WhatsApp is testing a premium subscription, but it’s mostly cosmetic
WhatsApp is testing a new subscription tier that will allow users to pay for customized icons, themes, ringtones, and more, similar to Instagram Plus and Snapchat+. The paid plan features are mostly cosmetic. Many additional features are not available to users. WhatsApp Plus has attracted the attention of many users, including social media consultant Matt […]
Deezer announces that 44% of songs uploaded to its platform each day are generated by AI
Deezer announced Monday that AI-generated tracks now account for 44% of all new music uploaded to its platform. The company said it receives about 75,000 AI-generated tracks per day and more than 2 million per month. Consumption of AI-generated music on the platform remains very low, at 1-3% of total streams, and 85% of these […]
App host Vercel claims it was hacked and customer data stolen
Over the weekend, cloud app hosting giant Versel announced that hackers had infiltrated its internal systems and accessed customer data. The hackers claim to have stolen sensitive customer credentials from Vercel’s systems and sold that data online. Vercel said in a statement Sunday that the breach originated from another software maker, Context AI. One of […]
Rivian factory hit by tornado before R2 launch
Rivian’s factory in Normal, Illinois, was hit by a tornado over the weekend and sustained damage, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. Rivian said no one was injured and staff were still assessing the extent of the damage. The tornado, which has an EF-1 strength rating, struck what Rivian calls “Building 2,” where the company manufactures […]
OpenAI’s existential questions | Tech Crunch
OpenAI has been all over the news lately, whether it’s about acquisitions, competition with Anthropic, or the larger conversation about AI’s impact on society. In the latest episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Sean O’Kane, and I do our best to round up all the latest news in OpenAI. While the company’s latest acquisition […]
12 Month Window | Tech Crunch
On a recent episode of the excellent podcast “No Priors,” co-hosted by AI investors Sarah Guo and Elad Gil, Gil made a point about exit timing that will no doubt be familiar to founders who have spent time with him, but one that seems especially useful in this moment when the deal is in full […]
Blue Origin’s New Glenn puts customer satellite in wrong orbit during third launch
Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin on Sunday successfully repurposed one of its New Glenn rockets for the first time, but the company failed in its primary mission to deliver a communications satellite into orbit for customer AST SpaceMobile. AST SpaceMobile issued a statement Sunday afternoon saying the upper stage of its New Glenn rocket […]
Palantir posts mini-manifesto denouncing inclusivity and ‘regressive’ culture
Monitoring and analytics company Palantir recently posted what it calls a 22-part “brief” summary of CEO Alex Karp’s book, The Technological Republic. “Technology Republic,” written by Karp and Palantir Executive Director Nicholas Zamiska, was published last year and the authors described it as “the beginning of clarifying the theory” behind Palantir’s work. (One reviewer said […]
TechCrunch Mobility: Uber enters asset maximization era
Welcome to TechCrunch Mobility. A hub for learning about the future of transportation and how AI is playing a role now more than ever. To receive this in your inbox, sign up for free here. Just click on TechCrunch Mobility. A few weeks ago, I wrote about how Uber seems to be everywhere at once […]
Cracks are starting to appear in the fusion energy financing boom
This happens in every emerging industry. As founders and investors move toward a common goal, money begins to flow in and that shared vision begins to diverge. Cracks are appearing in the world of fusion power, and I saw it firsthand at The Economist’s Fusion Fest in London last week. That didn’t dampen the overall […]