February 22, 2025

US AI Safety Institute could face big cuts

The National Institute of Standards and Technology could fire as many as 500 staffers, according to multiple reports — cuts that further threaten a fledgling AI safety organization. Axios reported this week that the US AI Safety Institute (AISI) and Chips for America, both part of NIST, would be “gutted” by layoffs targeting probationary employees […]

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September 2023

Battery recycling heats up with Ascend Elements’ $542M Series D

September 11, 2023
Venture funding for battery recycling startups is popping off lately, and the latest to see the IRA-driven upside is Ascend Elements, which announced a massive $542 million in Series D funding on top of $480 million in earlier DoE grants. The eight-year-old company recycles lithium batteries into black mass and produces cathode active materials (CAM) […]

Meta Quest adds new avatar customization options, an unsend message feature and more

September 11, 2023
As part of the v57 software update for Meta Quest headsets, the company announced Monday a bevy of new features– including more avatar customization options, an unsend message feature, group links, free-form locomotion ability in Horizon Home and a rebranded Explore feed. Meta also made improvements to video recording, multitasking and more. Starting today, the […]

5 more fantastic reasons to go to TechCrunch Disrupt 2023

September 11, 2023
Holy smokes, only one week to go before TechCrunch Disrupt 2023 takes over San Francisco! We can’t wait to see you there! If you haven’t already done so, buy your pass before Friday, September 15 at 11:59 p.m. PDT. After that, full-freight pricing goes into effect. Once more, and a little bit louder for all […]

Divvy Homes goes from $2B valuation to third layoff in a year

September 11, 2023
Divvy Homes, the rent-to-own startup that gained attention and investment from Tiger Global and other high-profile investors, is laying off 94 employees. The layoffs — its third in the past year — represents the latest blow to the real estate tech company as mortgage interest rates have continued to surge. The 94 employees are spread […]

‘Exadelic’ takes a shot at being Silicon Valley’s ‘Ready Player One’

September 11, 2023
We don’t often review books at TechCrunch, let alone fiction, but sometimes a work comes along that is just so carefully tuned to the ecosystem we cover that it justifies a quick post. And so here we have “Exadelic,” a sci-fi novel by erstwhile TC contributor Jon Evans, who does his level best to match […]