February 17, 2026

The Download: the rise of luxury car theft, and fighting antimicrobial resistance

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 curious case of the disappearing Lamborghinis Across the world, unsuspecting people are unwittingly becoming caught up in a new and growing type of organized criminal enterprise: vehicle transport fraud and theft. Crooks…

Google opens eSignature beta for Google Docs and Google Drive

August 10, 2023
Electronic signature has become table stakes for companies involved in document storage and management. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Google announced an open beta of its new-ish eSignature capability in Google Workspace today. The new feature will be available specifically for Google Docs and Google Drive for individual and various group accounts. […]

China tech further severed from US fundings after Biden ban

August 10, 2023
President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order barring U.S. investments in certain tech sectors of China, confirming rumors that have been swirling for months that Washington would ramp up efforts to squeeze its rival’s tech industry amid growing concerns about its rival’s military ambitions. The order authorizes the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury […]

Krafton commits $150 million to India following BGMI trial approval

August 10, 2023
South Korean gaming behemoth Krafton plans to invest another $150 million in India over the next 2-3 years after securing permission to trial its popular battle royale game in India following two bans. Thursday’s announcement follows Krafton investing about $140 million in 11 Indian startups and the local gaming ecosystem in the past three years. […]

Anthropic launches improved version of its entry-level LLM

August 9, 2023
Anthropic, the AI startup co-founded by ex-OpenAI execs, has released an updated version of its faster, cheaper text-generating model available through an API, Claude Instant. The updated Claude Instant, Claude Instant 1.2, incorporates the strengths of Anthropic’s recently announced flagship model, Claude 2, showing “significant” gains in areas such as math, coding, reasoning and safety, […]

Reddit’s menswear hub is the latest casualty of its battle with moderators

August 9, 2023
The widespread protests against Reddit’s API changes reached a boiling point last month after the company forcibly reopened r/malefashionadvice — the largest subreddit that stayed dark after the blackout — booted the moderators, and appointed new ones.  The moderators of r/malefashionadvice (MFA) opted to keep the subreddit private after the blackout, despite warnings from Reddit […]

What led to EV darling Proterra’s bankruptcy

August 9, 2023
Proterra, a company that develops battery systems for buses and other heavy duty EVs, filed for bankruptcy earlier this week, making it the latest in a string of failures in the EV sector. While some parallels can be drawn between Proterra and other failing or defunct EV companies, this company faces specific headwinds that took […]

Messina joins Ride Home Fund’s new $15M AI vehicle, backed by Andreessen, Dixon, Crowley

August 9, 2023
Tech veteran Chris Messina and writer/podcaster Brian McCullough are launching a new $15 million fund aimed at AI startups. The backers include tech luminary investors and founders such as Marc Andreessen, Chris Dixon, and Dennis Crowley, who are all investing personally. McCullough has been running his Ride Home Fund for two years now, a fund […]