Chinese astronaut talks about the moment a crack was discovered in Shenzhou 20
Chinese astronauts have described what happened last year when debris believed to be space debris crashed into their return capsule and nearly stranded them in space. The crew members of the ill-fated Shenzhou 20 mission, Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie, were preparing to depart China’s Tiangong Space Station and return to Earth on […]
Kazakhstan plants tens of thousands of trees in major tiger reintroduction effort
Tigers will soon roam Kazakhstan for the first time in more than 70 years, as conservationists embark on a major effort to restore some of their lost habitat. Kazakhstan’s last Caspian tiger disappeared in the late 1940s after years of hunting, habitat loss, and declining prey numbers. Now, the Central Asian country has ambitious plans […]
Google suspends UNC2814 GRIDTIDE campaign after 53 breaches in 42 countries
Ravi LakshmananFebruary 25, 2026Cyber espionage / network security Google said Wednesday that it worked with industry partners to disrupt the infrastructure of a suspected China-aligned cyber espionage group tracked as UNC2814, which infiltrated at least 53 organizations in 42 countries. “This prolific and elusive threat actor has a long history of targeting international governments and […]
OpenAI COO says advertising will be an ‘iterative process’
Last month, OpenAI announced that it would be introducing ads to ChatGPT’s free and Go tier users. The company rolled out ads to U.S.-based users earlier this month after criticism from rivals such as Anthropic, which ran a spate of Super Bowl ads. On the sidelines of the India AI Summit, TechCrunch spoke to OpenAI […]
Flaw in Claude code allows remote code execution and API key disclosure
Ravi LakshmananFebruary 25, 2026Artificial intelligence/vulnerabilities Cybersecurity researchers have revealed multiple security vulnerabilities in Anthropic’s Claude Code, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered coding assistant, that could allow remote code execution and theft of API credentials. “This vulnerability exploits various configuration mechanisms, including hooks, Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers, and environment variables, to execute arbitrary shell commands and […]
The OpenClaw creator’s advice to AI builders is to be more playful and give yourself time to improve.
Peter Steinberger, creator of the viral AI agent OpenClaw and subsequently hired by OpenAI, has advice for those experimenting with AI technologies, including AI agents. From his own experience, the best way to build today is to explore, be playful, and not expect to become an expert at what you do right away. “I’d like […]
I found out why my shoes squeak, and it has something to do with miniature lightning bolts.
The ubiquitous sneaker squeak on basketball courts may be caused by more than just friction, new research suggests. Researchers found that the sharp sound of rubber on hard floors occurs when a small slippery area between the sole and the floor moves at supersonic speeds. And in some experiments, the process produced miniature lightning-like sparks. […]
Approximately 12% of US teens rely on AI for emotional support and advice
AI chatbots are becoming part of the lives of American teens, according to a report released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center. The most common uses of AI in this demographic include finding information (57%) and getting help with schoolwork (54%), but teens also use AI to fill roles typically filled by friends and family. […]
SLH offers $500-$1,000 per call to recruit women for IT help desk vishing attack
Ravi LakshmananFebruary 25, 2026Social engineering/cloud security A notorious cybercrime group known as Scattered LAPSUS$ Hunters (SLH) has been observed offering financial incentives to recruit women to carry out social engineering attacks. Dataminr said in a new threat brief that it is considering hiring them for voice phishing campaigns targeting IT help desks. The group is […]
3 days left: Up to $680 off Disrupt 2026 tickets
Time is running out! There are only 3 days left until the super early bird price ends on February 27th at 11:59pm PT. This is your last chance to secure the lowest ticket prices for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. If 2026 is your year to raise money, hire, scale, and launch, you can’t afford to miss […]