July 14, 2025

The Download: California’s AI power plans, and and why it’s so hard to make welfare AI fair

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. California is set to become the first US state to manage power outages with AI California’s statewide power grid operator is poised to become the first in North America to deploy artificial intelligence…

Senegal’s logistics tech startup Chargel raises $2.5M seed funding

April 20, 2023

After selling their hospitality tech startup, Teranga, in 2018, Senegalese brothers Moustapha and Alioune Ndoye ventured into the trucking business as they pondered their next move. However, it soon became clear to them that fleet management is a major challenge, and one that largely influences the level of profits to be made by truck-owners. Some […]

Senegal’s logistics tech startup Chargel raises $2.5M seed funding by Annie Njanja originally published on TechCrunch

Imgur will ban explicit images on its platform this month

April 20, 2023

Image hosting platform Imgur is set to ban explicit images on its platform from May 15. The company updated its terms of service and said that the company will focus on removing “nudity, pornography, & sexually explicit content” from the site later this month. The Medialab-owned company said that explicit content formed a risk to […]

Imgur will ban explicit images on its platform this month by Ivan Mehta originally published on TechCrunch

Rethinking sustainable mobility in a new, digital landscape

April 20, 2023
Driving is ubiquitous—a part of daily life for millions in rural and urban regions across the globe. Its by-products, however, are sobering. According to the World Economic Forum, transportation produces almost one-fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions. There is an undeniable need to design, develop, and implement solutions to decarbonize and transition to net-zero emissions. Auto industry…

Why your iPhone 17 might come with a recycled battery

April 20, 2023
My phone is basically an extension of my arm at this point. To be honest, I have some mixed feelings about that, and not just because I worry about what being online 24/7 is doing to my brain cells.  As you might know, lithium-ion batteries power most of our personal electronics today. Mining the metals…

Uber and Cartken are bringing sidewalk delivery robots to Virginia

April 20, 2023

Uber is expanding its partnership with sidewalk delivery robot startup Cartken to Fairfax, Virginia. Starting Thursday, UberEats customers around the Mosaic District can choose to have food from select merchants delivered via one of Cartken’s small, six-wheeled, autonomous bots. This is the second city where Uber and Cartken are partnering for commercial deliveries. The companies […]

Uber and Cartken are bringing sidewalk delivery robots to Virginia by Rebecca Bellan originally published on TechCrunch

Proton announces Proton Pass, a password manager

April 20, 2023

Proton, the Geneva, Switzerland-based company behind the end-to-end encrypted email service Proton Mail, as well as Proton VPN, Proton Drive and Proton Calendar, is announcing a brand new product today. And it’s a password manager called Proton Pass. Like other Proton products, the company is insisting on the privacy and security features of this new […]

Proton announces Proton Pass, a password manager by Romain Dillet originally published on TechCrunch

Learning to code isn’t enough

April 20, 2023
A decade ago, tech powerhouses the likes of Microsoft, Google, and Amazon helped boost the nonprofit Code.org, a learn-to-code program with a vision: “That every student in every school has the opportunity to learn computer science as part of their core K–12 education.” It was followed by a wave of nonprofits and for-profits alike dedicated…