Terra Oleo Oil-Producing Microorganisms Could Replace Destructive Palm Oil Plantations
When most kids rebel against their families, they may become ski butts, join a band, or go to art school. Shen Min Lee decided to start a company. “I grew up in the traditional palm oil industry,” Lee told TechCrunch. “My family’s business is one of the top producers in the palm oil field. And […]
Lyft and Waymo are partnering to bring Robotaxis to Nashville
Waymo signed a contract with passenger company Lyft in 2026 to launch the Robotaxi service in Nashville. The company said Wednesday it will begin testing a fleet of all electrical and autonomous Jaguar I-Pace cars in the Nashville area and will open services to the public next year. The partnership agreement announced Wednesday was announced […]
Icarus raises $6.1 million to take on “warehouse work” of space with embodied robots
Ethan Barajas and Jamie Palmer, co-founders of Icarus Robotics, interviewed astronauts about what they were working in space when they came to the idea of a startup. Their big point: the job was more cargo logistics than cutting-edge science. “We are a PhD warehouse worker at Amazon,” said one astronaut. If the experiment takes two […]
Sonair has built a 3D ultrasonic sensor with robot safety in mind
As robots become more and more into human spaces, robot companies need to think about safety in a different way than when the robots were mostly silent from their human counterparts. Sonair believes that sensors will help robotic companies achieve their safety goals. Norway-based Oslo has built ADAR (acoustic detection and range) sensors for robots […]
Google Ventures doubles developer tools startup blacksmith just four months after seed round
Once Speed became the decisive currency in the AI-driven software world, Blackmith raised another round (just four months after the seed) led by Google Ventures to accelerate how the code was shipped. The $10 million Series A was shut down in just 14 days, and Google Ventures doubled after backing the first Blacksmith $3.5 million […]
Al Gore on China’s rising climate: “I’d never seen this come.”
Twenty-five years ago, Algore was on the final stretch of his US presidential election, just weeks away from the election that eventually slipped through his fingers despite winning the popularity poll. His platform includes ambitious climate action, positioning America as a natural leader in global environmental transition. The irony of what has happened since then […]
Tesla remembers the Powerwall 2 battery more than the fire risk
According to the Australian Competitive Consumer Commission, Tesla recalls the home battery of Australia’s Powerwall 2 after the company was reported to have a fire that led to “minor property damage.” The recall affects an unspecified number of two Powerwall units made in the US and sold between November 2020 and June 2022. The cell […]
Silicon Valley makes big bets on the “environment” to train AI agents
For years, the CEOs of leading high-tech companies have promoted the vision of AI agents that can use software applications to complete people’s tasks. But whether it’s Openai’s ChatGpt agent or Perplexity’s comet, spin today’s consumer AI agents. That way you can quickly realize how limited the technology is still. Making AI agents more robust […]
Google will deploy a new Windows desktop app with search tools like Spotlight
On Tuesday, Google announced it was launching a new experimental app for Windows. It is designed to help people find what they need faster. This app allows you to instantly search information from your computer files, installed apps, Google Drive files, and the web using the ALT+Space shortcut. The search bar is similar to Spotlight […]
Gemini is on the App Store thanks to the new AI image model, Nano Banana
Gemini’s mobile adoption has skyrocketed since the launch of the Nano Banana Image Editor Model in August, with positive reviews, especially from users who have made it easier to perform complex editing and create realistic images. According to new data provided by the app Intelligence Firm Appfigures, the app has appeared at the top of […]