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TechCrunch Industry News

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Episodes

Silicon Valley spooks the AI safety advocates

Silicon Valley leaders including White House AI & Crypto Czar David Sacks and OpenAI Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon caused a stir online this week for their comments about groups promoting AI safety. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oct 20, 20257 min

Pinterest adds controls to let you limit the amount of ‘AI slop’ in your feed, also Apple loses another AI exec to Meta ,

Pinterest is rolling out new controls that let users limit how much AI-generated content appears in their feeds. The company is also making its AI content labels more visible. Ke Yang’s departure marks the latest in a string of exits from Apple’s AI unit, putting the company into jeopardy in the lead up to a much-anticipated Siri revamp scheduled for March. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...

Oct 16, 20255 min

Cyber giant F5 Networks says government hackers had ‘long-term’ access to its systems; also, Meta partners up with Arm to scale AI efforts

F5 Networks, which provides cybersecurity defenses to most of the Fortune 500, said the DOJ allowed it to delay notifying the public on national security grounds. Semiconductor firm Arm is partnering with Meta to enhance the social media company's AI systems amid an unprecedented infrastructure buildout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oct 16, 20256 min

You’ll soon be able to shop Walmart from ChatGPT, also, Google’s Gemini can now help you schedule Google Calendar meetings

Walmart is partnering with OpenAI to let shoppers buy products directly through ChatGPT. The new integration will allow users to link their Walmart accounts, browse items ,and instantly check out — all within the chatbot. Designed for one-on-one meetings, the tool lets you insert available time slots directly into an email, automatically creating a calendar invite once a recipient selects a time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...

Oct 15, 20255 min

SpaceX wraps action-packed Starship V2 era, Satellites exposed unencrypted data, and Grindr’s owners may take it private

SpaceX said farewell to its V2 on Monday night as it sent Starship’s current configuration on one last test flight, in a mission that the company says hit all its key goals, moving the program into its next phase. ecurity researchers have discovered that as many as half of all geostationary satellites in Earth’s orbit are carrying unencrypted sensitive consumer, corporate, and military information, making this data wide open to eavesdropping. And Grinder’s majority owners are scrambling to take ...

Oct 14, 20257 min

Oura is winning young women and losing gym rats, and it’s fine with that

Oura's chief commercial officer doesn't seem particularly worried about capturing every demographic. Instead, she's focused on keeping Oura’s core users happy while organically attracting new segments. And young women are becoming part of that core market. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oct 14, 20259 min

California becomes first state to regulate AI companion chatbots; plus, Salesforce announces Agentforce 360 as enterprise AI competition heats up

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a landmark bill on Monday that regulates AI companion chatbots , making it the first state in the nation to require AI chatbot operators to implement safety protocols for AI companions The law is designed to protect children and vulnerable users from some of the harms associated with AI companion chatbot use. It holds companies — from the big labs like Meta and OpenAI to more focused companion startups like Character AI and Replika — legally accountable if...

Oct 13, 20259 min

Google Chrome silences those pesky notifications; also, Trump fires back at China’s rare earth mineral restrictions by threatening 100% tariffs

On Friday, the technology giant announced a new feature that will automatically disable browser notifications for the websites you haven’t interacted with recently, disrupting their ability to pop up alerts and updates that you may no longer be interested in. the President declared Friday that he will impose a 100% tariff on all imports from China, while also imposing export controls on “any and all critical software” from the United States. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices...

Oct 13, 20255 min

Investors are betting $21 billion that the energy transition isn’t going away; also, UK slapped Google Search with special market status, making way for stricter regulations

Political shifts might have set back the energy transition, but large investors are betting that renewables are at the future of energy. In other news, the CMA has designated Google as having "strategic market status" in the search and search advertising markets, which means the company has such "a substantial and entrenched" position that it requires special regulations to ensure fair competition. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...

Oct 10, 20258 min

Tesla’s FSD software under investigation; Apple prepares to comply with Texas law; and SoundCloud gets more social

-The U.S.' top auto safety agency said it had identified more than 50 reports of FSD running red lights, crossing yellow lines, or making illegal turns. -Apple speaks out about how the Texas age assurance law was written, saying it affects the privacy of users. -SoundCloud is evolving into a more social platform with new features like playlists based on the likes of friends or favorite artists you follow. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...

Oct 09, 20258 min

Here’s the tech powering ICE’s deportation crackdown

From phone spyware and facial recognition to phone unlocking technology and databases and more, this tech powers Trump's deportation machine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oct 09, 202514 min

SoftBank bulks up its robotics portfolio with ABB Group’s robotics unit; also, Square launches AI voice ordering and an integrated Bitcoin solution for merchants

Japanese investing conglomerate SoftBank Group is buying a robotics company as the financial behemoth says physical AI is its next frontier. SoftBank announced on Wednesday that it has acquired Zurich, Switzerland-based ABB Group’s robotics business unit for more than five billion dollars. The deal is subject to regulatory approval; SoftBank predicts the deal will close in mid-to-late twenty twenty six. Sami Atiya, the head of the division, will exit the company once the acquisition is complete....

Oct 08, 20257 min

ICE bought vehicles equipped with fake cell towers to spy on phones; also, North Korean hackers stole over $2 billion in crypto

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement paid eight hundred twenty five thousand dollars earlier this year to a company that manufactures vehicles equipped with various technologies for law enforcement, including fake cellphone towers known as “cell-site simulators,” which can be used to spy on nearby phones. Also, hackers working for the North Korean government have stolen more than $2 billion in crypto so far this year. That’s according to blockchain analysis firm Elliptic. On Tuesday, Ellipti...

Oct 08, 20259 min

Deloitte goes all in on AI — despite having to issue a hefty refund for use of AI; plus Taylor Swift fans accuse singer of using AI in her Google scavenger hunt videos

Deloitte is rolling out Claude to its nearly 500,000 employees after issuing a refund for a report that contained AI hallucinations. Plus, Taylor Swift fans love a good puzzle, but some were rubbed the wrong way by a promotional scavenger hunt which appeared to use AI-generated videos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oct 07, 20257 min

AMD to supply 6GW of compute capacity to OpenAI in chip deal worth tens of billions

AMD has signed a multi-year chip supply deal with OpenAI that could generate tens of billions in revenue for the chipmaker, helping accelerate its momentum in the AI industry. AMD has agreed to supply 6 gigawatts of compute capacity to OpenAI, which is enough to power up to 4 ½ million homes, across multiple generations of its Instinct GPUs, starting with the Instinct MI450 GPU. OpenAI will receive the first gigawatt of capacity in the second half of next year, when the new chip is scheduled for...

Oct 07, 20257 min

Tesla’s insurance arm accused of ‘egregious delays’ and ‘systemic failures’ by CA regulator; also, Bezos predicts that millions will live in space in ‘couple of decades’

California's Department of Insurance has been warning Tesla to fix its claims process since 2022, but consumer complaints have skyrocketed anyways. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos made a rare public appearance at Italian Tech Week in Turin on Friday and used the opportunity to predict that millions of people will be living in space “in the next couple of decades,” the Financial Times reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...

Oct 06, 20257 min

Apple removes ICEBlock and similar tracking apps from the App Store; also, Hacking group claims theft of 1 billion records from Salesforce customer databases

A notorious predominantly English-speaking hacking group has launched a website to extort its victims, threatening to release about a billion records stolen from companies who store their customers’ data in cloud databases hosted by Salesforce. Apple has removed ICEBlock and other apps from its App Store that allow users to anonymously report sightings of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, following pressure from the Trump administration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit pod...

Oct 03, 20256 min

Hackers are sending extortion emails to executives after claiming Oracle apps’ data breach; also, OpenAI is the world’s most valuable private company

Google says hackers associated with a prolific ransomware group are sending extortion emails to executives at “numerous” large organizations after claiming to have stolen their sensitive information from a suite of business software products developed by Oracle. Also, OpenAI has sold 6.6 billion dollars in shares held by current and former employees, according to a new report from Bloomberg. The sale pushed OpenAI’s total valuation to 500 billion dollars, the highest ever achieved by a privately...

Oct 03, 20256 min

Hollywood is not taking kindly to the AI-generated actress Tilly Norwood, plus, Apple is shelving Vision Pro overhaul to focus on AI glasses

London-based actress Tilly Norwood has about 40 thousand Instagram followers. One thing to know though is she’s not real. She is an AI-generated character created by Xicoia, the AI division of the production company Particle6. Also, Apple is sidelining plans to overhaul its Vision Pro VR glasses to focus on developing AI smart glasses that can compete with products from Meta, according to a new report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoi...

Oct 02, 20254 min

Epic Games says Apple’s new install process cuts user drop-offs by 60%, also, Wikipedia data more accessible to AI and U.S. government takes stake in Canadian lithium miner

-Fortnite maker Epic Games said that Apple’s new installation workflow, implemented in iOS 18.6, has had a positive impact on its user growth, with a 60 percent decrease in drop-offs. On Wednesday, Wikimedia Deutschland announced a new database that will make Wikipedia’s wealth of knowledge more accessible to AI models. The U.S. Department of Energy has taken equity stakes in Canadian company Lithium Americas and its Nevada mining joint venture with General Motors as part of a renegotiation of a...

Oct 01, 20259 min

Ted Cruz blocks bill that would extend privacy protections to all Americans, plus Fubo shareholders approve Hulu Live TV deal

Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, has blocked an effort to pass legislation that would have extended data privacy protections for federal lawmakers and public officials to everyone in the United States. On Monday night, Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, asked the U.S. Senate for unanimous consent from fellow senators to pass his legislation, Protecting Americans from Doxing and Political Violence Act. Fubo, the popular live sports TV streaming service, announced on Tuesday that its...

Oct 01, 20255 min

DoorDash unveils its autonomous robot; and Adobe’s video editing app Premiere arrives on iPhones

On Tuesday, DoorDash unveiled Dot, a small robot it built in-house that can autonomously drive on roads, bike lanes, and sidewalks to deliver food and small packages at speeds up to 20 miles per hour. Dot is designed to look friendly and even cartoonish — painted bright red, with big LED eyes and a mouth that swings open to reveal where it holds your food — though some would argue it’s slightly creepy. Also, Adobe’s popular video editing app Premiere is available on iPhone starting today, follow...

Sep 30, 20259 min

California Governor Newsom signs landmark AI safety bill; also, Explosion, vehicle fire rock Faraday Future’s LA headquarters

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed SB 53, a first-in-the-nation bill that sets new transparency requirements on large AI companies. The bill, which passed the state legislature two weeks ago, requires large AI labs, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, and Google DeepMind, to be transparent about safety protocols. It also ensures whistleblower protections for employees at those companies. Also, a Faraday Future electric SUV caught fire at the startup’s Los Angeles headquarters early Sunda...

Sep 30, 20257 min

Honda and Astrobotic team up to keep the lights on through the long lunar night; plus, the UK government bailed out Jaguar Land Rover

Automotive giant Honda and lunar startup Astrobotic are teaming up to explore how a regenerative fuel cell system could help keep the lights on during long nights on the Moon. On Monday, the companies partnered up to study whether Honda’s regenerative fuel cell can be integrated into Astrobotic’s LunaGrid, a scalable power service built around solar arrays. The two will conduct “illumination studies” at potential lunar south pole landing sites, and evaluate system scalability as well as hardware...

Sep 29, 20256 min
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