December 2, 2025

The Download: AI’s impact on the economy, and DeepSeek strikes again

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 State of AI: Welcome to the economic singularity —David Rotman and Richard Waters Any far-reaching new technology is always uneven in its adoption, but few have been more uneven than generative AI.…

How the feds caught a notorious credit card fraudster

May 4, 2023

The U.S. government announced on Wednesday that it had dismantled “Try2Check”, a credit card checking operation that allowed cybercriminals involved with the bulk purchase and sale of stolen credit card numbers to see which cards were valid and active. Department of Justice prosecutors confirmed the indictment of Russian citizen Denis Gennadievich Kulkov, who is suspected […]

How the feds caught a notorious credit card fraudster by Carly Page originally published on TechCrunch

Shopify to reduce workforce by 20%, sells logistics business to Flexport for 13% equity

May 4, 2023

Shopify revealed today that it’s laying off 20% of its workforce, impacting more than 2,000 people, and is selling its logistics business to Flexport for roughly 13% in stock. The news comes some 10 months after Shopify announced that it was reducing 10% of its workforce — roughly 1,000 people — and follows a trend that […]

Shopify to reduce workforce by 20%, sells logistics business to Flexport for 13% equity by Paul Sawers originally published on TechCrunch

Millions of patients’ data confirmed stolen after Fortra mass-hack

May 4, 2023

Millions of people across the U.S. had reams of personal and health information stolen in a mass-hack targeting dozens of companies, including healthcare providers, according to new filings with the federal government. NationBenefits, a Florida-based technology company that offers supplementary benefits to its 20 million-plus members across the U.S., confirmed in April that hackers had […]

Millions of patients’ data confirmed stolen after Fortra mass-hack by Carly Page originally published on TechCrunch

Meta’s ad business slapped with interim measures in France over suspected antitrust abuse

May 4, 2023

More regulatory woes for Meta: France’s competition watchdog has announced interim measures on the adtech giant — saying it suspects it of abusing a dominant position in the French market for ads on social media and across the broader (non-search-related) online ads market. It’s ordering Meta to suspend application of the current criteria it imposes […]

Meta’s ad business slapped with interim measures in France over suspected antitrust abuse by Natasha Lomas originally published on TechCrunch

Waymo doubles robotaxi service area in Phoenix in bid to grow driverless trips tenfold

May 4, 2023

Waymo is doubling its commercial robotaxi service area in the Phoenix metro area, an expansion that will add new suburbs and connect previously isolated sections of the sprawling and car-dependent desert city. The service area, which now includes Scottsdale, nearly of Tempe and larger sections of Chandler and Mesa, is 180 square miles in size. […]

Waymo doubles robotaxi service area in Phoenix in bid to grow driverless trips tenfold by Kirsten Korosec originally published on TechCrunch

The inside scoop on solar geoengineering

May 4, 2023
This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. Sometimes, as a reporter following climate technology, I feel like I have a front-row seat for some of the hottest topics on the planet.  That’s how I’ve felt watching the news about solar…

Slack updates aim to put AI at the center of the user experience

May 4, 2023

Slack has evolved from a pure communications platform to one that enables companies to link directly to enterprise applications without having to resort to dreaded task switching. Today, at the Salesforce World Tour event in NYC, the company announced the next step in its platform’s evolution where it will be putting AI at the forefront […]

Slack updates aim to put AI at the center of the user experience by Ron Miller originally published on TechCrunch

UK’s antitrust watchdog announces initial review of generative AI

May 4, 2023

Well that was fast. The UK’s competition watchdog has announced an initial review of “AI foundational models”, such as the large language models (LLMs) which underpin OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s New Bing. Generative AI models which power AI art platforms such as OpenAI’s DALL-E or Midjourney will also likely fall in scope. The Competition and […]

UK’s antitrust watchdog announces initial review of generative AI by Natasha Lomas originally published on TechCrunch

Nuview emerges from stealth with plans to map the Earth using lidar

May 4, 2023

Dozens of established players and newer entrants are competing to bring the most cutting-edge remote sensing data to customers. These companies may use hyperspectral, thermal, radar, or optical instruments – but none, as of yet, use light detection and ranging (lidar), a technology that’s best-known for its use in self-driving cars. Nuview, a geospatial technology […]

Nuview emerges from stealth with plans to map the Earth using lidar by Aria Alamalhodaei originally published on TechCrunch