Google adds AI features to Chromebook Plus devices
Google’s adding a slew of AI features to the Chromebook Plus line, including a search and text capture tool, NotebookLM, and a tool for simplifying text.
Authors call on publishers to limit their use of AI
An open letter from authors including Lauren Groff, Lev Grossman, R.F. Kuang, Dennis Lehane, and Geoffrey Maguire calls on book publishers to pledge to limit their use of AI tools, for example by committing to only hire human audiobook narrators.
Others
SMB-focused Finom closes €115M as European fintech heats up
Finom, an Amsterdam-based challenger bank for SMBs that claims to have doubled its revenue in 2024, closed a €115 million Series C equity round (around $133 million).
OpenAI pulls promotional materials around Jony Ive deal
OpenAI appears to have pulled a much-discussed video promoting the friendship between CEO Sam Altman and legendary Apple designer Jony Ive (plus, incidentally, OpenAI’s $6.5 billion deal to acquire Ive and Altman’s device startup io) from its website and YouTube page.
Tesla launches robotaxi rides in Austin with big promises and unanswered questions
Tesla has started giving rides in driverless Model Y SUVs in Austin. Details are still sparse, but limited service is open to vetted and invited riders.
Why Danny Boyle shot ‘28 Years Later’ on iPhones
Director Danny Boyle famously shot his post-apocalyptic classic “28 Days Later” on Canon digital cameras, making it easier for him to capture eerie scenes of an abandoned London, and giving the movie’s fast-moving zombies a terrifying immediacy. To make his decades-later sequel “28 Years Later” (which opened this weekend), Boyle turned to a different piece […]
The stablecoin evangelist: Katie Haun’s fight for digital dollars
In 2018, when Bitcoin was trading around $4,000 and most Americans, at least, thought cryptocurrency was a fad, Katie Haun found herself on a debate stage in Mexico City opposite Paul Krugman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist who had dismissed digital assets as near worthless. As Krugman focused on Bitcoin’s wild price swings, Haun steered the conversation toward something else — stablecoins.
Moratorium on state AI regulation clears Senate hurdle
A Republican effort to prevent states from enforcing their own AI regulations cleared a key procedural hurdle on Saturday.
This Windows 11 Pro Upgrade Is a No-Brainer at $15
Security, multitasking, and Copilot AI built in.
LinkedIn CEO says AI writing assistant is not as popular as expected
While LinkedIn users seem to have embraced AI, there’s one area that’s seen less uptake than expected, according to CEO Ryan Roslansky: the AI-generated suggestions for polishing your LinkedIn posts.
Last day to save on your TechCrunch All Stage pass — prices go up tonight
It’s now or never — this is your final day to lock in savings for TechCrunch All Stage, happening July 15 in Boston. Prices increase tonight, June 22, at 11:59 p.m. PT. If you’ve been thinking about attending, now’s the time to commit. Register here. TC All Stage brings together founders, investors, and operators from […]