How thermal batteries are heating up energy storage

March 14, 2025

Republican Congressman Jim Jordan asks Big Tech if Biden tried to censor AI

On Thursday, House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) sent letters to 16 American technology firms, including Google and OpenAI, asking for past communications with the Biden Administration that might suggest the former President “coerced or colluded” with companies to “censor lawful speech” in AI products. The Trump Administration’s top technology advisers previously signaled it would pick […]

April 15, 2024

We need heat to make everything from steel bars to ketchup packets. Today, a whopping 20% of global energy demand goes to producing heat used in industry, and most of that heat is generated by burning fossil fuels. In an effort to clean up industry, a growing number of companies are working to supply that…

Bluesky now allows heads of states to sign up for the social network

April 15, 2024

Social networking platform Bluesky lifted its ban on sign-ups for heads of state over the weekend. This means various office holders can join the platform. Bluesky’s move comes ahead of major general elections in countries like the U.S. and India scheduled to be held this year. Last year, during Bluesky’s invite-only period, the company stated […]

OpenAI expands to Japan with Tokyo office and GPT-4 model optimized for the Japanese language

April 15, 2024

OpenAI is expanding to Japan, announcing today a new Tokyo hub and plans for a GPT-4 model optimized specifically for the Japanese language. The ChatGPT-maker opened its first international office in London last year, followed by its inaugural European Union (EU) office in Dublin a few months later. Tokyo will represent OpenAI’s first office in Asia […]

How to stop a state from sinking

April 15, 2024

There is more than one way to raise a house. Many of the mobile homes, Creole cottages, and other dwellings that have been flagged for flood risk along Louisiana’s low-lying coastline can be separated from their foundations and slowly raised into the sky on hydraulic jacks. While a home is held aloft by temporary support…

ShareChat’s valuation drops below $2 billion in new funding

April 15, 2024

Social media startup ShareChat’s valuation has cratered below $2 billion from nearly $5 billion in a new funding round, a source familiar with the situation told TechCrunch, marking a steep decline for the nine-year-old Indian startup that boasts over 400 million users in the South Asian market. The Bengaluru-based startup, which operates a popular social […]

Pula raises $20M Series B to provide agricultural insurance to farmers in Africa, Asia and LatAm

April 15, 2024

Pula, an insurtech based in Kenya, has since 2015 been keen on enhancing the access to agricultural insurance by small-holder farmers across emerging markets, shielding them against losses from pests, diseases and/or extreme weather events like floods and droughts. So far, the insurtech has supported 15.4 million farmers in Africa, Asia and Latin America to […]

TechCrunch Mobility: Cruise robotaxis return and Ford’s BlueCruise comes under scrutiny

April 14, 2024

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here — just click TechCrunch Mobility — to receive the newsletter every weekend in your inbox. Subscribe for free. It was another wild week in the world of transportation, particularly in the EV startup and automated driving industries. […]

Republican Congressman Jim Jordan asks Big Tech if Biden tried to censor AI