Waymo relies on firefighters and police to bail out stuck robotaxis
In at least six instances identified by TechCrunch, first responders have had to take control of Waymo vehicles and move them out of traffic during emergency situations.
The Download: a battery pivot to AI, and rewriting math
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. Why this battery company is pivoting to AI Qichao Hu doesn’t mince words about the state of the battery industry. “Almost every Western battery company has either died or is going to die. It’s kind of…
Reddit takes on the bots with new ‘human verification’ requirements for fishy behavior
Reddit will require suspected automated accounts to verify they’re human, as it ramps up efforts to curb bot-driven spam and manipulation.
Why this battery company is pivoting to AI
Qichao Hu doesn’t mince words about how he sees the state of the battery industry. “Almost every Western battery company has either died or is going to die. It’s kind of the reality,” he says. Hu is the CEO of SES AI, a Massachusetts-based battery company. It once had aims of making huge amounts of…
This Email Strategy Turns One-Time Buyers Into Long-Term Subscribers
From post-purchase flows to community digests, here’s how to build an email lifecycle that keeps subscription health customers engaged long after they buy.
This Billionaire Investment Strategy Just Became Available to Your 401(k)
Private equity, real estate and crypto are coming to retirement accounts. Here is how to decide if they belong in yours.
City Officials Forced This Restaurant to Remove Its ‘Stinky’ Signature Dish. Now It’s Fighting Back.
The Golden Leaf restaurant had to stop selling stinky tofu after neighbors complained. The dish accounted for 20% of the restaurant’s revenue.
‘Low Hire, Low Fire’: New Graduates Are Facing the Toughest Job Market Since the Pandemic — And It’s Not Why You Think
Recent graduates comprised just 7% of new hires in 2024, down a staggering 25% from 2023, according to a report.
How soap opera-TikTok hybrids became a billion-dollar business
Over the past few years, a new category of mobile apps has quietly exploded into a multi-billion dollar business. They’re called “micro dramas” — short-form, mobile-first scripted shows designed to be watched vertically on your phone. Think soap opera meets TikTok, complete with secret billionaire romances, disapproving werewolf mothers-in-law, and cliffhangers engineered to keep users tapping. The leading […]
Harvey confirms $11B valuation: Sequoia triples down
Investors like Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins, Elad Gil can’t get enough of AI legal tech startup Harvey.
Granola raises $125M, hits $1.5B valuation as it expands from meeting notetaker to enterprise AI app
Granola’s valuation jumped from $250 million to $1.5 billion with this round, and it has added more support for AI agents after users previously complained.