Technology

Microsoft in talks to maintain access to OpenAI’s tech beyond AGI milestone 

July 29, 2025
Microsoft is reportedly in advanced talks with OpenAI for a new agreement that would give it ongoing access to the startup’s technology even if OpenAI achieves what it defines as AGI, or advanced general intelligence. If the deal goes through, it would clear a key hurdle in OpenAI’s transition toward becoming a fully commercial enterprise.

What you may have missed about Trump’s AI Action Plan

July 29, 2025
A number of the executive orders and announcements coming from the White House since Donald Trump returned to office have painted an ambitious vision for America’s AI future—crushing competition with China, abolishing “woke” AI models that suppress conservative speech, jump-starting power-hungry AI data centers. But the details have been sparse.  The White House’s AI Action…

Meet the minds shaping AI: TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 AI Stage revealed

July 28, 2025
At TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, the AI Stage comes alive with the voices shaping the future of technology, creativity, and security. Top VCs reveal what it takes to win funding in a rapidly evolving landscape, as they place bets on the next wave of AI founders. Hear groundbreaking insights from leaders at visionary startups like Apptronik, […]

Chinese universities want students to use more AI, not less

July 28, 2025
Just two years ago, Lorraine He, now a 24-year-old law student,  was told to avoid using AI for her assignments. At the time, to get around a national block on ChatGPT, students had to buy a mirror-site version from a secondhand marketplace. Its use was common, but it was at best tolerated and more often…

The Download: saving the US climate programs, and America’s AI protections are under threat

July 25, 2025
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. How nonprofits and academia are stepping up to salvage US climate programs Nonprofits are trying to preserve a US effort to modernize greenhouse-gas measurements, amid growing fears that the Trump administration’s dismantling of…

The deadly saga of the controversial gene therapy Elevidys

July 25, 2025
It has been a grim few months for the Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) community. There had been some excitement when, a couple of years ago, a gene therapy for the disorder was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the first time. That drug, Elevidys, has now been implicated in the deaths of…

How nonprofits and academia are stepping up to salvage US climate programs

July 25, 2025
Nonprofits are striving to preserve a US effort to modernize greenhouse-gas measurements, amid growing fears that the Trump administration’s dismantling of federal programs will obscure the nation’s contributions to climate change. The Data Foundation, a Washington, DC, nonprofit that advocates for open data, is fundraising for an initiative that will coordinate efforts among nonprofits, technical…