. and Europe, both organically and via acquisitions, especially during the pandemic.
But after the pandemic lockdowns eased, broader consumer demand for food and grocery delivery also wavered, and Getir chose to cut its losses in 2024, shutting shop and laying off thousands of staff in the U.S., U.K., and Europe in order to focus on business back home.
Nearly a year ago, the company went through a struggle for control over a restructuring plan proposed by Mubadala. The plan was opposed by one of Getir’s co-founders, who eventually sued to fight the “illegal coup,” but a Dutch court rejected the founder’s appeals.
The company has raised a total of $2.40 billion so far, according to PitchBook. Documents filed by Getir in court last year show the company valued its group assets at $374 million.
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“This transaction reflects the strength of the business and the progress it has made, particularly over the last year,” Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi, deputy group CEO at Mubadala, said in a statement.
Uber said it would combine the new unit’s services with Trendyol Go, a food and grocery delivery service in Turkey that the ride-hail giant bought for $700 million last May. Uber said Getir’s food delivery business alone recorded gross bookings of more than $1 billion in 2025, up 50% from a year earlier.
The deal follows a strong showing by Uber’s delivery business in the fourth quarter, reporting revenue of $4.89 billion, up 30% from a year earlier. The company said Europe, the Middle East, and Asia proved the fastest-growing regions for the business in 2026.
Tech
Discord to roll out age verification next month for full access to its platform
Discord is rolling out age verification globally starting next month, the company announced on Monday. All users will be put into a “teen-appropriate experience” by default unless they prove they’re adults. Age verification will be required to change certain settings and access age-restricted content.
Discord users will need to be confirmed as adults in order to unblur sensitive content or turn off the setting, and only adults can access age-restricted channels, servers, and app commands. Additionally, messages from people a user may not know are routed to a separate inbox by default, and only verified adults can modify this setting.
People will receive warning prompts for friend requests from users they may not know, and only adults will be able speak onstage in servers.
To complete age verification, users need to either complete a facial age estimation or submit an ID to Discord’s vendor partners. The platform plans to add more options in the future. Discord notes that some users may be asked to use multiple methods when additional information is needed to assign an age group.
The facial age estimation requires video selfies, which Discord says never leave your device. Additionally, the company says IDs submitted to its vendor partners are deleted quickly and, in most cases, immediately after age confirmation.
It’s worth noting that Discord disclosed last October that around 70,000 users may have had sensitive data, such as their government ID photos, exposed after hackers breached a third-party vendor that the platform uses for age-related appeals. The breach reflected digital rights activists’ concerns over the use of age checks as a way to make the internet “safer.”
Discord’s global launch of age verification follows the company’s decision to establish age checks for users in the U.K. and Australia last year.
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“Rolling out teen-by-default settings globally builds on Discord’s existing safety architecture, giving teens strong protections while allowing verified adults flexibility,” said Savannah Badalich, head of product policy at Discord, in a press release. “We design our products with teen safety principles at the core and will continue working with safety experts, policymakers, and Discord users to support meaningful, long term wellbeing for teens on the platform.”
The announcement mirrors similar moves made by other online platforms, reflecting growing international efforts to strengthen child safety. Most recently, Roblox introduced mandatory facial verification for access to chats on its platform. Last July, YouTube launched its age-estimation technology in the U.S. to identify teen users in order to provide a more age-appropriate experience.
Discord’s age-verification changes will begin in early March, and both new and existing users will need to verify their age to access age-restricted content.
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