Just ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, several tech startups were busy announcing hiring plans, acquisitions and the close of fresh funding. Now that we’ve likely eaten our fair share of turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing, catch up on the latest tech news you might have missed with the Built In SF Weekly Refresh.
TikTok could hire 1,000 people. The short-form video app reportedly plans to double its workforce in the Bay Area. New employees will work out of offices that previously held WhatsApp teams in Mountain View. In addition to its local offices, TikTok has spaces around the world in locations like Tokyo, Paris, NYC, London and Dubai, among others. [Silicon Valley Business Journal]
Ubisoft partnered with Riot Games. The game developers are teaming up to launch a research project aimed at curbing cyberbullying. Called the “Zero Harm in Comms,” the project will gather data on in-game harmful behavior and language to develop a behavioral database so artificial intelligence tools can better detect and react to these behaviors. Ubisoft is based in France but has a presence in San Francisco. The company is actively hiring for nearly 50 roles across several teams. [Built In SF]
SF Tech Quote of the Week
Speak landed $27M. The Series B round was led by OpenAI Startup Fund with participation from Founders Fund and others. Speak, a language learning platform, uses AI to help users learn English. The fresh capital will help Speak expand into new languages, aggressively hire and develop new conversational language opportunities with generative AI. Speak was co-founded in 2016 by Connor Zwick and Andrew Hsu. [Speak]
Waymo announced that its self-driving taxis are coming to San Francisco. The driverless vehicles have taken more than 20,000 test trips in the Bay Area since August 2021. Waymo’s launch will take place in the coming weeks. Commuters wanting to book a ride can do so by joining the company’s waitlist through the Waymo One app. [Built In SF]
Harvey raised $5M. San Francisco-based Harvey emerged from stealth with funding from the OpenAI Startup Fund and other angel investors. According to TechCrunch, Harvey is a “copilot for lawyers” and uses AI to answer legal questions for lawyers. The startup said its technology is not meant to provide legal advice and should be used with a licensed attorney. [TechCrunch]
Merck announced plans to acquire Imago BioSciences. Redwood City-based Imago BioSciences is a clinical-stage biotech company that develops medicines to treat bone marrow diseases. Biotech company Merck plans to acquire Imago for $1.35 billion. The deal is expected to close in Q1. Merck, a New Jersey-based company is actively hiring for more than 80 remote roles. [Merck]
