TechCrunch Industry News

Clop ransomware gang names dozens of victims hit by Cleo mass-hack, but several firms dispute breaches

17 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Russia-linked ransomware group is threatening to leak data stolen from almost 60 Cleo Software customers if ransoms aren't paid Learn more about y...

Hinge’s new AI feature determines if your prompt response is too basic 

17 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Hinge today launched a new AI-powered feature called “Prompt Feedback,” which aims to improve your dating profile by analyzing how you answer prom...

SoftBank veteran hunts for profits in payments infrastructure plumbing

16 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Former SoftBank exec Akshay Naheta's startup, Distributed Technologies Research, is trying to bridge the gap between banking and blockchain tech. Lear...

Steppin is a new app that locks your social media apps unless you get out and walk

16 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

App stores are filled with different services that are designed to help you cut down on your screen time and count your steps. A new iOS app called St...

OpenAI’s AI reasoning model ‘thinks’ in Chinese sometimes and no one really knows why

15 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Shortly after OpenAI released o1, its first “reasoning” AI model, people began noting a curious phenomenon. The model would sometimes begin “thi...

OpenAI presents its preferred version of AI regulation in a new ‘blueprint’

15 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

OpenAI on Monday published what it’s calling an “economic blueprint” for AI: a living document that lays out policies the company thinks it can ...

UK throws its hat into the AI fire

14 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In 2023, the U.K. made a big song and dance about the need to consider the harms of AI, giving itself a leading role in the wider conversation around ...

Automattic says it will reduce its contribution to WordPress core project to match WP Engine

14 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s a new year, but drama in the WordPress community keeps going. Automattic, the company that runs WordPress.com, said that it would reduce its co...

Comcast and other TV streamers are now chasing YouTube’s ad dollars instead of the other way around

13 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

TV providers and streamers’ real competition isn’t each other, it’s social video. Or at least that’s what the president of Comcast Advertising...

Matt Mullenweg deactivates WordPress accounts of contributors planning a fork

13 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Automattic CEO and WordPress co-creator Matt Mullenweg has deactivated the accounts of several WordPress.org community members, some of whom have bee...

CES 2025: Nvidia’s AI avatar sat on my computer screen and weirded me out

10 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Nvidia unveiled a prototype AI avatar at CES 2025 that lives on your PC’s desktop. The AI assistant, R2X, looks like a video game character, and it...

CES 2025: Where have all the US automakers gone?

09 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The old chestnut passed around by industry watchers for the past decade was that CES — one of the world’s largest consumer tech trade events — h...

CES 2025: Halliday's Smart Glasses

09 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Walk up to someone wearing a pair of Halliday’s smart glasses, and you might not notice they’re looking at smartphone notifications, live languag...

CES 2025: Zugu's Case of Death', Basketball rebounding robot, and Omi's Brain Interface

08 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

If a user’s heart rate stops suddenly, and their body temperature and blood oxygen level also drop dramatically, the smart ring knows that its user ...

CES 2025: Honda's futuristic ‘0 SUV’ prototype, German Bionic’s new exoskeleton, and Beatbot's robot turtle

08 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Honda unveiled Tuesday at CES 2025 the latest EV in its so-called 0 Series — a mid-sized SUV prototype dubbed, surely enough, the 0 SUV. Honda’...

CES 2025: Peacock is experimenting with mini-games and short videos, Reddit intros new trends tools for businesses, and Meta to phase back in political content

07 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As Peacock continues to trail behind major players in the entertainment industry like Netflix, TikTok, and YouTube, the streaming service is adopting ...

CES 2025: Toyota is 'exploring rockets' and John Deere's new robot mowers

07 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Japanese automaker Toyota is “exploring rockets,” chairman Akio Toyoda announced on stage at CES 2025 on Monday, while hinting at the idea of mo...

CES 2025: Therabody launches Coach, Full Nature Farms SmartAg, Kidde's Detectors with Ring Tech, and Hulu Live teaming with Fubo

06 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Therabody, the maker of popular massage guns and other wellness devices, announced at CES 2025 that it’s launching an AI-powered digital recovery ap...

Timekettle’s new earbuds, Circular's Ring 2, Birdfy's Smart Birdbath, and Roborock's RoboVac RoboArm

06 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

CES is this week in Las Vegas. Timekettle unveiled its latest earbuds, the W4 Pro. The product aims to up the ante on the startup’s focus by bringin...

US sanctions Chinese cyber firm linked to Flax Typhoon hacks

03 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

U.S. officials say the sanctioned Chinese firm provided botnet infrastructure for the China-backed hacking group Flax Typhoon Learn more about your ad...

Will Smith eating spaghetti and other weird AI benchmarks that took off in 2024

03 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When a company releases a new AI video generator, it’s not long before someone uses it to make a video of actor Will Smith eating spaghetti. It’s ...

Volkswagen leak exposed, Free Apple TV+, Samsung now largest shareholder of Rainbow Robotics, and

02 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The data was found exposed on an Amazon cloud server, and contained precise location data on thousands of vehicles. Also, the Competition and Markets ...

A Waymo robotaxi and a Serve delivery robot collided in Los Angeles ... and more Tech news

02 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On December 27, a Waymo robotaxi and a Serve Robotics sidewalk delivery robot collided at a Los Angeles intersection, according to a video that’s ci...

The online moments that defined 2024

01 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ah, 2024: the year we debated how to pronounce “hawk tuah,” pondered the health benefits of eating rocks, and held space for a Broadway showstoppe...

New Year’s cybersecurity resolutions that every startup should keep

01 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

These simple cybersecurity resolutions can help keep your startup protected from most malicious hackers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podc...

Crypto industry groups sue IRS over broker reporting rule ... and more tech news

31 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Three crypto industry groups — the DeFi Education Fund, the Blockchain Association, and the Texas Blockchain Council — are suing the Internal Reve...

Onyx Motorbikes is back, one year after its owner died leaving the company in shambles

30 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A year after Onyx Motorbikes owner James Khatiblou died suddenly, leaving customers with unfulfilled orders and millions in unpaid debts, the brand ha...

Executive assistants, high salaries, and other ways early-stage founders will trigger a seed VC

30 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

While most seed investors believe founders should spend their raised cash however they want to, those VCs will still be judging founders’ cash manag...

‘Genius Girl’ goes from inspiring a Korean TV show character to raising a $100 million AI fund

23 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Principle Venture Partners will write early-stage checks anywhere from $100,000 to “single digit millions.” Learn more about your ad choices. Vis...

Why Apple sends spyware victims to this nonprofit security lab

23 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Before the elections, the cybersecurity team of U.S. vice president and then-presidential candidate Kamala Harris reached out to Apple asking for help...

Bluesky launches Million Dollar fund, Apple and Meta battle it out, California banning ICE ... and more tech news

20 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With 25M users, Bluesky launches a $1M fund to take on social media and AI. The fund will offer grants to those building on BlueSky’s open source AT...

With Neverless, former Revolut execs want to make meme coins easy to buy

20 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There’s an ocean of meme coins beyond Dogecoin, and a new startup called Neverless wants to make it easier to get started with trading crypto, with ...

The DOJ wants a Perplexity executive to testify in its Google antitrust case

19 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The US government is calling on a Perplexity executive to help make its case that Google is a monopolist. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit pod...

AI is burying company web sites in search results, but Otterly.AI thinks it can help

19 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Many sites saw their organic traffic decline in 2024, in big part due to the rise of AI-generated search results. Many queries no longer lead to click...

Pineapple on pizza is delicious — and if you disagree, you can’t log in to WordPress.org ... and more Tech News

18 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There are few matters in life that divide a room more than the prudence of putting pineapple on pizza. But if you’re of the persuasion that tropical...

Google DeepMind unveils a new video model to rival Sora

18 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Google DeepMind, Google’s flagship AI research lab, wants to beat OpenAI at the video generation game — and it might just, at least for a little w...

UK’s internet watchdog finalizes first set of rules for Online Safety law

17 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On Monday, the U.K.’s internet regulator, Ofcom, published the first set of final guidelines for online service providers subject to the Online Safe...

What exactly is an AI agent?

17 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Regardless of how they're defined, the agents are for helping complete tasks in an automated way with as little human interaction as possible. Learn m...

Bluesky is at a crossroads and OpenAI blames ChatGPT outage on a ‘new telemetry service’

16 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Now with 25 million users, Bluesky is facing a test that will determine whether or not its platform will still be seen as a safe space and place of re...

Controversial EU ad campaign on X broke bloc’s own privacy rules

16 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The European Union’s executive body is facing an embarrassing privacy scandal after it was confirmed on Friday that a Commission ad campaign on X (f...

United and Air Canada can now use Apple AirTags to track lost luggage

13 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Arriving in time for holiday travel and potentially lost luggage, a new feature that allows Apple AirTag owners to share the location of a lost item i...

Google wants to sell those Project Astra AR glasses some day, but it won’t be today

13 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Google is slowly peeling back the curtain on its vision to, one day, sell you glasses with augmented reality and multimodal AI capabilities. The compa...

Researchers uncover Chinese spyware used to target Android devices

12 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The spyware, called EagleMsgSpy, has been used by Chinese law enforcement, according to cybersecurity firm Lookout. Learn more about your ad choices...

Electrified Thermal Solutions has a plan to help industry replace natural gas with bricks

12 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The startup has been working to imbue the humble brick with the ability to transform electricity into heat and store it for hours on end. Learn more a...

A new wave of desalination startups argues that deeper is better

11 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Advances in robotics and seabed electrification have enabled a trio of startups to pursue deep sea reverse osmosis. Learn more about your ad choices. ...

Yelp adds AI-powered review insights to restaurants

11 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Yelp is releasing several new features as part of its year-end release, including AI-powered review insights, a personalized home feed with new conten...

Dimension raises $500M second fund for investing at the intersection tech and life sciences

10 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Many VCs, particularly newer firms, readily admit that 2024 has been a challenging year for raising fresh capital. Dimension Capital, a two-year-old v...

ByteDance asks appeals court to temporarily block sell-or-ban law, Apple sued over abandoning CSAM detection for iCloud ... and more tech news

10 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

ByteDance and TikTok filed an emergency motion on Monday asking an appeals court to temporally block the law that would ban TikTok in the U.S. unless ...

Former Lakers star launches VC firm, Lucid Motors completes Gravity SUV, Amp Robotics raises $91M, and Fly Ventures sets its eyes on technical founders

09 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Former NBA Lakers star Metta Sandiford-Artest (formerly known as Metta World Peace), has teamed up with Stephen Stokols, the former CEO of Boost Mobil...

OpenAI’s o1 model sure tries to deceive humans a lot

09 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

OpenAI finally released the full version of o1, which gives smarter answers than GPT-4o by using additional compute to “think” about questions. Ho...

Waymo outsources fleet operations to African fintech Moove in Phoenix and Miami

06 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Waymo is partnering with Moove, an African mobility fintech that offers vehicle financing to gig workers, to handle fleet management operations for it...

Bluesky CEO Jay Graber is reshaping social media, but advertising isn’t off the table

06 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Bluesky has blown up this year thanks to a vibrant community of posters, user customization choices, and a decentralized protocol that doesn’t lock ...

Growl is building the Peloton of boxing

05 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There’s a new connected fitness device in town and it’s called Growl. Inspired by hardware companies like Peloton or Tonal, Growl is building a bo...

Spotify Wrapped 2024 adds an AI podcast powered by Google’s NotebookLM

05 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Spotify Wrapped, the streamer’s highly anticipated annual listening recap, has arrived. In addition to its usual personalized summary detailing your...

The race is on to make AI agents do your online shopping for you

04 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Millions of Americans will pop open their laptops to buy gifts this holiday season, but tech companies are racing to turn the job of online shopping o...

US agency proposes new rule blocking data brokers from selling Americans’ sensitive personal data

04 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The U.S. consumer protection agency said it's closing the loophole to block the "widespread evasion" of federal law by data brokers. Learn more about ...

Study of ChatGPT citations makes dismal reading for publishers

03 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As more publishers cut content licensing deals with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, a study put out this week by the Tow Center for Digital Journalism — looki...

Bluesky promises more verification and an ‘aggressive’ approach to impersonation

03 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As more celebrities and popular influencers join Bluesky, the fast-growing social media service has been facing more concerns around impersonation and...

Intenty nudges you to provide a reason every time you unlock your phone

02 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Intentional phone usage is a tricky habit to develop. Operating systems like iOS and Android, along with social media networks like Instagram and ...

Meta plans to build a $10B subsea cable spanning the world

02 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Meta, the parent of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, is the second-biggest driver of internet usage globally. Its properties — and their billions ...

FTC finds that smart device makers fail to make clear how long their products will be supported

29 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A new paper from the Federal Trade Commission found that many smart device makers fail to disclose to consumers how long they will provide software up...

Audio platform Pocket FM taps into AI tools help it expand content catalog

29 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

India-based audio platform Pocket FM has more than 200,000 hours of content on the service. However, the company’s CEO, Rohan Nayak, believes that t...

Intel and Biden Administration finalize $7.86B deal to fund domestic chip manufacturing

27 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The U.S. Department of Commerce today confirmed it has awarded $7.865 billion to chip giant Intel under the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act, a federal stat...

Say goodbye to freeform ‘dockless’ e-bike parking in London: TFL debuts new rules to reduce bike mess on streets

27 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

London is putting the brakes on the mess of e-bikes that litter the streets of the city. Today, the local transportation authority, Transport for Lond...

Apple will never stop thinking about making a TV, Aussie government drops misinformation bill, Bending Spoons taking Brightcove private, and a digital “you” can sit through your Zoom calls

26 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It’s not exactly a secret that Apple has explored the possibility of building a television. Before his death in 2011, co-founder Steve Jobs famously...

Raspberry Pi releases the Pico 2 W, a $7 wireless-enabled microcontroller board

26 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Meet the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W, a tiny board designed around a microcontroller that lets you build hardware projects at scale. Raspberry Pi is once ag...

Brave Search adds AI chat for follow-up questions after your initial query

25 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Brave announced on Thursday that it’s introducing an AI chat mode for follow-up questions based on initial queries on Brave Search. Earlier this yea...

Texas AG opens investigation into advertising group that Elon Musk sued for ‘boycotting’ X

25 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Thursday he is opening an investigation into the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) to determine whe...

Lightning looks to make managing AI a piece of cake

22 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

AI may be the hottest thing since sliced bread. But that doesn’t mean it’s getting easier to develop and run. According to a recent Boston Consult...

‘PDF to Brainrot’ study tools are a strange iteration on a TikTok trend

22 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Several AI-based study tools are capitalizing on a “PDF to Brainrot” trend, which will read the text of a document you upload over “oddly satisf...

Kim Kardashian has befriended Optimus, the Tesla bot, VW taps former Rivian exec, and more

21 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kim Kardashian’s new beaux is a Tesla bot named Optimus. The fashion mogul got some hands-on experience with Tesla’s bipedal, human-shaped robot, ...

UK open to social media ban for kids as gov’t kicks off feasibility study

21 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The U.K. government is not ruling out further beefing up existing online safety rules by adding an Australian-style ban on social media for under 16s ...

Itching to write a book? AI publisher Spines wants to make a deal

20 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Generative AI has upended how we write things… or even if we write at all. Now a startup wants to be the main character in the next chapter of that ...

Google Lens can now check prices and inventory when shopping in the real world

20 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

After building out Google Lens to help users shop online more easily, Google is now updating the product to help people shop when they’re in a physi...

Roblox no longer allows users under 13 to message others outside of games

19 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Roblox will not let users under the age of 13 message others outside of games and experiences on the platform, the company said Friday. Roblox also an...

What is Bluesky when it’s not the underdog?

19 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Bluesky is having a moment — a moment that’s already stretched on for nearly three months. Over the summer, the social media app saw a wave of new...

JobGet, a ‘LinkedIn’ for hourly workers, acquires rival Snagajob

18 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

If you’re an hourly worker, the number of go-to options you have for finding new jobs is shrinking a little. JobGet — a Boston startup that operat...

How social app Spill plans to capitalize on the exodus from X

18 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Social networking rivals continue to benefit from the user exodus from X. Spill, the social app founded by two former Twitter employees, released a s...

Spotify will start paying video podcast hosts based on how well their videos perform

15 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Spotify announced on Wednesday that it will start paying podcast hosts who make popular videos on its streaming platform, as the company looks to take...

PayPal will once again let you pool money from family and friends to pay for things together

15 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

PayPal is launching a few features that let users in groups pool money with friends or family, to collectively pay for trips, travels, gifts, and anyt...

Generative disinfo is real — you’re just not the target, warns deepfake tracking nonprofit

14 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Many feared that the 2024 election would be affected, and perhaps decided, by AI-generated disinformation. While there was some to be found, it was fa...

NASA awards ‘sustainable’ aircraft concepts $11.5M

14 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The future of aircraft may look very similar to today’s superficially — but under the hood (or sitting next to the tailfins) they will likely be q...

Red Hat acquires AI optimization startup Neural Magic

13 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Red Hat, the IBM-owned open source software firm, is acquiring Neural Magic, a startup that optimizes AI algorithms to run on commodity processors. Th...

Amazon attempts to lure AI researchers with $110M in grants and credits

13 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There’s an AI chip battle brewing among the major cloud vendors. Google’s Trillium, a custom chip for training and running AI models, recently ent...

Standing desks don’t do squat, X testing a free version of Grok, TSMC halted advanced chip shipments, and Encore is an AI-powered search engine for your thrifting needs

12 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Over the years, numerous startups have gained traction by designing, making and selling standing desks as part of a workspace innovation trend to prom...

From self-driving cars to AI that writes enterprise software: Cogna founder raises $15M

12 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A founder who was an early mover in the race to build autonomous vehicles has raised $15 million for his next act: a startup that claims its AI can wr...

Productivity hacks are overrated, says a16z VC who sold his own startup for $1.25B

11 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What’s the secret to success? It isn’t any of the trends that so many founders in Silicon Valley subscribe to. Learn more about your ad choices. V...

It’s the Senate’s last chance to pass the PRESS Act

11 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The PRESS Act would protect a journalist's sources, and gained unanimous bipartisan support when passed by the House in January. Learn more about your...

Anthropic teams up with Palantir and AWS to sell its AI to defense customers

08 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Anthropic today announced that it’s teaming up with Palantir, the data-mining company, and Amazon Web Services to provide U.S. intelligence and defe...

The FTC comes after neobank Dave for misleading marketing, hidden fees

08 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on Tuesday it will be taking action against the online cash app and neobank Dave, which it says used “m...

AI coding assistants can help startups develop products, seed VCs believe

07 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

By now, there’s hardly a coder in the world who isn’t using an AI copilot in some way. But using GitHub Copilot or Cursor.AI to ask technical ques...

Lyft partners with May Mobility, Mobileye to bring autonomous vehicles to the app

07 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It seems Lyft is hoping to catch up to Uber’s string of autonomous vehicle partnerships. Lyft announced Wednesday three separate partnerships — wi...

AI safety advocates tell founders to slow down

06 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

“Move cautiously and red-team things” is sadly not as catchy as “move fast and break things.” But three AI safety advocates made it clear to s...

Can Pictionary and Minecraft test AI models’ ingenuity?

06 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Most AI benchmarks don’t tell us much. They ask questions that can be solved with rote memorization, or cover topics that aren’t relevant to the m...

X updates block feature, letting blocked users see your public posts, Threads now has 275M monthly active users, OpenAI has hired the co-founder of Pebble, and MIT debuted am LLM-inspired method for teaching robots new skills

05 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Go to TechCrunch.com for more tech stories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

U.S. laws regulating AI prove elusive, but there may be hope

05 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Can the U.S. meaningfully regulate AI? It’s not at all clear yet. Policymakers have achieved progress in recent months, but they’ve also had setba...

Google Maps is getting new AI features powered by Gemini

04 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Google Maps is getting new features powered by Gemini, Google’s generative AI model. On Thursday the company announced incoming updates that will al...

Carl Pei says Nothing could build its own operating system

04 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Two mobile operating systems currently comprise nearly 100% of the global smartphone market. Building one is hard, and for most phone makers, there ar...

Space CEOs talk about the challenges and opportunities of selling defense tech

01 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Space executives took the stage at TechCrunch Disrupt on Monday to talk about the challenges and opportunities of building out dual-use technology, or...

Temu’s low cost marketplace faces formal probe in EU over raft of DSA compliance concerns

01 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The European Union has expanded its scrutiny of online marketplaces by opening a formal proceeding on Chinese low cost ecommerce platform, Temu, under...