June 20, 2025

The Download: talking dirty with DeepSeek, and the risks and rewards of calorie restriction

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. It’s pretty easy to get DeepSeek to talk dirty AI companions like Replika are designed to engage in intimate exchanges, but people use general-purpose chatbots for sex talk too, despite their stricter content…

Guardz emerges from stealth with $10M for SMB security and cyber insurance to protect against attack-as-a-service breaches

January 31, 2023

Small and medium businesses have become a growing target for malicious online hackers in recent years, currently accounting for between 43% and 61% of all security breaches and some $7 billion annually in related losses, according to different estimates. Today, a startup called Guardz is emerging from stealth with a two-part offering aimed at protecting […]

Guardz emerges from stealth with $10M for SMB security and cyber insurance to protect against attack-as-a-service breaches by Ingrid Lunden originally published on TechCrunch

Yes, we have enough materials to power the world with renewable energy

January 31, 2023
Powering the world with renewable energy will take a lot of raw materials. The good news is, when it comes to aluminum, steel, and rare-earth metals, there’s plenty to go around, according to a new analysis. In the 2015 Paris Agreement, world leaders set a goal to keep global warming under 1.5 °C, and reaching…

Identity management platform Saviynt secures $205M in debt, appoints new CEO

January 31, 2023

Showing that there’s real investor enthusiasm for identity management platforms, Saviynt, which enables companies to secure apps, data and infrastructure in a single platform, today announced that it raised $205 million in debt from AB Private Credit Investors’ Tech Capital Solutions group. Founder Sachin Nayyar, who returned to Saviynt as CEO this week alongside newly-appointed […]

Identity management platform Saviynt secures $205M in debt, appoints new CEO by Kyle Wiggers originally published on TechCrunch

Yes, we have enough materials to power the world with renewable energy

January 31, 2023
Powering the world with renewable energy will take a lot of raw materials. The good news is, when it comes to aluminum, steel, and rare-earth metals, there’s plenty to go around, according to a new analysis. In the 2015 Paris Agreement, world leaders set a goal to keep global warming under 1.5 °C, and reaching…

Could ChatGPT do my job?

January 31, 2023
This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first, sign up here. In the last week there has been a lot of talk about whether journalists or copywriters could or should be replaced by AI. Personally, I’m not worried. Here’s why. So far, newsrooms have pursued…

Would Baidu’s answer to ChatGPT make a difference?

January 31, 2023

Baidu, China’s top search engine provider and robotaxi developer, is apparently working on its own counterpart to ChatGPT. The news, first reported by Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal, sent Baidu’s stock price rising on Monday to reach its highest point since September. A spokesperson for Baidu declined to comment on the reports. But it […]

Would Baidu’s answer to ChatGPT make a difference? by Rita Liao originally published on TechCrunch

InstaDeep’s acquisition is a classic case of an African startup gone global 

January 31, 2023

This January, Germany’s largest vaccine maker BioNTech announced that it had agreed to acquire Tunisian-born and London-headquartered AI startup InstaDeep for up to £562 million, including a performance-tied £200 million tranche investment. InstaDeep’s deal — subject to regulatory approval and expected to close in the first half of this year — is quite intriguing, for […]

InstaDeep’s acquisition is a classic case of an African startup gone global  by Tage Kene-Okafor originally published on TechCrunch

Entocycle grabs $5 million for its insect breeding technology

January 31, 2023

Even if insects don’t sound appealing to you, black soldier flies could play an essential role in the food chain in the coming years. In particular, these flies’ larvae can become an important source of proteins for livestock and fish. That’s why Entocycle is raising another $5 million in a Series A funding round led […]

Entocycle grabs $5 million for its insect breeding technology by Romain Dillet originally published on TechCrunch