timef 04/29/2025

After integrating Meta AI into WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger, Meta is rolling out a standalone AI app. Unveiled at Meta’s LlamaCon event on Tuesday, this app allows users to access Meta AI in a standalone app, similar to the ChatGPT app and other AI assistant apps. To win over users, Meta is trying to […]

On Tuesday, Meta is hosting its first-ever LlamaCon AI developer conference at its Menlo Park headquarters, where the company will try to pitch developers on building applications with its open Llama AI models. Just a year ago, that wasn’t a hard sell. However, in recent months, Meta has struggled to keep up with both “open” […]

The ruling, which has yet to take effect, was ordered under India's online blocking laws.

Spotify reported on Tuesday that its premium subscriber base grew by 5 million in the first quarter, representing a 12% increase year-over-year. This brings the total to 268 million, marking the second-highest total ever and the highest net addition of paid subs for a first quarter since 2020.  Spotify also reported a record-high quarterly operating […]

We’re in the final stretch. TechCrunch Sessions: AI takes over Zellerbach Hall in almost a month, and the exhibit floor is almost completely booked. If you’ve been considering showing off your AI product or innovation, now’s the time to commit. Exhibit tables are in short supply, and the May 9 deadline is fast approaching. At […]

Hungry to learn more about Anthropic, directly from Anthropic? You aren’t alone if so, which is why we’re so delighted to announce that Anthropic co-founder and Chief Science Officer Jared Kaplan is joining the main stage at TechCrunch Sessions: AI on June 5 at UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall. Lean into this session exploring the frontier […]

The AI revolution isn’t coming — it’s already underway, and the time to grab your Early Bird ticket ends in just 6 days. Don’t miss your chance to dive into the AI ecosystem and lock in the lowest rates. On June 5, TechCrunch Sessions: AI takes over UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall for a one-day gathering […]

Amazon is bringing back its annual sales event, Prime Day, in July, the e-commerce giant said on Tuesday. This year, consumer demand for the popular sale event could be dampened by the possibility of tariffs increasing the cost of goods. To highlight the impact of President Trump’s tariffs, Amazon will reportedly begin to display the […]

The startup's enzymes modify a cow’s microbiome using enzymes, slashing methane while boosting the nutrients available to the cow. 

When it comes to creating images of the earth from above, satellites, drones and planes are the air and spacecraft that tend to come to mind. But a startup called Near Space Labs is taking a very different approach to high-resolution photos from up high. It’s building aircraft that are raised by helium balloons and […]

On Tuesday, Meta is hosting LlamaCon, its first-ever AI developer event. It’ll center around the company’s Llama family of open AI models, and we’re expecting some big updates for developers. Also on the agenda: keynotes from Meta executives and fireside chats with Big Tech CEOs and Meta’s chief, Mark Zuckerberg. Meta is hosting a small […]

Yelp said on Tuesday that it’s working on deploying AI-powered “voice agents” to help service providers and restaurants handle calls, answer basic questions, and accomplish tasks like adding a customer to a restaurant waitlist. Yelp says its agents don’t require a complicated setup or API integrations, and can draw from existing metadata along with data […]

Governments like China and North Korea, along with spyware makers, used the most recorded zero-days in 2024.

Storied Silicon Valley VC firm Andreessen Horowitz is backing a fledgling U.K. startup that’s setting out to “redefine” how AI is used to match companies with talent. Dex, as the startup is called, targets candidates and companies with various AI-powered recruitment smarts, including matchmaking and coaching, with a view toward improving retention in the long […]

Veterans of the European startup scene, who’ve launched multiple consumer apps in the past, are partly coming out of stealth Tuesday with a new app. On the face of it, Grouphug will simply generate memes from the archive of a group WhatsApp chat. However, that masks a wider play.  Grouphug is led by Felix Petersen, […]

Blink and you’ll miss it: a startup out of Finland is taking a new look at the market for prescription eyewear. Tapping into innovations in eye-tracking and liquid crystal lens technology, IXI is building low-power glasses that will invisibly, automatically adjust to account for Presbyopia (far-sightedness), for the wearer. Four years into its life, Hensinki-based […]

In a bid to broaden its user base in India, Reddit has updated its machine translation feature to support the automatic translation of posts and comments into Hindi. “With this expansion, authentic, more people-powered content is now accessible in one of India’s most spoken languages,” the company wrote in an update to a blog post. […]

Supporting super-early stage entrepreneurs in Europe seems to be suddenly in vogue. Back in March, “Project Europe” was launched to great fanfare by podcaster and VC Harry Stebbings with a small $10 million fund to back founders aged only 25 and under, riffing on the ‘Peter Thiel Fellowship’ model of old. Now a new fund […]

A bug in OpenAI’s ChatGPT allowed the chatbot to generate graphic erotica for accounts where a user registered as a minor, under the age of 18, TechCrunch’s testing revealed, and OpenAI confirmed.  In some cases, the chatbot even encouraged these users to ask for raunchier, more explicit content. OpenAI told TechCrunch its policies don’t allow […]

HR tech giant Deel says its executives have formally accepted service of legal documents in its ongoing court battle with rival Rippling in Ireland. This ends weeks of suspense after Rippling’s bailiffs couldn’t find Deel’s executives to serve them – only for Deel’s CEO and top lawyer to turn up in Dubai. Deel CEO Alex […]

HR tech giant Deel says it has formally accepted to be served legal documents in its ongoing court battle with rival Rippling in Ireland. This ends weeks of suspense after Rippling’s bailiffs couldn’t find Deel’s execs to serve them – only for Deel’s CEO and top lawyer to turn up in Dubai. Deel CEO Alex […]

Chinese tech company Alibaba on Monday released Qwen 3, a family of AI models the company claims matches and in some cases outperforms the best models available from Google and OpenAI. Most of the models are — or soon will be — available for download under an “open” license from AI dev platform Hugging Face […]

A mysterious investor out of London has asked a bankruptcy judge in Delaware to stop the sale of EV startup Canoo’s assets to its CEO, calling it a “flawed” process. Charles Garson, a UK-based investor with no obvious ties to the EV startup, offered $20 million for Canoo’s assets, according to a filing. A lawyer […]

Hugging Face, the startup best known for the AI developer platform of the same name, is selling a programmable, 3D-printable robotic arm that can pick up and place objects and perform a few other basic chores. Called the SO-101, the arm is the follow-up to Hugging Face’s previous robotic arm, the SO-100, released last year. […]

Chinese tech conglomerate Huawei is looking to take on semiconductor behemoth Nvidia with a new advanced AI chip. Huawei is making progress developing its latest Ascend AI GPU, the Ascend 910D, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar. The company has been reaching out to other Chinese firms to find test partners, the […]

YouTube’s support team is experiencing an outage, too. The company says the widespread power outages in Spain and Portugal have knocked some of YouTube’s customer support team offline, including those who offer support in related European languages. The company did not share how many employees are unable to work because of the outages, or how […]

OpenAI is updating ChatGPT search, its web search tool in ChatGPT, to give users an improved online shopping experience, the company announced Monday. When ChatGPT users search for products, the chatbot will now offer a few recommendations, present images and reviews for those items, and include direct links to webpages where users can buy the […]

Temu is adding “import charges” of around 145% in response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs on goods shipped from China, CNBC reports. The fees cost more than the products that U.S. consumers are buying, and in some cases are more than doubling the price of a standard order. For example, CNBC found that a summer […]

The researchers said the attackers behind the campaign had "deep understanding of the target community."

The researchers said the attackers behind the campaign had "deep understanding of the target community."

News about Android is being relegated to a side show at Google’s annual developer conference, Google I/O, next month. On Monday, the company announced it would share information about the latest updates coming to the Android ecosystem at an upcoming virtual event called “The Android Show: I/O Edition,” airing on May 13. The decision to […]