June 2, 2025

IBM acquires data analysis startup Seek AI, opens AI accelerator in NYC

IBM on Monday said that it has acquired Seek AI, an AI platform that allows users to ask questions about enterprise data using natural language, for an undisclosed sum. Seek CEO and founder Sarah Nagy said that the startup’s technology will be a key part of Watsonx AI Labs, IBM’s new NYC-based AI accelerator, which […]

3 days until the doors open at TechCrunch Sessions: AI at UC Berkeley

June 2, 2025
3  days from now, the future of AI walks through the doors of TechCrunch Sessions: AI at UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall. This Thursday, June 5, TC Sessions: AI brings together the minds shaping what’s next. Builders, dreamers, and disciplined thinkers tackling what AI can—and should—become. Whether you’re fine-tuning LLMs or figuring out what AI shouldn’t […]

Major record labels are reportedly in licensing talks with AI firms Udio and Suno

June 2, 2025
Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Sony Music Entertainment are in talks to license their work to AI startups Udio and Suno, according to a new report from Bloomberg. The deals would set forth a framework for how AI companies compensate artists for their work. The record labels are pushing to receive a small […]

The Download: US climate studies are being shut down, and building cities from lava

June 2, 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 Trump administration has shut down more than 100 climate studies The Trump administration has terminated National Science Foundation grants for more than 100 research projects related to climate change, according to an…

The Trump administration has shut down more than 100 climate studies

June 2, 2025
The Trump administration has terminated National Science Foundation grants for more than 100 research projects related to climate change amid a widening campaign to slash federal funding for scientists and institutions studying the rising risks of a warming world. The move will cut off what’s likely to amount to tens of millions of dollars for…

For the love of God, stop calling your AI a co-worker

June 2, 2025
Generative AI comes in many forms. Increasingly, though, it’s marketed the same way: with human names and personas that make it feel less like code and more like a co-worker. A growing number of startups are anthropomorphizing AI to build trust fast — and soften its threat to human jobs. It’s dehumanizing, and it’s accelerating. […]

Elon Musk tries to stick to spaceships

June 1, 2025
Elon Musk’s interview with CBS Sunday Morning seemed to get off to an awkward start, as reporter David Pogue asked the SpaceX CEO about his thoughts on his ally Donald Trump’s policies, including growing restrictions on international students. “I think we want to stick to the subject of the day, which is, like, spaceships, as […]