timef 05/06/2025

Google on Tuesday announced the launch of Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview (I/O edition), an updated version of its flagship Gemini 2.5 Pro AI model that the company claims tops a number of widely-used benchmarks. Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview (I/O edition) is available via the Gemini API and Google’s Vertex AI and AI Studio platforms, priced […]

Every developer has their own unique style of writing code. Despite companies establishing best practices and drawing up documentation, it can be hard for developers to understand someone else’s codebase. To solve this problem, Dennis Pilarinos built a tool called Unblocked — an AI-powered assistant that answers contextual questions about lines of code. Pilarinos is […]

NewLimit, a startup that aims to increase how long people can live a healthy life by genetically programming their cells, has raised $130M.

Uber is expanding its presence in Turkey with its latest acquisition.  The ride-hail and delivery giant has acquired an 85% controlling stake in Trendyol Go, the online meal and grocery delivery business based in Istanbul, for about $700 million in cash. The deal gives Uber instant market share for Uber Eats in the country, where […]

Nearly three years after unveiling the concept version of its flagship Celestiq EV, Cadillac has finally released the real thing: a $300,000 electric vehicle that oozes luxury and a come-gawk-at-me exterior designed to lure in passersby. But is this bespoke EV enough for Cadillac to regain its position as the “Standard of the World?” I […]

Cnaught is a market maker seeking to ease the pain of buying carbon credits for companies without dedicated teams.

Agree.com says its AI-powered e-signature platform is different from competitors because it includes invoicing and payment processing. That’s why the company might have a shot at tackling the industry goliath, Docusign.  Because the startup makes its money from transaction fees for any money movement facilitated by its platform, Agree.com has made e-signatures free to all […]

In 2017, Raghav Gupta set out to solve a personal problem: he wanted easy access to the home-cooked meals he grew up eating without having to spend time cooking or spend money on takeout or hiring a private chef. He turned to robotics, which led him to found the startup Posha. Posha, a former TechCrunch […]

Individuals may work closely with AI agents as they become increasingly prevalent in the workplace. According to a report by Boston Consulting Group, the market for AI agents is expected to grow at a 45% compound annual growth rate over the next five years. Just like human employees, AI agents could be onboarded to learn […]

Instacart has launched a new drinks and snack delivery app called Fizz, the company announced on Tuesday. The 21+ app is built for friends and family and is designed to make it easier to stock up for a party or get-together. The host of a party can invite guests into their Fizz cart to allow […]

YouTube continues to dominate the podcasting space, but Spotify is actively working to close the gap. The latest development: a new feature that lets users see how many times an audio-only or video podcast episode has been actively listened to or watched. The streaming giant revealed its new podcast metric called “plays” on Tuesday, making […]

The autonomous navigation market — where ships, guided by AI, steer themselves, resulting in fuel and time savings — is projected to sail past $11 billion by 2028. As a result, companies in this space are pushing on an open door. The latest is Orca AI, which closed a Series B funding round of $72.5 million […]

The U.S. Department of Justice is proposing that Google sell two of its advertising products to restore competition in the ad tech space, according to a new filing. The proposal comes after a judge found Google guilty of “willfully acquiring and maintaining monopoly power” in the digital ad space last month. The DOJ’s filing notes […]

It’s 2025, but business cards are still in vogue — just visit any conference or industry expo and you’ll end up with a pile that’s likely to be discarded sooner than later. But as smartphones have become our repositories of information and contacts, people are understandably keen to try out digital alternatives to business cards. […]

DoorDash said on Tuesday it has agreed to buy its U.K. rival Deliveroo for about £2.9 billion (around $3.85 billion).

Elon Musk may have a sizable fan base, but residents of the upscale Austin suburb of West Lake Hills, Texas, are unimpressed by their celebrity neighbor, reports the New York Times. Instead, a $6 million home Musk purchased in 2022 has become the center of a battle after his team erected an unauthorized 16-foot chain-link […]

Employer.com has acquired MainStreet.com for an undisclosed amount, the latest fintech startup to get snapped up by the workforce management company. In a post on X, Employer.com Chairman and co-founder Jesse Tinsley said the two companies were “merging forces to simplify business back office solutions into one powerhouse platform.” Tinsley confirmed the acquisition to TechCrunch. […]

Waymo has played coy for years about exactly how many Jaguar I-Pace EVs are in its autonomous fleet — a figure that covers vehicles used in testing and commercial robotaxi operations. On Monday, the Alphabet company finally provided a peek at the commercial side of the fleet. Waymo said Monday, as part of a larger […]

Uber and Chinese autonomous vehicle technology company WeRide plan to expand a commercial robotaxi partnership and bring the service to another 15 cities over the next five years. The expansion comes five months after the two companies launched a commercial robotaxi service in Abu Dhabi.  The companies said the expansion will include cities in Europe. Under […]

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Monday released new documentation detailing its new “Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees.” The rule, set to take effect on May 12, prohibits hidden fees for live events, hotels, and short-term rentals. It also bans practices such as “bait-and-switch pricing” and any actions that conceal or misrepresent total prices […]

With long waiting lists and rising costs in overburdened healthcare systems, many people are turning to AI-powered chatbots like ChatGPT for medical self-diagnosis. About 1 in 6 American adults already use chatbots for health advice at least monthly, according to one recent survey. But placing too much trust in chatbots’ outputs can be risky, in […]

Recraft, the startup behind a mysterious image model that beat OpenAI’s DALL-E and Midjourney on a respected industry benchmark last year, has raised a $30 million Series B round led by Accel, it exclusively told TechCrunch.  Other investors in the round include Khosla Ventures and Madrona. Based in San Francisco, Recraft previously raised a $12 […]

Google will unveil a new version of its Android design language at its upcoming Google I/O developer conference, according to an event schedule posted to its website as well as an accidentally published Google blog post. The I/O session title hints at significant changes in store for Android’s design system, which will evolve from “Material […]

Quantum computing has long been announced as “just around the corner,” but several companies are now determined to make this a commercial reality, with the promise of solving complex problems beyond classical computers’ reach. The problems in question are wide-ranging, from medicine and cybersecurity to materials science and chemistry. But first, there are very practical […]

Not so long ago, the idea of public tech companies emerging from Latin America seemed far-fetched, and Mercado Libre once appeared as rare and mythical as a true unicorn. Today, however, the region is home to several startups that have reached billion-dollar valuations. Some of these startups, propelled into the spotlight by cross-border expansion, are […]

Anduril announced its ninth acquisition on Monday with the purchase of Dublin’s Klas, makers of ruggedized edge computing equipment for the military and first-responders. Anduril wouldn’t reveal financial details of the deal, and the purchase is subject to regulatory approval, but the company did say that Klas employs 150 people.  Relatedly, on Monday Anduril also […]

Mistral AI, the French company behind AI assistant Le Chat and several foundational models, is officially regarded as one of France’s most promising tech startups and is arguably the only European company that could compete with OpenAI. But compared to its $6 billion valuation, its global market share is still relatively low.  However, the recent […]

CEO Greg Twiney posted an open letter on the company’s website today pleading for money.

Elon Musk has long been credited with turning Tesla into a beacon of innovation, the visionary who pushed the world into an era of electrification. But his slide into politics — specifically his alignment with President Trump and activities within the federal government — has dragged Tesla into uncertainty.  For many would-be Tesla buyers, the […]

YouTube is testing a new two-person Premium subscription plan in select countries, the company confirmed to TechCrunch on Monday. The tier is being piloted in India, France, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. The news was first reported by Money Control. “We’re experimenting with new ways to provide greater flexibility and value to our YouTube Premium subscribers, […]

Hackers claiming to be part of the hacktivist group Anonymous claimed the data breach.

Hasan Sukkar, the founder of AI startup 11x, is stepping down from his role as CEO, Sukkar announced on LinkedIn this morning. Prabhav Jain, 11x’s CTO, has been named the company’s new CEO.  Sukkar will move into a “non-executive chairman” position, where he will work with Jain on “strategic direction, product vision, industry relationships, and […]

OpenAI has decided that its nonprofit division will retain control over its for-profit org, after the company initially announced that it planned to convert to a for-profit organization. According to the company, OpenAI’s business wing, which has been under the nonprofit since 2019, will transaction to a public benefit corporation (PBC). The nonprofit will control […]

More than 250 CEOs signed an open letter published in The New York Times on Monday calling for AI and computer science to be “core components” of K-12 curricula. The signatories, which include Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Etsy CEO Josh Silverman, and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, argue that computer science and AI education are essential […]

Google is reportedly spinning up a film and TV production project called 100 Zeroes. According to a report from Business Insider, this initiative is intended to make young audiences feel more positively about Google’s products, as well as tech at large. Like Apple’s TV shows, where actors will use MacBooks and iPhones with clearly visible […]

Anthropic is launching an AI for Science program to support researchers working on “high-impact” scientific projects, with a focus on biology and life sciences applications. The program, announced Monday, will offer up to $20,000 in Anthropic API credits over a six-month period to “qualified” researchers who’ll be selected based on their “contributions to science, the potential […]

As promised, Apple has now filed its appeal to the recent court ruling that required it to open up its App Store to external payment mechanisms. Last week, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers took the tech giant to task for defying the court’s orders in its battle with Fortnite maker Epic Games by not freely allowing […]

As promised, Apple has now filed its appeal to the recent court ruling that required it to open up its App Store to external payment mechanisms. Last week, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers took the tech giant to task for defying the court’s orders in its battle with Fortnite maker Epic Games by not freely allowing […]

After more than two decades, Skype is shutting down. The once-monolithic video calling platform wasn’t able to keep pace with competitors like Zoom and FaceTime, so its parent company, Microsoft, is rolling the product into Microsoft Teams. In this video, we’re sending off the iconic platform and some other legendary apps.

Rork founders Levan Kvirkvelia and Daniel Dhawan are living a life that sounds like a plot for a movie. But it really happened.  They went from broke, life savings spent, and in debt $15,000 apiece on credit cards — Kvirkvelia was even sleeping on a mattress at a friend’s apartment — to $100,000 of revenue […]

Every year, donors contribute billions of dollars to charities, yet the donation process still feels outdated and cumbersome. Founders Dan Eblagon and Ron Levy believe there is an easier way to donate, leading to the creation of Bono, a platform designed to facilitate a more modern and streamlined approach to giving.  The platform (named after […]

After 23 years of connecting people around the world, Skype, the popular video-calling service, is shutting down on Monday. Microsoft, the parent company, confirmed that the official sunset date for the service is today, May 5, 2025. Skype users can either migrate all their contacts and chat data to Microsoft Teams, or they can choose […]

A hacker has exploited a vulnerability in TeleMessage, which provides modded versions of encrypted messaging apps such as Signal, Telegram, and WhatsApp, to extract archived messages and other data relating to U.S. government officials and companies who used the tool, 404 Media reported. TeleMessage came into the spotlight last week after it was reported that […]