Technology

The problem with thinking you’re part Neanderthal

April 14, 2026
You’ve probably heard some version of this idea before: that many of us have an “inner Neanderthal.” That is to say, around 45,000 years ago, when Homo sapiens first arrived in Europe, they met members of a cousin species—the broad-browed, heavier-set Neanderthals—and, well, one thing led to another, which is why some people now carry…

Why opinion on AI is so divided

April 13, 2026
This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first, sign up here. In an industry that doesn’t stand still, Stanford’s AI Index, an annual roundup of key results and trends, is a chance to take a breath. (It’s a marathon, not a sprint, after…

Want to understand the current state of AI? Check out these charts.

April 13, 2026
If you’re following AI news, you’re probably getting whiplash. AI is a gold rush. AI is a bubble. AI is taking your job. AI can’t even read a clock. The 2026 AI Index from Stanford University’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, AI’s annual report card, comes out today and cuts through some of that noise. …

The Download: how humans make decisions, and Moderna’s “vaccine” word games

April 13, 2026
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. You have no choice in reading this article—maybe How do humans make decisions? The question has been on Uri Maoz’s mind since he read an article in his early twenties suggesting…

Job titles of the future: Wildlife first responder

April 13, 2026
Grizzly bears have made such a comeback across eastern Montana that in 2017, the state hired its first-ever prairie-based grizzly manager: wildlife biologist Wesley Sarmento.  For some seven years, Sarmento worked to keep both the bears, which are still listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and the humans, who are sprawling into once-wild…

TechCrunch is heading to Tokyo — and bringing the Startup Battlefield with it

April 10, 2026
SusHi Tech 2026 is zeroing in on four technology domains reshaping society: AI, Robotics, Resilience, and Entertainment. Expect live demos of humanoid robots, sessions on autonomous driving’s software revolution, deep dives into cyber defense and climate tech, and candid conversations about how AI is rewriting the global music and anime industries.

What’s in a name? Moderna’s “vaccine” vs. “therapy” dilemma

April 10, 2026
Is it the Department of Defense or the Department of War? The Gulf of Mexico or the Gulf of America? A vaccine—or an “individualized neoantigen treatment”? That’s the Trump-era vocabulary paradox facing Moderna, the covid-19 shot maker whose plans for next-generation mRNA vaccines against flus and emerging pathogens have been dashed by vaccine skeptics in…

The Download: an exclusive Jeff VanderMeer story and AI models too scary to release

April 10, 2026
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. Constellations  —Constellations is a short story by Jeff VanderMeer, the author of the critically acclaimed, bestselling Southern Reach series.   A spacecraft has crash-landed on a hostile planet. The only survivors…

Constellations

April 10, 2026
I. We had crash-landed on the planet. We were far from home. The spaceship could not be repaired, and the rescue beacon had failed. Besides me, only the astrogator, part of the captain, and the ship’s AI mind were left.  Outside, the atmosphere registered as hostile to most organisms. We huddled in the lifeboat, which…

The Download: AstroTurf wars and exponential AI growth

April 9, 2026
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. Is fake grass a bad idea? The AstroTurf wars are far from over.  In 2001, Americans installed just over 7 million square meters of synthetic turf. By 2024, that number was 79 million square meters—enough to carpet all of Manhattan and then some. The…