June 27, 2025

The Download: how to clean up AI data centers, and weight-loss drugs’ side effects

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. This battery recycling company is now cleaning up AI data centers In a sandy industrial lot outside Reno, Nevada, rows of battery packs that once propelled electric vehicles are now powering a small…

Apple releases security updates for iOS, iPadOS and macOS, fixing two actively exploited zero-days

December 1, 2023

Apple has released security updates for iPhones, iPads and Macs to patch against two vulnerabilities, which the company says are being actively exploited to hack people. The technology giant rolled out new software updates, iOS and iPadOS 17.1.2, and macOS 14.1.2, following a vulnerability disclosure by security researchers at Google’s Threat Analysis Group, which investigates […]

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The Download: generative AI’s carbon footprint, and a CRISPR patent battle

December 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. Making an image with generative AI uses as much energy as charging your phone The news: Generating a single image using a powerful AI model takes as much energy as fully charging your…

6 innovative products from kid tech startups to gift your children

December 1, 2023

When it comes to gifts, it can be hard to pick the right one for your kids, especially since there are so many toys to choose from. If you’re looking for something lesser-known and innovative, you may want to consider products and services that have been developed by kid tech startups around the world. In […]

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Telegram spruces up its channels with new discovery and customization features

December 1, 2023

Telegram announced new features related to channels including better discovery of similar channels, emoji customization for reactions, and stats for stories to compete better with WhatsApp. The Meta-owned platform rolled out its broadcast channels feature globally in September. When a user joins a new Telegram channel, the app will now suggest similar channels they can […]

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A high school’s deepfake porn scandal is pushing US lawmakers into action

December 1, 2023
On October 20, Francesca Mani was called to the counselor’s office at her New Jersey high school. A 14-year-old sophomore and a competitive fencer, Francesca wasn’t one for getting in trouble. That day, a rumor had been circulating the halls: over the summer, boys in the school had used artificial intelligence to create sexually explicit…

The first CRISPR cure might kickstart the next big patent battle

December 1, 2023
That’s a real nice CRISPR cure you have there. It would be a pity if anything happened to it.  Okay. Drop the tough-guy accent and toss the black fedora aside. But I do believe that similar conversations could be occurring now that a historic gene-editing cure is coming to market, as soon as this year.…

Benchmark, the storied venture firm, sees “traps” in today’s AI funding frenzy: “Don’t be Microsoft”

December 1, 2023

Yesterday in Helsinki, this editor interviewed four of the six general partners at Benchmark, the nearly 30-year-old, Silicon Valley firm that’s known for some notable bets (Uber, Dropbox), paying each general partner exactly the same way, and for continuing to raise similar-size funds over its many years rather than balloon in size.  We were speaking […]

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Smartphone sales to rebound on AI gains, Morgan Stanley says

December 1, 2023

Smartphone sales will mount a comeback starting in 2024, defying growing warnings of a prolonged slump across the mobile sector, according to separate projections by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley reviewed by TechCrunch. Morgan Stanley’s report predicts global smartphone shipments will rebound by nearly 4% in 2024 and by 4.4% in 2025, shrugging off comparisons […]

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Anduril unveils Roadrunner, “a fighter jet weapon that lands like a Falcon 9”

December 1, 2023

Leading defense tech startup Anduril has developed a new product designed to take-on the proliferation of low-cost, high-powered aerial threats. The product is called Roadrunner, a modular, twin-jet powered autonomous vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) air vehicle that’s designed for low costs. Anduril has also developed a variant called Roadrunner-Munition, or Roadrunner-M, a “high-explosive interceptor,” […]

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