Microsoft’s Mico is a ‘Clippy’ for the AI era
Microsoft has unveiled “Mico,” a new animated avatar for its Copilot AI that brings back shades of Clippy. The expressive blob acts as a friendly, customizable face for the chatbot.
Exclusive eBook: We did the math on AI’s energy footprint.
In this exclusive subscirber-only ebook you’ll learn how the emissions from individual AI text, image, and video queries seem small—until you add up what the industry isn’t tracking and consider where it’s heading next. by James O’Donnell and Casey Crownhart May 20, 2025 Table of contents Related stories:
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Trump pardons Binance founder Changpeng Zhao
Changpeng Zhao previously pleaded guilty to enabling money laundering while running the cryptocurrency exchange, and served four months in prison last year.
How 2 Long-Lost Sisters Found Each Other — and Built the Largest Black-Owned and Women-Founded Wine Company in the US
The founders of the McBride Sisters Wine Company share how they’re reshaping the wine industry through authenticity, accessibility and a values-driven approach.
Google’s bets on carbon capture power plants, which have a mixed record
Google intends to use electricity from the 400-MW power plant in Decatur, Illinois, to operate nearby data centers. Carbon capture will eliminate some of the plants emissions, but how much remains to be seen.
Tensormesh raises $4.5M to squeeze more inference out of AI server loads
Tensormesh uses an expanded form of KV Caching to make inference loads as much as ten times more efficient.
U.S. government accuses former L3Harris cyber boss of stealing trade secrets
The U.S. Department of Justice accused Peter Williams, former general manager of L3Harris’ hacking division Trenchant, of stealing trade secrets and selling them to a buyer in Russia.
Made in space: Varda’s William Bruey shares plan to build the next great supply chain at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025
William Bruey, founder and CEO of Varda Space Industries is taking the Space Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, October 27–29 at Moscone West in San Francisco, to share how his team is transforming outer space into the ultimate manufacturing frontier. Register here to save up to $444 before doors open.
Palantir enters $200M partnership with telco Lumen for enterprise AI services
Palantir said on Thursday it had struck a partnership with Lumen Technologies that will see the telecommunications company using the data management company’s AI software to build capabilities to support enterprise AI services.
Sora update to bring AI videos of your pets, new social features, and soon, an Android version
OpenAI’s hit AI video app, Sora, is getting a wave of new features, including video editing tools, pet and object “cameos,” and enhanced social options. The Android app is also “coming soon.”
The Companies Making the Most Money From AI All Have One Thing in Common
AI in a mediocre business just gives you mediocrity at scale. Here’s how to turn it into the amplifier it was meant to be.