TechCrunch Industry News
3,850 episodes — Page 8 of 77
Amid increased momentum for defense, the NATO Innovation Fund refreshes its investment team, and Google is testing a vibe-coding app called Opal
The NATO Innovation Fund is entering a new chapter, marked by the arrival of two new partners and the departure of its penultimate founding team partner. Also, Google is testing a new vibe-coding tool called Opal, available in the U.S. through Google Labs, that lets users quickly spin up web apps with just a few prompts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tesla is behind on its pledge to build 5,000 Optimus bots this year, Apple broadens App Store’s age rating system, and Meta will stop selling political ads in the EU
Tesla is behind on its goal to produce at least 5,000 Optimus humanoid robots by the end of 2025. Also, Apple has expanded its age rating system to include 13+, 16+, and 18+ ratings, in addition to the existing ratings for younger users; and in response to the European Union's incoming regulation of political advertising, Meta said on Friday that it would stop selling and showing political ads in the EU from October 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A new AI coding challenge just published its first results – and they aren’t pretty
A new AI coding challenge has revealed its first winner — and set a new bar for AI-powered software engineers. On Wednesday at 5pm PST, the nonprofit Laude Institute announced the first winner of the K Prize, a multi-round AI coding challenge launched by Databricks and Perplexity co-founder Andy Konwinski. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Trump’s ‘anti-woke AI’ order could reshape how US tech companies train their models
When DeepSeek, Alibaba, and other Chinese firms released their AI models, Western researchers quickly noticed they sidestepped questions critical of the Chinese Communist Party. U.S. officials later confirmed that these tools are engineered to reflect Beijing’s talking points, raising concerns about censorship and bias. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Apple launches $19.99 monthly AppleCare One subscription, plus Snapchat's 'HomeSafe' feature
Apple launches $19.99 monthly AppleCare One subscription with coverage for three devices Also, Snap Map's new "Home Safe" feature sends one-time alerts to friends, so you don't need to remember to message others that you're back safely. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Proton’s new privacy-first AI assistant encrypts all chats ... plus NetZeroNitrogen wants bacteria to replace synthetic fertilizer
Proton's new AI assistant Lumo promises to keep user data private with zero-access encryption, no logging, and an incognito mode. In other news, NetZeroNitrogen's bacteria approach has attracted investors and $6.6 million in seed funding. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
21-year-old MIT dropouts raise $32M at $300M valuation led by Insight
Karun Kaushik and Selin Kocalar weren’t planning to raise a Series A so soon. Their AI compliance startup, Delve, which announced a $3 million seed round in January, was growing fast and signing customers at a steady clip. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Serial spyware founder Scott Zuckerman wants the FTC to unban him from the surveillance industry
The spyware maker was banned from the surveillance industry in 2021, but was caught flouting the ban less than a year later. Now the founder wants the ban lifted altogether. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A surveillance vendor was caught exploiting a new SS7 attack to track people’s phone locations
The new SS7 bypass-attack tricks phone operators into disclosing a cell subscriber's location, in some cases down to a few hundred meters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Starbase injury rates outpace rivals as SpaceX chases its Mars moonshot
SpaceX has been moving at breakneck pace, rapid progress comes at a cost. Worker injury rates at its Starbase facility are almost six times higher than the average, data reveals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
OpenAI launches a general purpose agent in ChatGPT
OpenAI announced the launch of ChatGPT agent, which the company claims to be its most capable AI agent product yet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Hadrian raises $260M to build out automated factories for space and defense parts
Hadrian wants to revolutionize American manufacturing through automation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Uber partners with Nuro, invests $300M into Lucid to launch upscale robotaxi service
Uber is investing hundreds of millions of dollars into Lucid and autonomous vehicle technology startup Nuro in a bid to launch its own robotaxi service. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Google rolls out AI-powered business calling feature, brings Gemini 2.5 Pro to AI Mode
The new business calling feature uses AI to call local businesses on your behalf, for information about availability and pricing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A former OpenAI engineer describes what it’s really like to work there
A senior engineer describes the thrill, chaos, and exhaustion of working at OpenAI this past year while launching its coding agent Codex. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chinese authorities are using a new tool to hack seized phones and extract data
Researchers warned that Chinese residents, and visitors to China, should be aware of the tool's existence and the risks it poses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
ParadeDB takes on Elasticsearch as interest in Postgres explodes amid AI boom
ParadeDB built a Postgres extension that facilitates full-text search and analytics on Postgres without the need to transfer data. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Rivian taps Google to bring custom maps into its EVs and app
Atmo will use its deep learning models to help Rainmaker identify clouds that have potential for seeding. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Can an ‘ethical’ spyware maker justify providing its tech to ICE?
Analysis: In calling itself an ethical spyware vendor, Paragon has opened itself up to scrutiny of its government customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
AI coding tools may not speed up every developer, study shows
Software engineer workflows have been transformed in recent years by an influx of AI coding tools, but However, a new study calls into question the extent to which today's AI coding tools enhance productivity for experienced developers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Diligent Robotics hires two notable Cruise alumni to its leadership team
Diligent Robotics hired Cruise's former chief operating officer and former head of AI and robotics into c-suite positions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Medium’s CEO explains what it took to stop losing $2.6M monthly
Medium CEO Tony Stubblebine announced on Friday that the publishing platform has remained profitable since August of last year, when it first achieved this milestone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Google brings its AI-powered marketing tools to India after ‘Google tax’ repeal
Google has launched a suite of its AI-powered advertising tools in India, which debuted in the U.S. in May, as the repeal of the so-called “Google tax” has made the South Asian market more attractive to global tech firms selling online a Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
LGND wants to make ChatGPT for the Earth
LGND has raised $9 million to convert geographic data into vector embeddings to power AI models that understand the Earth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mastodon’s latest update readies the app for Quote Posts, revamps design
Mastodon, the open source, decentralized social network offering an alternative to Elon Musk’s X and Meta’s Threads, is rolling out a number of updates with Tuesday’s release of Mastodon 4.4. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bookshop.org mocks Jeff Bezos wedding invite in anti-Prime Day promo,
The independent online bookseller Bookshop.org took a swipe at Amazon to celebrate the start of Prime Day, Amazon’s annual sale (which, despite its name, is actually four days this year). Like many other retailers, Bookshop.org holds a sale to coincide with Amazon’s big event — it’s a way to lure away consumers. Also, Activision last week brought offline the Microsoft Store version of "Call of Duty: WWII" as the company was investigating “reports of an issue”; and Waymo has begun offering teen accounts for families in Phoenix as it works to expand more of its user base and entrench young riders in the autonomous life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Grok is being antisemitic again and also the sky is blue
Grok, the AI chatbot powered by Elon Musk's xAI company, is back with more antisemitic rants. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Moonvalley’s ‘ethical’ AI video model for filmmakers is now publicly available
Moonvalley's Marey AI video generation model is open to the public. The monthly subscription is available for $14.99, $34.99, or $149.99. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Frontier is helping Arbor build a “vegetarian rocket engine” to power data centers
Arbor Energy's carbon-removing power plant is inspired by SpaceX's rocket engines. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ask not for whom the Louvre of Bluesky tolls, it tolls for thee ... plus TikTok's new app, Hidden AI prompts, and EU AI legislation
It’s a sad weekend over at Bluesky, where one of the best accounts has disappeared — though we can still hope for its resurrection. Also, TikTok is developing a new version of its app for U.S. users ahead of an expected sale of the app to a group of investors, according to a new report from The Information; Academics may be leaning on a novel strategy to influence peer review of their research papers — adding hidden prompts designed to coax AI tools to deliver positive feedback; and the European Union said it will stick to its timeline for rolling out its AI legislation, ignoring calls by tech companies to delay the bloc's AI rules. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
AI is forcing the data industry to consolidate — but that’s not the whole story
While AI may be the catalyst behind the recent wave of data company M&A, the market was ripe for consolidation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Google’s data center energy use doubled in 4 years
Google has pledged to use only carbon-free sources of electricity to power its operations, a task made more challenging by its breakneck pace of data center growth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
X is piloting a program that lets AI chatbots generate Community Notes
The social platform X will pilot a feature that allows AI chatbots to generate Community Notes. Community Notes is a Twitter-era feature that Elon Musk has expanded under his ownership of the service, now called X Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Figma moves closer to a blockbuster IPO that could raise $1.5B
The financials are impressive and founder CEO Dylan Field already cashed out $20 million worth of shares last year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Congress just greenlit a NASA moon plan opposed by Musk and Isaacman
Legacy aerospace giants scored a win Tuesday when the U.S. Senate passed President Trump’s budget reconciliation bill that earmarks billions more for NASA’s flagship Artemis program. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tesla sends driverless Model Y from factory to customer to promote its robotaxi tech
The car traveled around 15 miles on highways, surface streets, and even a roundabout. But many questions remain about the stunt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Cloudflare launches a marketplace that lets websites charge AI bots for scraping
Cloudflare, a cloud infrastructure provider that serves 20% of the web, announced Tuesday the launch of a new marketplace that reimagines the relationship between website owners and AI companies — ideally giving publishers greater control over their content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
YouTube’s mobile video editor is coming to iOS
Google is preparing to bring YouTube Create to iOS devices nearly two years after the video editing app launched exclusively on Android. Job listings reviewed by TechCrunch reveal the company is actively hiring engineers in India for the iOS development project. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Anthropic’s Claude AI became a terrible business owner in experiment that got ‘weird’
Researchers at Anthropic and AI safety company Andon Labs gave an instance of Claude Sonnet 3.7 an office vending machine to run. And hilarity ensued. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
SCOTUS porn ruling, Denmark clamps down on deepfakes, and Meta buys over 1 GW of renewables
The United States Supreme Court ruled Friday to uphold a Texas law requiring websites with “sexual material harmful to minors” to verify the ages of all visitors. The Free Speech Coalition (FSC), a trade association for the adult industry, had brought the lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton challenging the state’s age verification law. Also, the Danish government is working to change copyright law to give its citizens a right to their own body, facial features, and voice. The landmark law is designed to strengthen protections against the creation and dissemination of deepfakes, reports The Guardian. And Meta has been on a renewable buying spree in recent months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Redwood Materials launches energy storage business and its first target is AI data centers
Redwood Materials has launched a new business — taking old EV batteries to store energy and help power businesses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
As AI kills search traffic, Google launches Offerwall to boost publisher revenue, plus people use AI for companionship much less than we’re led to think
Offerwall lets publishers give their sites' readers a variety of ways to access their content, including through options like micro payments, taking surveys, watching ads, and more. Also, a report by Anthropic reveals that people rarely seek companionship from AI, and turn to AI for emotional support or advice only 2.9% of the time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Federal judge sides with Meta in lawsuit over training AI models on copyrighted books
A federal judge sided with Meta on Wednesday in a lawsuit brought against the company by 13 book authors, including Sarah Silverman, that alleged the company had illegally trained its AI models on their copyrighted works. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sam Altman comes out swinging at The New York Times
From the moment OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stepped onstage, it was clear this was not going to be a normal interview. Altman and his chief operating officer, Brad Lightcap, stood awkwardly toward the back of the stage at a jam-packed San Francisco venue that typically hosts jazz concerts. Hundreds of people filled steep theatre-style seating Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bill Gates-backed AirLoom begins building its first power plant
Wind power has run into some headwinds, and not the kind that spin its turbines. Recently, President Trump has decided to wage war against the technology, an unwelcome bit of friction that coincides with rising costs in recent years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Kodiak is using Vay’s remote driving tech in its self-driving trucks
Kodiak Robotics has partnered with driverless car-sharing startup Vap to bring a remote-driving system into its self-driving trucks operation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Novoloop is making tons of upcycled plastic
Novoloop recently raised a $21 million Series B to begin building its first commercial scale plastic upcycling plant. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How a data processing problem at Lyft became the basis for Eventual
Eventual's data processing engine Daft was inspried by the founders' experience working on Lyft's autonomous vehicle project. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Why Danny Boyle shot ‘28 Years Later’ on iPhones ... and more tech news
Director Danny Boyle famously shot his post-apocalyptic classic “28 Days Later” on Canon digital cameras, making it easier for him to capture eerie scenes of an abandoned London, and giving the movie’s fast-moving zombies a terrifying immediacy. Also, LinkedIn users seem to have embraced AI, but there’s one area that’s seen less uptake than expected, according to CEO Ryan Roslansky: the AI-generated suggestions for polishing your LinkedIn posts; Google's adding a slew of AI features to the Chromebook Plus line, including a search and text capture tool, NotebookLM, and a tool for simplifying text; European governments may be reconsidering their use of American technology and services, according to a new report in The New York Times; a Republican effort to prevent states from enforcing their own AI regulations cleared a key procedural hurdle on Saturday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
SMB-focused Finom closes €115M as European fintech heats up
Finom, an Amsterdam-based challenger bank for SMBs that claims to have doubled its revenue in 2024, closed a €115 million Series C equity round (around $133 million). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices