Ask Sophie: As an immigrant to the US, how can I create and work for my own startup?
I’ve decided to move forward and found my own startup in the U.S. What’s the best way for me to be able to stay in the U.S. and work legally?
How scientists are trying to use AI to unlock the human mind
Today’s AI landscape is defined by the ways in which neural networks are unlike human brains. A toddler learns how to communicate effectively with only a thousand calories a day and regular conversation; meanwhile, tech companies are reopening nuclear power plants, polluting marginalized communities, and pirating terabytes of books in order to train and run…
Technology
What led to EV darling Proterra’s bankruptcy
Proterra, a company that develops battery systems for buses and other heavy duty EVs, filed for bankruptcy earlier this week, making it the latest in a string of failures in the EV sector. While some parallels can be drawn between Proterra and other failing or defunct EV companies, this company faces specific headwinds that took […]
Messina joins Ride Home Fund’s new $15M AI vehicle, backed by Andreessen, Dixon, Crowley
Tech veteran Chris Messina and writer/podcaster Brian McCullough are launching a new $15 million fund aimed at AI startups. The backers include tech luminary investors and founders such as Marc Andreessen, Chris Dixon, and Dennis Crowley, who are all investing personally. McCullough has been running his Ride Home Fund for two years now, a fund […]
JB Straubel, Redwood Materials founder and Tesla board member, is headed to TC Disrupt 2023
In the world of electric vehicles, batteries and renewable energy systems, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone more experienced than JB Straubel. We’re excited to welcome Straubel, founder and CEO of Redwood Materials — and Tesla’s co-founder, former CTO and newest board member — to the Disrupt Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023, which runs […]
California regulators to decide the future of Cruise and Waymo
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is scheduled Thursday to make a high-stakes vote that will determine the commercial future for autonomous vehicle technology companies Cruise and Waymo — not to mention any other AV company with aspirations to launch commercial robotaxi services in the state. Cruise and Waymo already offer limited commercial services in […]
DARPA launches two-year competition to build AI-powered cyber defenses
As a part of an ongoing White House initiative to make software more secure, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) plans to launch a two-year contest, the AI Cyber Challenge, that’ll task competitors with identifying and fixing software vulnerabilities using AI. In collaboration with AI startups Anthropic and OpenAI, as well as Microsoft and […]
The all-electric 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ is loaded with tech and wrapped up in big ol’ package
Like most manufacturers these days, Cadillac is looking to go all-electric in the next few years. By 2030, the company hopes to have its entire fleet run solely on electrons — no PHEVs or mild hybrids here, folks — and to do that, it needs something big to win the hearts and minds of its […]
WeWork’s going concern warning is a reminder that VC and low-margin business don’t mix
It can be a good idea to raise venture capital to scale a business with highly valuable revenue, provided you can generate operating leverage later.
Merging physical and digital tools to build resilient supply chains
Organizations are building resilient supply chains with a “phygital” approach, a blend of digital and physical tools. In recent years, the global supply chain has been disrupted due to the covid-19 pandemic, geopolitical volatility, overwhelmed legacy systems, and labor shortages. The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), an industrial advocacy group, warns the disruption isn’t over—NAM’s…
Why watermarking AI-generated content won’t guarantee trust online
In late May, the Pentagon appeared to be on fire. A few miles away, White House aides and reporters scrambled to figure out whether a viral online image of the exploding building was in fact real. It wasn’t. It was AI-generated. Yet government officials, journalists, and tech companies were unable to take action before the…