The Download: AI headphone translation, and the link between microbes and our behavior

May 9, 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. A new AI translation system for headphones clones multiple voices simultaneously What’s new: Imagine going for dinner with a group of friends who switch in and out of different languages you don’t speak,…

Your gut microbes might encourage criminal behavior

May 9, 2025
A few years ago, a Belgian man in his 30s drove into a lamppost. Twice. Local authorities found that his blood alcohol level was four times the legal limit. Over the space of a few years, the man was apprehended for drunk driving three times. And on all three occasions, he insisted he hadn’t been…

A new AI translation system for headphones clones multiple voices simultaneously

May 9, 2025
Imagine going for dinner with a group of friends who switch in and out of different languages you don’t speak, but still being able to understand what they’re saying. This scenario is the inspiration for a new AI headphone system that translates the speech of multiple speakers simultaneously, in real time. The system, called Spatial…

This is your last chance to exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI — don’t miss out

May 9, 2025
Applications are almost closed, and you have until 11:59 p.m. PT tonight to reserve your exhibitor table at TechCrunch Sessions: AI, our premiere industry event that’s happening at UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall on June 5. Imagine walking into a room filled with 1,200+ investors, founders, enterprise leaders, and journalists — all hunting for the next […]

One of Elon Musk’s long-time VCs is suing his former employer after allegedly being fired

May 8, 2025
Josh Raffaelli, who has long roots as a Silicon Valley investor and has backed a number of Elon Musk companies, is suing his former employer, the massive trillion-dollar AUM Brookfield Asset Management, reports the New York Times.  Much of Raffaelli’s complaint concerns how Brookfield covered pandemic-related real estate losses and alleges the company fired him […]

Microsoft employees are banned from using DeepSeek app, president says 

May 8, 2025
Microsoft employees aren’t allowed to use DeepSeek due to data security and propaganda concerns, Microsoft vice chairman and president Brad Smith said in a Senate hearing today. “At Microsoft we don’t allow our employees to use the DeepSeek app,” Smith said, referring to DeepSeek’s application service (which is available on both desktop and mobile.) Smith […]