Trump to endorse coal for data center power in the face of grim market realities
An executive order will direct the federal government to list coal as a critical mineral and force some coal-fired power plants to keep generating electricity.
The vibes are shifting for US climate tech
The past few years have been an almost nonstop parade of good news for climate tech in the US. Headlines about billion-dollar grants from the government, massive private funding rounds, and labs churning out advance after advance have been routine. Now, though, things are starting to shift. About $8 billion worth of US climate tech…
April 2025
Volunteer your time for a free ticket to TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Join us for an unforgettable opportunity at TechCrunch Sessions: AI, happening at UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall on June 5! We’re on the lookout for enthusiastic volunteers to be part of this exciting event. If you’ve ever wondered what goes into the making of tech gatherings, now’s your chance to find out firsthand. Apply here by […]
How a Jersey Kid Grew His Restaurant Business Into a West Coast Powerhouse
Brad Wise discusses the power of trust, the balance between growth and hospitality and the surprising crossover between running a butcher shop and a restaurant.
Streamline Your Workflow with AI-Powered Note Management
Seamless transcription and summarization across all your Apple devices.
Mira Murati’s AI startup gains prominent ex-OpenAI advisors
Ex-OpenAI CTO Mira Murati’s new AI venture, Thinking Machines Lab, has gained two new prominent advisors: Bob McGrew, previously OpenAI’s chief research officer, and Alec Radford, a former OpenAI researcher behind many of the company’s more transformative innovations. Thinking Machines Lab’s website was quietly updated with McGrew and Radford’s names sometime in March. A spokesperson […]
Snapchat rolls out Sponsored AI Lenses for brands
Snapchat is introducing Sponsored AI Lenses, a new ad format that lets brands engage with consumers in an immersive way. While Snapchat has offered brands the opportunity to pay for sponsored lenses on the platform for years, now they can leverage AI-generated experiences powered by Snap’s proprietary generative AI technology. With these interactive lenses, brands […]
Amazon unveils a new AI voice model, Nova Sonic
On Tuesday, Amazon debuted a new generative AI model, Nova Sonic, capable of natively processing voice and generating natural-sounding speech. Amazon claims that Sonic’s performance is competitive with frontier voice models from OpenAI and Google on benchmarks measuring speed, speech recognition, and conversational quality. Nova Sonic is Amazon’s answer to newer AI voice models such […]
The Download: a “dire wolf” revival, and safeguarding AI companions
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Game of clones: Colossal’s new wolves are cute, but are they dire? For several years now, Texas-based company Colossal Biosciences has been in the news for its plans to re-create woolly mammoths someday.…
Blackbird gobbles up $50M for its blockchain-based payment-loyalty app for restaurants
A founder who has carved out a name for himself building products to help restaurants connect better with would-be diners has raised $50 million for his latest startup: a new take on the idea of customer loyalty. Blackbird Labs has built a payments-meets-loyalty-meets-blockchain platform for restaurants to grow repeat business while reducing some of the […]
XL Batteries is using petrochemical infrastructure to store solar and wind power
The startup has commissioned a demonstration unit of its organic flow battery.