Why AI startups are taking data into their own hands
Where training sets were once scraped freely from the web or collected from low-paid annotators, companies are looking to proprietary training data as a competitive advantage.
The Download: how AI really works, and phasing out animal testing
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. OpenAI’s new LLM exposes the secrets of how AI really works The news: ChatGPT maker OpenAI has built an experimental large language model that is far easier to understand than typical models. Why…
Amazon’s Ring to partner with Flock, a network of AI cameras used by ICE, feds, and police
Agencies that use Flock can request that Ring doorbell users share footage to help with “evidence collection and investigative work.”
5 Common Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make When Networking and Building Connections
These five mistakes can ruin your networking efforts.
How This Women-Led Company Is Shaking Up the Cocktail Industry
Bettina Paus, CEO of CYN’S MIX, shares how she and her co-founder, Cynthia Snell, distilled success for their dry-ingredient cocktail mixer company.
Meta to shut down Messenger desktop apps for Mac and Windows
Starting December 15, users will no longer be able to log into the apps and will be automatically redirected to the Facebook website to access Messenger.
The real reason Google DeepMind is working with a fusion energy startup
Google has invested in fusion startups as potential power suppliers. This latest move suggests Google sees them as potential customers, too.
Rent a Cyber Friend will pay you to talk to strangers online and will show off its platform at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025
“Loneliness is the biggest disease in the world right now,” founder Francesco Vitali said. “So we built a platform where human time has value again, and a place where being human is important.”
The Future of Financial Services Will Be Defined By This One Shift
Why the future of finance depends on bridges, not walls, between fintechs and traditional institutions.
This Ex-Amazon AI Leader Reveals How Entrepreneurs Can 10x Their Output With AI
The former Global Head of Machine Learning Startups at Amazon Web Services shares how entrepreneurs can use AI tools to automate workflows.
A new wave of social media apps provide hope in a doomscrolling world
“The platforms that won were the ones that kept people scrolling the longest, not the ones that made them feel the most connected,” Zehra Naqvi told TechCrunch. “Now there is an abundance of content but a scarcity of joy.”