July 4, 2025

The Download: India’s AI independence, and predicting future epidemics

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. Inside India’s scramble for AI independence Despite its status as a global tech hub, India lags far behind the likes of the US and China when it comes to homegrown AI. That gap…

Technology

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 review

August 1, 2023
In February 2020, Samsung planted its flag in the sand. Screen issues aside, the original Galaxy Fold was met with a mixed response. “Innovation for innovation’s sake” was a common refrain. The wildly expensive device arrived at just a hair under $2,000. People questioned whether anyone really needed to carry a tablet in their pocket. […]

Meta is reportedly preparing to release AI-powered chatbots with different personas

August 1, 2023
Meta is gearing up to roll out AI-powered chatbots with different personas as early as next month, according to a new report from the Financial Times. The chatbots are designed to have humanlike conversations with users on Meta’s social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. The report indicates that these chatbots will take on different […]

Announcing the Space Stage agenda at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023

August 1, 2023
We’re out-of-this-world excited to announce that we’ve added a dedicated Space Stage to TechCrunch Disrupt 2023. It joins six other brand-new industry-focused stages — all under one big roof. Plus, we’ve joined forces with the Aerospace Corporation to host the Space Domain Awareness Challenge Pitch-off for startups using AI to analyze satellite data streams. Learn […]

Researchers claim US-registered cloud host facilitated state-backed cyberattacks

August 1, 2023
A little-known cloud company provided web hosting and internet services to more than two dozen different state-sponsored hacking groups and commercial spyware operators, according to researchers at cybersecurity company Halcyon. In a report released on Tuesday, Halcyon said it had identified that the U.S.-registered company Cloudzy was “knowingly or unwittingly” acting as a command-and-control provider […]

There’s no reason to panic over WormGPT

August 1, 2023
As tools for building AI systems, particularly large language models  (LLMs), get easier and cheaper, some are using them for unsavory purposes, like generating malicious code or phishing campaigns. But the threat of AI-accelerated hackers isn’t quite as dire as some headlines would suggest. The dark web creators of LLMs like “WormGPT” and “FraudGPT” advertise […]

Nile, which offers enterprise networks as a service, raises $175M

August 1, 2023
If you ask Pankaj Patel, there’s too much complexity in networks today — particularly enterprise networks. Complexity has been engineered into enterprise networks over a period of decades, in fact, he argues, and it’s happened because incumbents kept adding complexity to enable new functionality. “At some point, the incumbents lost sight of where they were […]

The Download: China’s monkeypox crisis, and fighting AI photo manipulation

August 1, 2023
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. China is suddenly dealing with another public health crisis: mpox The Chinese government is battling a new public health concern: mpox. The World Health Organization reports that China is currently experiencing the world’s…

Tradeshift raises $70M, launches financing JV with HSBC focused on B2B trade

August 1, 2023
Global trade has been in a slump, in part due to ongoing economic pressures in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, with some glimmers of recovery on the horizon, a startup that’s built business around tools to enable B2B trading has raised some money and is launching a JV that it hopes will kickstart […]