‘This is the most exciting discovery of my 40-year career’: Archaeologists find evidence that Neanderthals were making fires in Britain 400,000 years ago
Neanderthals were the world’s first innovators in fire technology, a small body of evidence from Britain suggests. Fragments of pyrite found at a more than 400,000-year-old site in Suffolk, eastern England, push back on archaeologists’ evidence of controlled fire-starting and suggest that significant human brain development began much earlier than previously thought. “We are a […]
Scientists develop new solid-state sodium-ion battery – they say it could make EVs cheaper and safer
A breakthrough battery technology could significantly improve the safety of batteries used in electric vehicles (EVs) and improve the stability of the energy grid, scientists say. Researchers have made a breakthrough during the development of solid-state sodium ion (Na ion) batteries. This battery could one day complement and replace the lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries used in […]
ChatGPT is the most downloaded Apple app in the US in 2025
Apple on Wednesday released its annual list of the most downloaded apps and games of the year. In the US market, OpenAI’s ChatGPT topped the ranking of most installed free iPhone apps (excluding games) in 2025. AI apps were followed by Threads, Google, TikTok, WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, Google Maps, Gmail, and Google’s Gemini. ChatGPT ranked […]
Google launches managed MCP server that lets you simply connect AI agents to your tools
AI agents are being sold as a solution for planning trips, answering business questions, and solving all kinds of problems, but getting them to interact with tools and data outside of a chat interface has been difficult. Developers have to piece together various connectors to keep them running, which is a brittle approach that is […]
Oboe raises $16M from a16z for AI-powered course generation platform
Oboe, the learning startup from Anchor co-founders and former Spotify executives Nir Zicherman and Michael Mignano, today announced that it has raised $16 million in Series A funding led by a16z, with participation from existing investors Eniac, Haystack, Offline, and Factorial. The round also saw investment from individuals such as Adam DiAngelo, Gary Tan, Lenny […]
Unacademy founder says startup is now worth less than $500 million and admits M&A talks
Unacademy, once one of India’s best-known edtech startups, may now be worth less than $500 million, down 85% from its peak pandemic-era valuation, as the company undergoes a major reset and explores merger and acquisition options. The company’s valuation has plummeted from a peak of $3.5 billion three years ago to less than $500 million […]
AI startup Tavus founder says users talk to company’s AI Santa for “hours” a day
In recent years, new helpers have arrived at the North Pole. It’s AI. Tavus, an AI startup that uses voice and facial cloning technology to create digital replicas, has launched its AI Santa experience for the second year in a row. This allows parents and children to video chat with a virtual version of Jolly […]
Petco shuts down Vetco website after exposing customers’ personal information
Pet wellness company Petco has taken portions of its Vetco Clinics website offline after a security flaw exposed large amounts of customers’ personal information to the open web. After TechCrunch alerted the company that data about Vetco customers and their pets had been compromised, Petco confirmed in a statement that it was investigating the data […]
Three weaknesses in PCIe encryption expose PCIe 5.0+ systems to data processing flaws
December 10, 2025Ravi LakshmananHardware security/vulnerabilities Three security vulnerabilities have been disclosed in the Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) Integrity and Data Encryption (IDE) protocol specification that could expose local attackers to significant risk. According to the PCI Special Interest Group (PCI-SIG), this flaw affects PCIe Base Spec Revision 5.0 and later, a protocol mechanism introduced […]
Google invests in Fervo’s $462 million round to unlock more geothermal energy
Powered geothermal startup Fervo Energy has raised $462 million to complete its first large-scale power plant and begin development of several others as it races to feed power into the power-hungry grid. Sarah Jewett, Fervo’s senior vice president of strategy, told TechCrunch that the new funding will help the company continue work on its 500-megawatt […]