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…

JB Straubel, Redwood Materials founder and Tesla board member, is headed to TC Disrupt 2023

August 9, 2023
In the world of electric vehicles, batteries and renewable energy systems, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone more experienced than JB Straubel. We’re excited to welcome Straubel, founder and CEO of Redwood Materials — and Tesla’s co-founder, former CTO and newest board member — to the Disrupt Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023, which runs […]

Free ad-supported TV streaming services are booming, 1 in 3 U.S. viewers tune in

August 9, 2023
As more consumers look to cut costs and opt for a free streaming experience, services like Freevee, Pluto TV, Tubi, the Roku Channel and Crackle are seeing significant growth. According to Samba TV’s latest State of Viewership report, 1 in 3 U.S. users subscribe to free ad-supported TV streaming (FAST) services. Notably, Amazon’s Freevee saw […]

California regulators to decide the future of Cruise and Waymo

August 9, 2023
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is scheduled Thursday to make a high-stakes vote that will determine the commercial future for autonomous vehicle technology companies Cruise and Waymo — not to mention any other AV company with aspirations to launch commercial robotaxi services in the state. Cruise and Waymo already offer limited commercial services in […]

DARPA launches two-year competition to build AI-powered cyber defenses

August 9, 2023
As a part of an ongoing White House initiative to make software more secure, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) plans to launch a two-year contest, the AI Cyber Challenge, that’ll task competitors with identifying and fixing software vulnerabilities using AI. In collaboration with AI startups Anthropic and OpenAI, as well as Microsoft and […]