TechCrunch Industry News
3,850 episodes — Page 21 of 77
Alphabet X’s Bellwether harnesses AI to help predict natural disasters
The world is on fire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ramp raises another $150 million co-led by Khosla, Founders Fund at a $7.65B valuation
Spend management startup Ramp has raised another $150 million at a valuation of $7.65 billion, the company confirmed to TechCrunch today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Kickstarter launches pre-orders for completed campaigns
Once a Kickstarter campaign is complete, you need to turn to a creator’s own page to pre-order the products — that is, until now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Waymo begins robotaxi testing in Atlanta
Waymo, the self-driving company under Alphabet, began testing its robotaxis in Atlanta on Tuesday, adding another city to its ever-expanding testing and deployment domain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Meta’s Oversight Board probes explicit AI-generated images posted on Instagram and Facebook
The Oversight Board, Meta’s semi-independent policy council, it turning its attention to how the company’s social platforms are handling explicit, AI-generated images. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bluesky now allows heads of states to sign up for the social network
Social networking platform Bluesky lifted its ban on sign-ups for heads of state over the weeken Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Meta’s ‘consent or pay’ tactic must not prevail over privacy, EU rights groups warn
Ahead of a full meeting of the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) this week (April 16 and 17), which is expected to produce guidance on a controversial tactic used by Meta to force Facebook and Instagram users to consent to its tracking, almost two dozen civil society groups and nonprofits have penned an open letter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Space Force tees up new ‘responsive space’ mission from Rocket Lab and True Anomaly
Each company will design and build a satellite capable of rendezvousing with other spacecraft in orbit at close proximity, as well as command and control centers for the mission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
X is removing ability to hide checkmarks for premium users
Last year, Elon Musk-owned social network X rolled out a feature for paid users to hide their checkmarks from others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Elon Musk accused of profiting from tragedy as study finds X rewards hate targeting Israel-Gaza war
A few weeks after defeating Elon Musk’s attempt to silence it in court, anti-hate research nonprofit, the Center for Countering Digital Hate, is back with a new piece of research into Musk’s social media platform X. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Apple opens access to used iPhone components for repair
Apple announced that it has opened its iPhone repair process to include used components. Starting this fall, customers and independent repair shops will be able to fix the handset using compatible components. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Proxima Fusion raises $21M to build on its ‘stellarator’ approach to nuclear fusion
Munich-based Proxima has raised €20 million ($21.7M) in a seed round to begin building its first generation of fusion power plants. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tesla risks losing its lead without an inexpensive EV
Given flagging sales of the company’s existing product line, a mass-market electric vehicle would be a welcome shot in the arm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
With Vertex AI Agent Builder, Google Cloud aims to simplify agent creation
AI agents are the new hot craze in generative AI. Unlike the previous generation of chatbots, these agents can do more than simply answer questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Google announces Axion, its first custom Arm-based data center processor
Google says its Axion instances offer 30% better performance than other Arm-based instances from competitors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Microsoft AI gets a new London hub fronted by former Inflection and Deepmind scientist Jordan Hoffmann
Microsoft has announced a new London hub for its recently unveiled consumer AI division. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Spotify launches personalized AI playlists that you can build using prompts
AI playlists will initially become available to users on Android and iOS devices in the U.K. and Australia and will be iterated on in the months ahead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ford delays new EVs once more, showing why legacy automakers need to adopt a startup mentality
Ford is unusual in that it performs best when thinking like a startup, something it appears to have taken to heart recently, EV delays notwithstanding. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tesla slashes Model Y inventory prices by as much as $7,000
Tesla is dropping prices of unsold Model Y SUVs in the U.S. by thousands of dollars in an attempt to clear out an unprecedented backlog of inventory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Rooms, a 3D design app and ‘cozy game,’ gets a major update as users jump to 250K
Five months ago, Rooms, a 3D design platform made by ex-Google employees, launched its beta version on the App Store. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
X is giving blue checks to influential users (which is what blue checks were supposed to be all along)
So, basically this means that if you are a popular poster, you will get a blue check. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Opera allows users to download and use LLMs locally
Web browser company Opera announced today it will now allow users to download and use Large Language Models (LLMs) locally on their computer Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
AWS unveils new service for cloud-based rendering projects
Amazon announced Deadline Cloud, a new service that lets customers set up, deploy and scale up graphics and visual effects rendering pipelines on AWS cloud infrastructure. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
TikTok is bringing its dedicated STEM feed to Europe
As TikTok continues to face increased pressure in the U.S. and the U.K., the company is signaling its commitment to fostering educational content on its app. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Indeed announces AI-powered work experience writer and support for multiple resumes
Hiring portal Indeed has redesigned the profile page for users, allowing individuals to use an AI-powered writer to fill up work experience and also added support for multiple resumes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
MIT tool shows climate change could cost Texans a month and a half of outdoor time by 2080
Finally, something that makes climate change relatable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
TikTok ban could harm Amazon sellers looking for alternatives
In March, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill that could force ByteDance to divest TikTok or face a ban in U.S. app stores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Apple dismisses Microsoft monopoly comparisons
A week after finding itself at the business end of a landmark lawsuit from the United States Department of Justice, Apple is staunchly denying any parallels between itself and Microsoft in the 1990s. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
X’s Grok chatbot will soon get an upgraded model, Grok-1.5
X.ai, Elon Musk’s AI startup, has revealed its latest generative AI model, Grok-1.5. Set to power social network X’s Grok chatbot in the not-to-distant future (“in the coming days,” X.ai writes in a blog post), © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
LinkedIn is experimenting with a TikTok-like video feed in its app
LinkedIn is testing a new TikTok-like short-form video feed, the company confirmed to TechCrunch on Wednesday. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Oregon signs right to repair into law
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek on Tuesday signed Senate Bill 1596 into law, joining California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts and Minnesota in a growing list of states embracing a right to repair for citizens. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NASA’s snake robot is designed to search out life in the icy oceans of a Saturn moon
The snake robot form factor has existed for decades. In addition to the diversity it adds to the world of automation, the design has several pragmatic attributes. The first is redundancy, which allows for the system to keep chugging even after a module is damaged. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Facebook snooped on users’ Snapchat traffic in secret project, documents reveal
In 2016, Facebook launched a secret project designed to intercept and decrypt the network traffic between people using Snapchat’s app and its servers. The goal was to understand users’ behavior and help Facebook compete with Snapchat, according to newly unsealed court documents. Facebook called this “Project Ghostbusters" © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Profluent, spurred by Salesforce research and backed by Jeff Dean, uses AI to discover medicines
Last year, Salesforce, the company best known for its cloud sales support software (and Slack), spearheaded a project called ProGen to design proteins using generative AI. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Spotify tests video courses to teach everything from music production to excel
In its ongoing efforts to get its 600 million+ users to spend more time and money on its platform, Spotify is spinning up a new line of content: e-learning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Telegram’s peer-to-peer SMS login service is a privacy nightmare
Telegram has introduced a controversial new feature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Lordstown Motors’ ousted CEO settles with SEC for misleading investors
Steve Burns, the ousted founder, chairman and CEO of bankrupt EV startup Lordstown Motors, has settled with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over misleading investors about demand for the company’s flagship all-electric Endurance pickup truck. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Boeing CEO to leave company by year-end, after a wave of safety incidents
Boeing’s chief executive Dave Calhoun will leave the plane-maker by the end of 2024, according to the company. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
AT&T won’t say how its customers’ data spilled online
Customers say leaked AT&T customer data — names, addresses, phone numbers and Social Security numbers — is accurate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Why is AI so bad at spelling?
AIs are easily acing the SAT, defeating chess grandmasters and debugging code like it’s nothing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Pelikan Mobility's software-enabled commercial EV leasing solution; Candela’s electric ferries multiply
Chances are you may have noticed that many commercial vehicles are now electric vehicles; Electric boat maker Candela is approaching cruising speed with $25 million in new funding and the first commercial deployment of its new P-12 ferry, in New Zealand. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
White House proposes up to $8.5B to fund Intel’s domestic chip manufacturing
Well before President Joe Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act into law back in August 2022, Intel has been a cornerstone of U.S. efforts to increase domestic chip manufacturing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Nvidia and Qualcomm join Open Source Robotics Alliance to support ROS development
The Open Source Robotics Foundation (OSRF) this week announced the launch of the similarly named Open Source Robotics Alliance (OSRA). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Quilt is building AI assistants for solutions teams
The job of so-called “solutions professionals” — people like sales engineers, solutions architects and consultants — revolves around pitching complex enterprise tech to potential customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Meta offers lower cost for EU ad-free subscription under privacy review
Meta has proposed to drop the price of an ad-free subscription in the European Union Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tech giant Fujitsu says it was hacked, warns of data breach
Multinational technology giant Fujitsu confirmed a cyberattack in a statement Friday, and warned that hackers may have stolen personal data and customer information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Scrap coercive ‘privacy fee’, MEPs urge Meta’s Nick Clegg in open letter
Meta is facing a call from lawmakers in the European Union to scrap its controversial “consent or pay” tactic on Facebook and Instagram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mercedes begins piloting Apptronik humanoid robots
Pilot season has officially begun for the world of humanoid robotics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Apple acquires AI startup specializing in overlooking manufacturing components
Apple has added another AI startup to its acquisition list with Canada-based DarwinAI, which specializes in vision-based tech to observe components during manufacturing to improve efficiency, Bloomberg reported. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A bug in an Irish government website took two years to publicly disclose
The Irish government fixed a vulnerability two years ago in its national COVID-19 vaccination portal that exposed the vaccination records of around a million residents. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices