Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt called for the United States to ramp up open-source AI efforts to address the rise of DeepSeek in a Washington Post op-ed published Tuesday. Just last year, Schmidt said America was two or three years ahead of China. But DeepSeek’s rise marks “a turning point” for the global AI race, … Read more
DeepSeek, a Chinese AI lab, has Silicon Valley reeling with its R1 reasoning model, which it claims uses far less computing power than those of American AI leaders — and, it’s open source. The DeepSeek app has shot to the top of the App Store charts this week, dethroning ChatGPT. But who is Liang Wenfeng, … Read more
Alphabet-owned autonomous vehicle company Waymo might be planning to test a feature that will allow robotaxi riders to add a “tip” that will go to the charity of their choice after a ride. Jane Manchun Wong, a security researcher who recently hacked the display dome on top of a Waymo vehicle, found the new tip … Read more
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UC Berkeley spinout Ambi Robotics announced Tuesday the arrival of AmbiStack, a novel system that automates pallet packing. The system features an industrial robotic arm mounted above a conveyer belt that moves along the X and Y axes and lifts boxes up via suction cups mounted to a gripper. Once lifted from the conveyer belt, … Read more
:::info Authors: (1) Oscar Pedreira, Universidade da Coruna, Centro de Investigacion CITIC, Laboratorio de Bases de Datos, Facultade de Informatica; (2) Felix García, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Grupo Alarcos, Escuela Superior de Informatica, Paseo de la Universidad; (3) Mario Piattini, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Grupo Alarcos, Escuela Superior de Informatica, Paseo de la Universidad; (4) … Read more
UK documents show that the UK’s Department of Business and Trade spent five years convincing Andreessen Horowitz to create a presence in London, only for the US firm to leave 18 after launching an office, according to government documents obtained by Sifted. In 2023, a16z launched a crypto office in London, deeming the crypto environment … Read more
Geek Ventures is raising a Fund II, according to a recent SEC filing. The firm, founded in 2021 by Ihar Mahaniok, focuses on investing in early-stage immigrant founders. Mahaniok immigrated to the U.S. from Belarus and spoke to TechCrunch a few years ago about how hard the venture ecosystem can be for immigrants. “Talent is … Read more
Bitcoin coils below $103,000, but dovish comments from this week FOMC could send BTC price to new highs.
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Lawyers for Cynthia Lummis filed an amicus brief as part of Coinbase’s appeal over a ruling in its case with the SEC, claiming the commission “flouts” its enforcement authority.
It initially seemed like Warner Bros. wanted to keep some of Ryan Goodler’s new gothic horror Sinners shrouded in mystery, but the movie’s latest trailer spells out exactly what’s going on. Though nobody says “vampire,” in Sinners’ new trailer twin brothers Elijah and Elias (Michael B. Jordan) know that there’s something demonic going as they … Read more
Lorien Gabel has spent decades building internet infrastructure companies, from ISPs to cloud security firms. In 2018, recognizing the transformative potential of proof-of-stake networks, he co-founded Figment, which has since become one of the world’s largest independent staking providers, offering technology and services that enable users to stake their tokens without having to use a … Read more
Amazon announced Monday it has picked the north England town of Darlington as the first site for its planned U.K. drone delivery expansion. Amazon was expected to expand Prime Air to the U.K. and Italy in 2024. After missing that initial target, the company opted to not share a timeline for this latest launch. Instead, … Read more
Waymo robotaxis have become a common sight on Los Angeles surface streets. Now, those driverless vehicles are heading to the city’s network of freeways. The Alphabet-owned autonomous vehicle technology company said Tuesday it will begin testing its fleet of robotaxis on the Los Angeles freeway system, including Interstates 10, 110, 405, and the 90. These … Read more
Apple’s latest iPad Pro features more than just an upgraded processor. The latest iPad Pro is the most powerful iPad on the market, and as such, it comes at a high cost. Thankfully, you can currently pick up the 11-inch iPad Pro at Amazon with Wi-Fi and 256GB of storage starting at an all-time low $849 … Read more
Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech! This week we’re looking at the story behind the sale of Divvy Homes, Ramp’s new product, some notable fundraising deals, and more! To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important fintech stories delivered to your inbox every Tuesday at 8:00 a.m. PT, subscribe here. The big story Last week, … Read more
The Society Library created the AI agents to thank the crypto community for developing the SL token in their name.
Education software platform PowerSchool has started sending breach notifications to victims of a December 2024 cyberattack, but has yet to share how many people were affected or what exactly happened, reports BleepingComputer. PowerSchool, which has has more than 18,000 customers worldwide and serves over 60 million students, suffered a breach on December 28th that may … Read more
Falls are common for older people living semi-independently. According to the CDC, they’re the leading cause of injury for adults aged 65 and up. On average, about 10% of these falls are serious, requiring medical attention. Yet many fall victims don’t get the treatment they need. George Netscher, a software developer by training, watched his … Read more
Google Play is rolling out “Verified” badges for select VPN apps to make it easier for users to find trust services. Apps with the badge prioritize user privacy and safety, Google said in a blog post on Tuesday. The badge indicates that the developers of an app have adhered to the Play safety and security … Read more
Google Play will now display verification badges on approved VPNs as a way to “highlight apps that prioritize user privacy and safety,” the company announced on Tuesday. The new badge will appear on a VPN app’s details page and within search results, proving that it meets specific standards outlined by Google. To qualify for the … Read more
BTC hits $98k, then rebounds to $103k. Trump’s WLFI buys $10m ETH in dip. Arizona’s 16th state to propose BTC reserve. AI focused BTC miners hit hardest in stock sell-off. Buyback tokens JUP, HYPE & RAY lead rebound. XRP got money transmitter license in Texas & NY. XRP CEO wants US diversified crypto reserves. You … Read more
A security researcher who lives in San Francisco discovered an unreleased feature in Waymo’s app that allows customers to tip for their robotaxi rides. Jane Manchun Wong, a security researcher who also successfully hacked the display dome on top of a Waymo vehicle to display her name, posted a screenshot of the new tipping feature … Read more
French authorities have expanded a probe into Binance, investigating alleged money laundering, tax fraud and other crimes at the crypto exchange from 2019 to 2024, according to a Tuesday report from Reuters. Binance has denied the allegations, telling CoinDesk in an emailed statement that it will “vigorously fight any charges made against it.” The investigation, … Read more