Some Instagram users are feeling cheated out of a new feature, as the photo and video sharing app on Wednesday announced the launch of custom icons — but only for its teen users. Teens can now choose from a set of custom icons that turn the traditional Instagram logo into new variations that can be…
As the world races to stay ahead in the deep tech revolution — from AI and semiconductors to quantum computing — innovation has become the new currency of power. For many companies, that pressure has translated into heavier workloads and more intense work cultures. Yet they face a real dilemma: they can’t simply ease up…
Controversial dating safety apps, Tea and TeaOnHer, have been pulled from the Apple App Store. The apps’ removal was first spotted by the app store intelligence provider Appfigures, which told TechCrunch the two apps were removed from the App Store on Tuesday in all markets but remain live on Google Play. Reached for comment, Apple…
Several years ago, as a skunkworks team of engineers inside Rivian set out to develop an electric micromobility vehicle, one question loomed: “What do we build in-house?” Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe said in an interview recounting the early days of Also, which spun out of Rivian earlier this year. “We realized the only…
Ever wonder if you’re talking to a real person online or just another bot? As bots increasingly outnumber humans online, leading to an explosion of deepfakes and AI-driven fraud, one company has a solution straight out of sci-fi: scanning your iris to verify your humanity. Today on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan spoke with Adrian…
Also, the micromobility startup spun out of Rivian, has landed a commercial deal with Amazon to supply the e-commerce company with thousands of its new pedal-assist cargo quad vehicles that are big enough to carry more than 400 pounds of packages and small enough to use a bike lane. Under the multi-year collaboration, the two…
OpenAI reportedly asked the Raine family — whose 16-year-old son Adam Raine died by suicide after prolonged conversations with ChatGPT — for a full list of attendees from the teenager’s memorial, signaling that the AI firm may try to subpoena friends and family. OpenAI also requested “all documents relating to memorial services or events…
Tesla’s record sales quarter has offered the company a reprieve after a terrible start to 2025. But CEO Elon Musk is focused on building a “robot army” and making good on his years-long, unfulfilled promise of self-driving cars — tasks he needs to accomplish if he is to unlock the full value of the $1…
Snapchat is making its new “Imagine Lens,” the company’s first open prompt image-generation AI Lens, available to all users for free. The Lens was initially launched in September but only for paid subscribers. With the Lens, users can edit their own Snaps using custom prompts or generate their own. For instance, you could prompt the…
AI labs are racing to build data centers as large as Manhattan, each costing billions of dollars and consuming as much energy as a small city. The effort is driven by a deep belief in “scaling” — the idea that adding more computing power to existing AI training methods will eventually yield superintelligent systems capable…
