TechCrunch Industry News

Australia now has so much solar power that the government will require utilities to sell customers free electricity for three hours per day. Apple is turning to Google's technology to help revamp Siri and power a slate of upcoming features for the voice assistant. Blue Origin's first New Glenn launch in January mostly went well, and now the long-delayed second mission is finally ready for takeoff....

Researchers at Microsoft have developed a new simulation environment for testing AI agents, revealing surprising weaknesses in the current state-of-the-art. Also, Penn experienced a data breach on Friday as hackers sent messages boasting of the hack to the university community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Information reports that Anthropic expects to generate as much as $70 billion in revenue and $17 billion in cash flow in 2028. The growth projections are fueled by rapid adoption of Anthropic’s business products, a person with knowledge of the company’s financials said. And despite its imprecision, the fourth "Master Plan" is a centerpiece of Tesla's case for giving CEO Elon Musk $1 trillion i...

Meta said that Facebook Dating has 1.77 million daily active users in the US between ages 18-29. Also, core parts of the ClickUp release were possible because of its acquisition of Qatalog. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Despite the emphasis on detachment from ideas, X employees do have significant skin in the game when projects spin out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Meta's AI spending is starting to make Wall Street nervous. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Elon Musk and Sam Altman are still taking swipes at each other on Musk’s social media platform X. Also, a majority of consumers say they’re worried about data centers driving up electricity costs. Is the industry prepared for a possible backlash? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Semiconductor giant Nvidia is looking to invest at least five hundred million dollars and up to one billion dollars in Poolside which builds AI models for software development. That’s according to reporting from Bloomberg, which cited sources. This investment would be part of a two billion dollar funding round Poolside is raising at a twelve billion dollar valuation. Lidar-maker Luminar is warning...

“The dead internet theory is real,” Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian told Digg founder Kevin Rose, referring to the idea that much of the internet isn’t human — it’s mostly bots. The two entrepreneurs have since teamed up to re-envision how to build a social community in this world where, very soon, it will be hard to tell bot from human. Also, Canva is launching new features like Forms, email des...

Design platform Figma said today that it has acquired AI-powered image and video generation company Weavy. The startup will join Figma under a new brand called Figma Weave. Also, Threads continues to ship new features at a rapid pace. Shortly after the launch of communities and disappearing “ghost posts,” the social networking app on Thursday introduced new tools that will give users more control...

With Uplift, every subscription will contribute to neighborhood-level network expansion, while local hosts that are known as "AirNode operators" will earn a portion of network revenue by providing community coverage. Also, while San Francisco's mayor Daniel Lurie is opening his arms to autonomous vehicles, other cities are more resistant. Boston, for instance, has considered a ban on autonomous ve...

The U.S. inked Technology Prosperity Deals (TPD) with Japan and South Korea with an eye towards spurring collaboration on AI, semiconductors, quantum computing, biotech, space, 6G and other technologies. Character AI is ending its chatbot experience for kids. After facing lawsuits and public outcry following the suicides of two teenagers, Character. AI says it's making changes to its platform to p...

Netflix viewers will be able to vote while watching live content to directly influence the outcome of what they're watching on their TV or mobile device. Also, OpenAI says its deep learning systems are rapidly advancing, with models increasingly able to solve complex tasks faster. So fast, in fact, that internally, OpenAI is tracking towards achieving an intern-level research assistant by Septembe...

Amazon said on Tuesday that it plans to reduce its corporate workforce by 14,000 jobs as it seeks to reduce bureaucracy, remove layers and invest more in its AI strategy. Plus, OpenAI has completed its recapitalization, splitting the AI lab into a for-profit corporation nested inside a non-profit foundation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Two 401(k) management unicorns, Human Interest and Guideline, are squaring off in federal court with allegations so brazen that they're embarrassing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fitness app Ladder is debuting a new nutrition tracking feature that lets you snap a photo to input macros. Also, according to a new report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple Maps users could start seeing ads in the app as soon as next year. Similar to Google Maps and other mapping apps, Apple’s plan is to allow restaurants and other businesses with brick-and-mortar locations to pay to promote th...

-The United States and China are ready to move forward on a TikTok deal, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. -A high school student in Baltimore County, Maryland was reportedly handcuffed and searched after an AI security system flagged his bag of chips as a possible firearm. -OpenAI is working on a new tool that would generate music based on text and audio prompts, according to a repor...

Ford is prioritizing its gas and hybrid F-150 trucks instead. Plus, Trump's $250 million White House ballroom will be funded in part by big tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rudy Arora and Sarthak Dhawan, two 20-year-old college dropouts, grew an AI note-taker app to five million users and an eight-figure ARR. Also, The milestone marks a new record for the platform, as YouTube’s annual music industry payout increased by $2 billion since 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

South Korea's 52-hour workweek cap is stricter than the U.S. and Singapore but more flexible than much of Europe. Still deep tech founders and investors worry it's too restrictive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The founders of machine learning community Kaggle are trying to upend the crowded sales prospecting market with AI. And they're making headway. Also, Starbridge raises $42M Series A led by Craft Ventures to help businesses better monitor public service opportunities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The company is also improving search by suggesting properties that you might have missed due to your filters and has redesigned the Maps view to let you search for points of interest such as nearby landmarks, attractions, and restaurants. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The company says Atlas will first roll out on macOS, with support for Windows, iOS, and Android coming soon. OpenAI says the product will be available to all free users at launch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The dispute centered on a plot of land along the Rio Grande River in Cameron County, Texas, that Cards Against Humanity purchased in 2017. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

These removals are part of a broader pattern under the Trump administration, which began issuing executive orders to direct federal agencies to remove or modify substantial amounts of government content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices