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Updated 2025-07-28 15:16
HyperSciences wants to ‘gamechange’ spaceflight with hypersonic drilling tech
It’s no coincidence that Elon Musk wants to both tunnel down into and soar above the Earth. If you ask the team at HyperSciences, the best way to get to space is to flip drilling technology upside down and point it at the sky. In the process, that would mean ditching the large, expensive fuel […]
Opportunity Mars rover goes to its last rest after extraordinary 14-year mission
Opportunity, one of two rovers sent to Mars in 2004, is officially offline for good, NASA and JPL officials announced today at a special press conference. "I declare the Opportunity mission as complete, and with it the Mars Exploration Rover mission as complete," said NASA's Thomas Zurbuchen.
Reddit says government data requests more than doubled in 2018
Reddit has said the number of government requests for user data has more than doubled in 2018 than on the previous year. The news and content sharing site said in its latest transparency report, posted Wednesday, it received a 752 requests from governments during the year, up from 310 requests a year earlier. Broken down, […]
Google says it’ll invest $13B in US data centers and offices this year
Google today announced that it will invest $13 billion in data centers and offices across the U.S. in 2019. That’s up from $9 billion in investments last year. Many of these investments will go to states like Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Texas, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Virginia, where Google plans new or expanded data centers. Though […]
SEC charges former Apple compliance lawyer with insider trading, avoiding $382K in losses
The shine on Apple is getting a little tarnished. Today, the SEC filed a suit against Gene Levoff, a lawyer who used to work for the iPhone giant, accusing him of insider trading, selling millions of dollars in stock ahead of earnings and saving himself some $382,000 in losses the process, and in a separate, […]
Daily Crunch: Apple’s subscription fix
The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here. 1. Apple’s iOS update makes it easier to get to your subscriptions Moving the Manage Subscriptions menu so that it’s just one […]
Xnor’s saltine-sized, solar-powered AI hardware redefines the edge
"If AI is so easy, why isn't there any in this room?" asks Ali Farhadi, founder and CEO of Xnor, gesturing around the conference room overlooking Lake Union in Seattle. And it's true — despite a handful of displays, phones, and other gadgets, the only things really capable of doing any kind of AI-type work are the phones each of us have set on the table. Yet we are always hearing about how AI is so accessible now, so flexible, so ubiquitous.
Audio tech supplier to Rolls Royce and Xiaomi secures another $13.2M in funding
As autonomous driving eventually transforms cars from transportation devices to mobile theaters or conference rooms we will need better audio inside them. And we’ve already seen that VCs like Andreessen Horowitz say ‘audio is the future.’ So it’s interesting that Swedish sound pioneer Dirac has completed a new $13.2 million round of financing led by […]
Sling TV closes year with 2.4 million subscribers, but growth slowed significantly
Sling TV’s growth has slowed dramatically as the competitive landscape for live TV streaming services has heated up. Despite this, the Dish -owned streaming service remains ahead of rivals in terms of subscriber count – largely due to it being first to market with streaming TV. Dish said today it closed out the year with […]
DOJ charges former US Air Force officer with spying for Iran
Prosecutors have brought charges against a former Air Force officer for allegedly spying for Iran, the Justice Department confirmed Wednesday. Monica Witt, a former Air Force counter-intelligence officer, is accused of defecting to Iran in 2013, after leaving the military in 2008 after more than a decade’s service and later working as a defense contractor. […]
Numan is a startup which aims to tackle your tackle problem: erectile dysfunction
A long-time London-based entrepreneur re-surfaces today with the launch of Numan a new kind of subscription business, with a rather unusual approach to a very old problem. Sokratis Papafloratos (pictured) is one of the more ‘serial of serial’ European entrepreneurs. He was one of the first investors in Calm.com the mindfulness sleep and meditation site […]
Block Kit helps deliver more visually appealing content in Slack
Slack has become a critical communications tool for many organizations. One of the things that has driven its rapid success has been the ability to connect to external enterprise apps inside of Slack, giving employees what is essentially a centralized workhub. This ability has led to some unintended consequences around formatting issues, which Slack addressed […]
J&J spends $3.4 billion in cash for Auris Health’s lung cancer diagnostics and surgical robots
Johnson & Johnson’s robotic surgery and medical device division, Ethicon, is dropping $3.4 billion in cash to pick up Auris Health, a developer of robotic diagnostics and surgical devices initially focused on detecting and treating lung cancer. The healthcare giant said an additional $2.35 billion in payouts may be possible if Auris hits certain milestones. […]
Apple’s iOS update makes it easier to get to your subscriptions
Apple has made a small but important change to iOS that will allow users an easier way to manage their app subscriptions. In the latest release of the mobile operating system (iOS 12.1.4 and 12.2 beta), the company has relocated the “Manage Subscriptions” setting so it’s only one click away when you tap on your […]
Former Snap employees are launching Forge Platform for Ethereum devs
Chris Lorenz, Geoffrey Anderson, and James Borow may have spent their days over the past few years working at Snap, but on nights and weekends Anderson and Lorenz were laboring on a different project — improving Ethereum development tools. Now the three men are finally ready to take the covers off of the labor of love […]
Instagram confirms that a bug is causing follower counts to change
Instagram confirmed today that an issue has been causing some accounts’ follower numbers to change. Users began noticing the bug about 10 hours ago and the drastic drop in followers caused some to wonder if Instagram was culling inactive and fake accounts, as part of its fight against spam. We’re aware of an issue that […]
3Doodler wants you to draw directly onto your iPhone with its new app
With New York ToyFair right around the corner, 3Doodler is taking the opportunity to announce its first ever mobile app. Rather than simply launching a drawing program that mimics the company’s popular 3D drawing pens, however, the simply named 3Doodler app invites users to use their hardware to draw directly onto the phone or tablet’s […]
Elevate Security announces $8M Series A to alter employee security behavior
It’s well understood that many network breaches begin with phishing emails designed to trick users into giving hackers their credentials. They don’t even have to work to find a vulnerability, they can just waltz in the front door. Elevate Security, a San Francisco startup, wants to change that by helping employees understand phishing attacks better […]
Amazon’s ‘Alexa Blueprints’ can now be published publicly on the US Alexa Skills Store
Last year, Amazon introduced Alexa Blueprints, a way for an Alexa device owner to create their own customized voice skills and Alexa responses without needing to know how to code. These skills — like family trivia or tips for your babysitter — could then be published for personal use. Later, Amazon added the ability to share […]
JibJab, one of the first silly selfie video makers, acquired by private equity firm Catapult Capital
JibJab, one of the first companies that let people insert selfies into videos, gifs, and e-cards, has been acquired by Catapult Capital. The Los Angeles-based private equity firm announced the deal today, but did not disclose financial terms. A portion of financing was provided by investment firm Cloud Capital. According to Catapult Capital’s site, it […]
A new Congress means a new opportunity for consumer privacy protections
Debra Berlyn Contributor Share on Twitter Debra Berlyn is the president of Consumer Policy Solutions and the executive director of Project GOAL, a project to raise awareness of both the benefits and challenges of innovative new technologies for the aging community. The 2018 mid-term elections, for the first time in U.S. history, resulted in a […]
Fiverr acquires ClearVoice to double down on content marketing
Fiverr is acquiring ClearVoice, a company that helps customers like Intuit and Carfax find professionals to write promotional content. The two companies seem like a natural fit, since they both operate marketplaces for freelancers. Fiverr covers a much broader swath of freelance work, but CEO Micha Kaufman (pictured above) said the marketplace’s professional writing category […]
Eight Sleep unveils The Pod, a bed that’s smarter about temperature
Smart mattress company Eight Sleep is announcing its newest product today, The Pod. Co-founder and CEO Matteo Franceschetti described it, succinctly, as “Nest for your bed.” Eight has been focused on bed temperature for a while, first by offering a smart mattress cover and then a smart mattress that allows owners to adjust the surface […]
btov Partners closes €80M fund aimed at industrial tech startups
European deep tech and ‘industrial tech’ startups working in the field of industrial applications get a shot in the arm today with the news that btov Partners has secured €80 million ($90 million) in backing for the second close of its new btov Industrial Technologies Fund. btov Partners is a European venture capital firm with […]
PayPal shutters Malaysia office as part of customer service reorg
Payment giant PayPal has closed its office in Malaysia as part of a restructuring of its customer support teams. The office, located in capital city Kuala Lumpur, was home to a team of customer service agents that catered to PayPal users across Asian region and beyond. Now, its responsibility will be assumed by other offices, […]
DJI is updating its geofencing system across Europe after Gatwick drone debacle
Following the pre-Christmas drone debacle in the UK — which plunged thousands of people into travel misery after repeated drone sightings closed the runway at Gatwick, and later also briefly suspended departures at Heathrow — consumer drone maker DJI has announced it’s upgrading its geofencing system across Europe. It says its Geospatial Environment Online (GEO) 2.0 system […]
Rapyd nabs $40M led by Stripe and GC for ‘fintech as a service’, a single API for payments, money transfer and more
As ever more transactions move on to digital platforms, a startup that is building a swiss army knife of financial services — from payments to currency transfers, ID verifications and card issuing — for companies to use by way of a single API — is announcing funding. Rapyd, a “fintech as a service” startup akin to […]
Starling Bank, now with 460K consumer accounts, raises £75M more for European expansion
Starling Bank, founded by banking veteran Anne Boden, has raised £75 million (~$97m) in further funding. The new capital breaks down as £60 million in a Series C round led by Merian Global Investors, including Merian Chrysalis, with £15 million in follow-on funding from Starling’s existing backer and major shareholder Harald McPike. It brings total […]
Manipulating an Indian politician’s tweets is worryingly easy to do
Here’s a concerning story from India, where the upcoming election is putting the use of social media in the spotlight. While the Indian government is putting Facebook, Google and other companies under pressure to prevent their digital platforms from being used for election manipulation, a journalist has demonstrated just how easy it is to control […]
Toronto’s OneEleven launches space in London, but will its scale-up services fly?
Last time I checked London was awash with co-working spaces, shared office spaces, spaces of every shape, size and color. If there’s one sector that always makes money during a boom, it’s the sector that makes the spades and pick-axes for the gold-rush. And that’s exactly what’s happened to London’s tech scene: a property boom. […]
2018 really was more of a dumpster fire for online hate and harassment, ADL study finds
Around 37 percent of Americans were subjected to severe hate and harassment online in 2018, according to a new study by the Anti-Defamation League, up from about 18 percent in 2017. And over half of all Americans experienced some form of harassment according to the ADL study. Facebook users bore the brunt of online harassment […]
Autonomous truck startup TuSimple hits unicorn status in latest round
Another autonomous vehicle unicorn has joined the herd. TuSimple, a self-driving truck startup running daily routes for customers in Arizona, has raised $95 million in a Series D funding round led by Sina Corp. as the company prepares to scale up its commercial autonomous fleet to more than 50 trucks by June. The startup, which launched […]
BuzzFeed News employees vote to unionize
Shortly after BuzzFeed News employees revealed that they had voted to unionize, its editor-in-chief said the company wants to meet with them to discuss voluntarily recognition. Employees announced today that they are organizing as BuzzFeed News Union under the NewsGuild of New York. “Our staff has been organizing for several months, and we have legitimate […]
It isn’t just apps. China’s cinemas broke records during Lunar New Year
China celebrated Lunar New Year last week as hundreds of millions of people travelled to their hometowns. While many had longed to see their separated loved ones, others dreaded the weeklong holiday as relatives awkwardly caught up with them with questions like: “Why are you not married? How much do you earn?” Luckily, there are […]
DoorDash subsidizes driver wages with tips
It’s true that DoorDash offsets the amount it pays its drivers with customer tip, according to an FAQ page on its own site. “For each delivery, you will always receive at least $1 from DoorDash plus 100% of the customer tip,” DoorDash states on a Dasher FAQ page. “Where that sum is less than the guaranteed […]
No, your tweets aren’t awful. Twitter’s Likes are currently borked.
If you have been experiencing issues with the Like or Retweet count on Twitter and are desperately seeking validation, here it is: yes, it’s Twitter, not you (probably). The company confirmed today that it is working on a fix for a problem with notifications that’s been messing with Like counts. Some people around the world […]
Jim Steyer runs the powerful nonprofit Common Sense Media; now he’s using his influence to battle big tech
California Governor Gavin Newsom earlier today proposed a so-called digital dividend that would let consumers share in the profits generated by California-based tech companies that have been “collecting, curating and monetizing” their users’ personal data. Newsom added that he has asked his administration to develop a proposal for a “new data dividend for Californians, because we […]
Investors are still failing to back founders from diverse backgrounds
The large majority of venture dollars are invested in companies run by white men with a university degree, according to a new report by RateMyInvestor and Diversity VC. This new data reveals that despite the lip service investors have paid to backing founders from diverse backgrounds, much, much, more work needs to be done to actually […]
Tim Cook-backed shower startup Nebia shows off a warmer, water-saving shower head
I’m not in the habit of getting naked during meetings at startup offices, but this time it felt appropriate. Nebia, a shower startup that has attracted investments from the likes of Apple CEO Tim Cook and former Google chairman Eric Schmidt’s foundation is back with some new cash (though it won’t divulge how much) and a […]
Google expands partnership with Founder Gym to support underrepresented founders
Google for Startups has expanded a partnership with startup training program Founder Gym to better serve underrepresented founders through a new scholarship program. The program typically charges $396 to participate, but thanks to this partnership with Google for Startups, Google will cover the costs for select scholarship recipients to participate in the six-week program. This partnership […]
Google and IBM still trying desperately to move cloud market share needle
When it comes to the cloud market, there are few known knowns. For instance, we know that AWS is the market leader with around 32 percent of market share. We know Microsoft is far back in second place with around 14 percent, the only other company in double digits. We also know that IBM and […]
In healthcare, better data demands better privacy protections
The use of big data and its analysis by machine learning and artificial intelligence offer unparalleled prospects for improving medical care. However...
Donde Search picks up $6 million to help fashion retailers with visual search
Donde Search has just closed a $6 million Series A investment led by Matrix Partners, with participation from previous investors such as senior leaders from AliExpress, Google and Waze. Donde first launched in 2014 as a consumer-facing app that helped users search and discover apparel items based on visual characteristics rather than text-based searches. In […]
Sixteen percent of US adults own a smartwatch
The latest figures out of NPD show a continued uptick in smartwatch sales here in the States. The category has been a rare bright spot in an overall flagging wearable space, and the new numbers show gains pretty much across the board. In fact, the study puts smartwatch ownership at 16 percent among U.S. adults […]
Instagram is now testing a web version of Direct messages
Insta-chat addicts, rejoice. You could soon be trading memes and emojis from your computer. Instagram is internally testing a web version of Instagram Direct messaging that lets people chat without the app. If, or more likely, when this rolls out publicly, users on a desktop or laptop PC or Mac, a non-Android or iPhone or […]
Facebook and Google still offer the best value for mobile advertisers (Singular report)
Among mobile ad networks, Facebook and Google remain the best bet for advertisers, according to the latest ROI Index from marketing startup Singular. To pull together this year’s index, Singular says it sampled $1.5 billion in ad spending (from the $10 billion in spending that the company optimizes annually) and measured which networks are delivering […]
DARPA wants smart bandages for wounded warriors
Nowhere is prompt and effective medical treatment more important than on the battlefield, where injuries are severe and conditions dangerous. DARPA thinks that outcomes can be improved by the use of intelligent bandages and other systems that predict and automatically react to the patient's needs.
Ubisoft and Mozilla team up to develop Clever-Commit, an AI coding assistant
Game developer Ubisoft today announced that it has partnered with Mozilla to develop Clever-Commit, an AI-based coding assistant that learns from your code base’s bug and regression data to analyze and flag potential new bugs as new code is committed. Ubisoft already uses this tool internally and Mozilla says that it will deploy it to spot […]
Massless raises $2M to build an Apple Pencil for virtual reality
Despite all of the VR over-hyping, for those observing from the inside, the capabilities are still uncharted. VR as a creative medium has probably been one of the more entrancing use cases since the first high-end headsets launched. Products like Google’s Tilt Brush isolated impossible use cases, where VR was the only way to experience […]
Report: Voice assistants in use to triple to 8 billion by 2023
The use of voice assistants is set to triple over the next few years, according to a new forecast from the U.K.-based analysts at Juniper Research. The firm estimates there will be 8 billion digital voice assistants in use by 2023, up from the 2.5 billion assistants in use at the end of 2018. The […]
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