A Chinese AI video startup appears to be blocking politically sensitive images

April 22, 2025
A China-based startup, Sand AI, has released an openly licensed video-generating AI model that’s garnered praise from entrepreneurs like Microsoft Research Asia founding director Kai-Fu Lee. But Sand AI appears to be censoring images that might raise the ire of Chinese regulators from the hosted version of the model, according to TechCrunch’s testing. Earlier this […]

Tesla earnings Q1 2025: What we’re watching for

April 22, 2025
This might be the most hyped Tesla earnings in recent memory. And not for all the right reasons. Tesla has taken many hits this year as its CEO Elon Musk leans further into right-wing politics and oversees DOGE, the advisory body that President Trump has bestowed the power to slash federal spending.  For Tesla, that […]

Khloe Kardashian launches consumer brand, backed by Serena Ventures, WME

April 22, 2025
Khloe Kardashian has formerly launched her new food company, Khloud, and its first product, a protein popcorn, set to hit Target starting April 29th.  Back in December, TechCrunch reported that Kardashian and her mother, Kris Jenner, were looking to raise at least $10 million for a business called Khloud. Jessica Bixby, an associate partner at […]

Character.AI unveils AvatarFX, an AI video model to create lifelike chatbots

April 22, 2025
Character.AI, a leading platform for chatting and roleplaying with AI-generated characters, unveiled its forthcoming video generation model, AvatarFX, on Tuesday. Available in closed beta, the model animates the platform’s characters in a variety of styles and voices, from human-like characters to 2D animal cartoons. AvatarFX distinguishes itself from competitors like OpenAI’s Sora because it isn’t […]

Burning questions (and some answers) about Bluesky’s new verification system

April 22, 2025
Bluesky’s launch of a verification system has raised a slew of questions among its user base from who will be picked — and why — to what outside organizations might be involved and whether the self-verification process will end? TechCrunch has some answers. After a leak last week, Bluesky officially announced Monday the arrival of […]