The wild story of how gut health AI toilet startup Throne raised $4M led by Moxxie 

May 22, 2025
The tale of how smart toilet startup Throne landed its seed round is so full of serendipities, one could almost believe it was orchestrated by the hand of Fortuna, Roman god of providence. Throne is an Austin-based company working on an AI-powered toilet device for consumers. It uses computer vision (cameras pointing in the bowl […]

The complete Side Events lineup at TechCrunch Sessions: AI

May 22, 2025
Get ready to amplify your TechCrunch Sessions: AI experience with the electrifying lineup of Side Events taking Boston by storm during the week of June 1-7. As the countdown to TC Sessions: AI begins, we’re thrilled to share our Side Events lineup to foster meaningful connections within the vibrant Berkeley, California, tech community. Whether you’re a seasoned industry pro or a […]

OpenAI teams up with Cisco, Oracle to build UAE data center

May 22, 2025
As rumored, OpenAI is expanding its ambitious Stargate data center project to the Middle East. On Thursday, the company announced Stargate UAE, which will bring a 1GW data center cluster to Abu Dhabi. OpenAI expects 200MW will go live in 2026, developed with partners including G42, Oracle, Nvidia, Cisco, and SoftBank. In a blog post, […]

Strava is buying up athletic training apps – first Runna, and now The Breakaway

May 22, 2025
The social fitness app Strava has made two acquisitions over the last month and change: on Thursday, Strava’s acquired cycling app The Breakaway, following its acquisition of Runna last month. Incubated in Y Combinator’s Summer 2021 class, The Breakaway uses AI to create personalized training plans for cyclists working toward specific goals. Runna, a UK-based […]

The Download: the desert data center boom, and how to measure Earth’s elevations

May 22, 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. The data center boom in the desert In the high desert east of Reno, Nevada, construction crews are flattening the golden foothills of the Virginia Range, laying the foundations of a data center…

Three takeaways about AI’s energy use and climate impacts

May 22, 2025
This week, we published Power Hungry, a package all about AI and energy. At the center of this package is the most comprehensive look yet at AI’s growing power demand, if I do say so myself.  This data-heavy story is the result of over six months of reporting by me and my colleague James O’Donnell…

A new atomic clock in space could help us measure elevations on Earth

May 22, 2025
In 2003, engineers from Germany and Switzerland began building a bridge across the Rhine River simultaneously from both sides. Months into construction, they found that the two sides did not meet. The German side hovered 54 centimeters above the Swiss side. The misalignment occurred because the German engineers had measured elevation with a historic level…