Duolingo is now giving free users access to advanced learning content
Duolingo is opening up its advanced language learning content offering to free users, allowing them to acquire skills that were previously reserved to paid subscribers.
UK government says 100 countries have spyware that can hack people’s phones
The U.K.’s cybersecurity chief warned that U.K. businesses and critical infrastructure are underestimating the threat from spyware attacks and other cyberthreats, with more governments having access to the powerful surveillance technology than ever.
Google Maps is about to get a big dose of AI
Generative AI is being infused into Google’s popular feature within Maps.
Exclusive: Google deepens Thinking Machines Lab ties with new multi-billion-dollar deal
Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab has signed a multi-billion-dollar deal with Google Cloud for AI infrastructure powered by Nvidia’s latest GB300 chips, TechCrunch has exclusively learned.
AI needs a strong data fabric to deliver business value
Artificial intelligence is moving quickly in the enterprise, from experimentation to everyday use. Organizations are deploying copilots, agents, and predictive systems across finance, supply chains, human resources, and customer operations. By the end of 2025, half of companies used AI in at least three business functions, according to a recent survey. But as AI becomes…
3 things Michelle Kim is into right now
Isegye Idol If you thought K-pop was weird, virtual idols—humans who perform as anime-style digital characters via motion capture—will blow your mind. My favorite is a girl group called Isegye Idol, created by Woowakgood, a Korean VTuber (a streamer who likewise performs as a digital persona). Isegye Idol’s six members are anonymous, which seems to…
One town’s scheme to get rid of its geese
“Pull over!” I order my brother one sunny February afternoon. Our target is in sight: a gaggle of Canada geese, pecking at grass near the dog park. As I approach, tiptoeing over their grayish-white poop, I notice that one bird wears a white cuff around its slender black neck. It’s a GPS tracker—part of a…
There is no nature anymore
When people talk about “nature,” they’re generally talking about things that aren’t made by human beings. Rocks. Reefs. Red wolves. But while there is plenty of God’s creation to go around, it is hard to think of anything on Earth that human hands haven’t affected. In the Brazilian rainforest, scientists have found microplastics in the…
Los Angeles is finally going underground
Los Angeles deserves its reputation as the quintessential car city—the rhythms of its 2,200 square miles are dictated by wide boulevards and concrete arcs of freeways. But it once had a world-class rail transit system, and for the last three decades, the city has been rebuilding a network of trolleys and subways. In May, a…
Redwood Materials lays off 10% in restructuring to chase energy storage business
The company is restructuring some teams to accommodate a booming energy storage business, according to emails viewed by TechCrunch.
Meta will record employees’ keystrokes and use it to train its AI models
Meta says that it has a new internal tool that is converting mouse movements and button clicks into data that can train its AI models.