A rough week for hardware companies
iRobot, Luminar, and Rad Power Bikes were very different companies, but they faced some similar challenges.
iRobot, Luminar, and Rad Power Bikes were very different companies, but they faced some similar challenges.
Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, your hub for all things “future of transportation.”
Waymo suspended its SF robotaxi service on Saturday evening after a massive blackout appeared to leave many of its vehicles stalled on city streets.
The future may be electric, but that future is being postponed. The European Commission, citing the need for flexibility, has softened its ambitious plan to ban the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035. Instead of requiring 100% of new cars to be zero-emission vehicles by that date, the revised plan would allow 10% of new … Read more
In perhaps the last public interview of one Israel’s most famous VCs, Jon Medved tells TechCrunch how tech will enhance his life.
Law firms representing Google and Apple have reportedly warned that employees who need a visa stamp to re-enter the United States should avoid leaving the country due to longer-than-usual visa processing times.
The iRobot founder opens up about the 18-month regulatory process that he says doomed the Roomba maker — and what it means for American innovation.
ChatGPT users can now tweak the chatbot’s warmth, enthusiasm, and emoji use.
The bill will require large AI developers to publish information about their safety protocols and report safety incidents to the state within 72 hours.
The newest episode raises questions about whether Sequoia’s new leadership — managing partners Alfred Lin and Pat Grady, who took over last month — can or will rein in Maguire’s social media activity.
The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, according to people familiar with the deal.
The $816 million contract follows a separate $515 million — both awarded by the U.S. Space Development Agency.
This week on Build Mode, Startup Battlefield editor Isabelle Johannessen spoke to two founders who are working to make progress in industries ripe for disruption, despite the regulatory headaches that might have deterred many other people.
Marcario joined the board in 2021, and will maintain her position as chair overseeing the Rivian Foundation, which made its first grants last year.
Investors at TechCrunch Disrupt explained their focus on artificial intelligence and offered advice to founders on how to stand out in a crowded AI field.
Graphite is an AI code review assistant that was last valued at $290 million.
The decision brings to a close a years-long court battle that irked Musk so much he moved Tesla’s incorporation from Delaware to Texas.
Given NGL’s track record of dubious growth hacking, this partnership with Mode Mobile seems like a good match.
Cisco warned that Chinese government hackers are exploiting a zero-day in some of its products. Researchers now say there are hundreds of vulnerable Cisco customers.
Renowned AI scientist Yann LeCun confirmed on Thursday the worst-kept secret in the tech world: that he had indeed launched a new startup. Although he did say he will not be running the new company as its CEO.
Netflix is making exclusive deals with podcast studios to compete with YouTube, but podcasters have mixed feelings.
OpenAI updated its guidelines for how its AI models should behave with users under 18, and published new AI literacy resources for teens and parents. Still, questions remain about how well policies translate into practice.
In its test phase in San Francisco, Known said it observed 80% of its introductions led to physical dates, which is much higher than swipe-based dating apps.
The gaming startup will allow Netflix subscribers to create avatars that can extend across gaming titles.
The company is working on an image and video model and new text-based model, which aids with coding.
Called the Unicorn Growth Fund, the investment vehicle is a collaboration between Krafton and South Korean internet conglomerate Naver, and investor Mirae Asset. It aims to deploy around $669.3 million over four years.
TechCrunch looks back at the biggest data breaches, disruptive cyberattacks, and damaging hacks of 2025, from the raiding of U.S. government databases to a hack every month in South Korea.
The ChatGPT maker is aiming to raise the funding by the end of the first quarter in 2026, and the company may ask sovereign wealth funds to invest in the round.
The hardware world had a brutal week, with iRobot, Luminar, and Rad Power Bikes all filing for bankruptcy. Each company faces its own mix of tariff pressures, supply chain issues, and shifting markets, but together they tell a larger story about the challenges of building physical products in an era of global trade tensions and cheap overseas competition. From … Read more
The deal closes a long-running drama in which U.S. authorities have sought to compel ByteDance to divest.