July 9, 2025

The Download: a conversation with Karen Hao, and how did life begin?

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. Inside OpenAI’s empire: A conversation with Karen Hao In a wide-ranging Roundtables conversation for MIT Technology Review subscribers, journalist and author Karen Hao recently spoke about her new book, Empire of AI: Dreams…

Fire TV arrives on Amazon’s wall-mounted smart screen, the Echo Show 15

December 7, 2022

Fire TV is now available on the Echo Show 15. In September, Amazon announced it was soon bringing its Fire TV experience to its larger, 15.6-inch wall-mounted Echo, offering consumers a way to access a combination smart speaker, smart home hub and TV-like device at a relatively affordable price point — it’s currently selling for […]

Fire TV arrives on Amazon’s wall-mounted smart screen, the Echo Show 15 by Sarah Perez originally published on TechCrunch

DNA that was frozen for 2 million years has been sequenced

December 7, 2022
After an eight-year effort to recover DNA from Greenland’s frozen interior, researchers say they’ve managed to sequence gene fragments from ancient fish, plants, and even a mastodon that lived 2 million years ago. It’s the oldest DNA ever recovered, beating the mark set only last year when a different team recovered genetic material from a…

Wordle was Google’s top trending search term globally in 2022

December 7, 2022

Google has released its annual “Year in Search” report outlining the top searches of 2022 around the world. The report reveals that popular online game Wordle topped the list globally. Searches for the game peaked in February, shortly after it was acquired by The New York Times. The second most searched term of the year […]

Wordle was Google’s top trending search term globally in 2022 by Aisha Malik originally published on TechCrunch

Roadtripping with (and camping in) the Rivian R1S

December 7, 2022

Let’s be clear: I hate the desert. In spite of competing in last year’s Rebelle Rally and spending a full 10-days completely off the grid, camping, competing, navigating and driving offroad in the Nevada and California deserts with 150 other women, I still dislike it. Add in a harrowing 60-mile-per-hour haboob or two, heat that […]

Roadtripping with (and camping in) the Rivian R1S by Abigail Bassett originally published on TechCrunch

Plaid lays off 20% of staff, CEO says the fintech company ‘hired and invested ahead of revenue growth’

December 7, 2022

Fintech decacorn Plaid is laying off 260 employees, or about 20% of its workforce, the company announced today. While specific details around who exactly was affected remain unknown, sources in recent months had told TechCrunch that the San Francisco-based startup’s engineering team was likely to take a big hit. In March, Plaid CTO Jean-Denis Greze […]

Plaid lays off 20% of staff, CEO says the fintech company ‘hired and invested ahead of revenue growth’ by Mary Ann Azevedo originally published on TechCrunch

Microsoft Teams targets Facebook Groups with new ‘Communities’ feature

December 7, 2022

Microsoft Teams launched a new “Communities” feature on Android and iOS devices, the company announced today. Users can now create and organize groups with their recreational sports club, event planning committee, parent-teacher association, or any other group in their community. The feature gives users access to group calendars, event scheduling, meetings, document/photo sharing, video calls […]

Microsoft Teams targets Facebook Groups with new ‘Communities’ feature by Lauren Forristal originally published on TechCrunch

Binance’s bitcoin reserves are fully collateralized according to auditing firm Mazars

December 7, 2022

Auditing firm Mazars has released a report about Binance’s BTC reserves. The auditing firm has reached the same conclusion as Binance itself. As of November November 22 at 23:59 UTC, Binance held enough bitcoins and wrapped bitcoins to cover all users’s balance on the exchange. Binance had already launched a proof-of-reserves website nearly two weeks […]

Binance’s bitcoin reserves are fully collateralized according to auditing firm Mazars by Romain Dillet originally published on TechCrunch

Ego-ish and how tech’s main characters are all a bit different

December 7, 2022

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. This is our Wednesday show, where we niche down to a single topic, think about a question, and unpack the rest. This week, Natasha chatted with Alex about ego, how recent news from […]

Ego-ish and how tech’s main characters are all a bit different by Natasha Mascarenhas originally published on TechCrunch

The Download: metaverse fashion, and looser covid rules in China

December 7, 2022
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 metaverse fashion stylists are here Fashion creator Jenni Svoboda is designing a beanie with a melted cupcake top, sprinkles, and doughnuts for ears. But this outlandish accessory isn’t destined for the physical…