Preserving Israel’s high-tech ecosystem: A path to upholding democracy
With the specter of illiberal democracy looming, the very fabric of the nation stands at a critical crossroads.
Inside the most dangerous asteroid hunt ever
If you were told that the odds of something were 3.1%, it really wouldn’t seem like much. But for the people charged with protecting our planet, it was huge. On February 18, astronomers determined that a 130- to 300-foot-long asteroid had a 3.1% chance of crashing into Earth in 2032. Never had an asteroid of…
Technology
Why salt marshes could help save Venice
Venice, Italy, is suffering from a combination of subsidence—the city’s foundations slowly sinking into the mud on which they are built—and rising sea levels. In the worst-case scenario, it could disappear underwater by the year 2100. Alessandro Gasparotto, an environmental engineer, is one of the many people trying to keep that from happening. Standing on…
Dipp uses AI to fix bottlenecks between marketing and design teams
Before founding dipp, Jennifer Chen and Mikhail Abramov spent 15 years working as art directors in New York City. During that time, Chen says they realized that the marketing, sales and design process have stayed the same, despite new technology and tools being introduced to the market, and is often riddled with bottlenecks. “Salespeople have […]
How ubiquitous keyboard software puts hundreds of millions of Chinese users at risk
For millions of Chinese people, the first software they download on a new laptop or smartphone is always the same: a keyboard app. Yet few of them are aware that it may make everything they type vulnerable to spying eyes. Since dozens of Chinese characters can share the same latinized phonetic spelling, the ordinary QWERTY…
Triller’s S-1 filing claims 550M users, but its app installs fall far short, new data shows
TikTok competitor Triller is preparing to go public, but estimates from Apptopia call its self-reported user numbers into question. Per Triller’s S-1 filing, the short form video app has had 550 million lifetime signups. But market intelligence firm Apptopia estimates that Triller has been downloaded just 73.2 million times since launch in 2015 — that’s […]
Teeny EV startup Arcimoto hooks up with defense contractor
What happens when a maker of tiny electric vehicles dips its wheels into the military industrial complex? We’re about to find out. On Monday, Arcimoto said it is diversifying beyond its usual business via a partnership with Department of Defense contractor Matbock. That’s a first for the EV startup, which is best known for its […]
VC Office Hours: Why the sex tech industry could benefit from today’s politics
Vice clauses often exclude the sex tech industry from most VCs’ investment areas, but the fervor around reproductive rights could drive the conversation forward for this industry.
Everyone’s talking about tech IPOs again
After going on about tech IPOs and the ongoing drought for so long, I would like a change in theme, one driven by SEC filings and data.
The human costs of the AI boom
AI companies are using online labor to outsource the large amounts of hidden manual work needed to build their applications.
Five, count ’em, five reasons you need to be at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023
Why should you go to TechCrunch Disrupt 2023 in San Francisco on September 19–21? Let us count the reasons. We could hit double digits, but we’ll stop at five because you’re busy people with unicorns to chase. Besides, these five should be tempting enough for anyone interested in building a bigger, better startup — in […]