A New Lawsuit Claims Some Starbucks ‘Sugar-Free’ Drinks Have as Much Sugar as a Kit Kat
The suit claims the protein drinks mislead customers, but Starbucks says it intends to “vigorously defend” itself.
The Download: failed social media bans, and extending pets’ lives
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. Kids are outsmarting social media bans. That’s not a problem we need to solve. —Michal Luria, Aliya Bhatia, and Danah Boyd Social media bans are stacking up. In July, France joined…
TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 starts in 4 days — lock in your pass savings of up to $100 before prices rise
Four days until TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 starts, when 10,000 founders, investors, and tech leaders gather in San Francisco’s Moscone West on October 13-15. Save up to $100 on your price. Plus, save 50% on a second pass of the same type.
Surveillance company Flock cuts staff as privacy backlash grows
Flock would not say if CEO Garrett Langley would take a pay cut following the reduction in workforce.
As Franchises Go After Chick-fil-A, Its CEO Is Prescribing a ‘Healthy Dose of Fear’
Andrew Cathy say the heated franchise chicken wars will only make his company better.
Founders Are Told to Chase Easy Markets. After 20 Years in Healthcare, I Think That Advice Is Backwards.
The hardest markets can offer the strongest competitive advantages to companies willing to understand them.
These Cats and Dogs Have the Best Job Ever: Taste-Testing Pet Food for a $17 Billion Industry
At a Royal Canin research center in France, hundreds of cats and dogs gobble kibble for science and business.
The Download: AI’s refusal problem and weight-loss drug 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. We’re putting too much faith in AI’s ability to say no Today’s AI models are trained to refuse a vast number of prompts. If you ask your chatbot how to poison…
Xona’s commercial GPS alternative is about to go live
Xona’s precision timing and navigation service will enter beta testing after SpaceX launches six satellites designed by the company.
We’re putting too much faith in AI’s ability to say no
Ever since people first seriously contemplated giving machines an intelligence modeled on our own, there has never been any question that they would, like us, be able to say no. The sci-fi canon is full of stories of robotic disobedience. Most of these capers are, of course, cautionary. But recently, the idea that AI shouldn’t…
Job titles of the future: Delivery drone air traffic controller
The moment Trevor Wischnewsky heard that drones were delivering pizza and sushi around his Texas neighborhood, his mind was made up. “It was super fascinating,” he says. “I just immediately wanted to be a part of it.” Wischnewsky is now an RPIC, or “remote pilot in command,” at a company called FlyTrex. An RPIC is…