Technology

OpenAI’s Sora was once the scariest app on your phone β€” and now it’s being shut down

OpenAI’s Sora was once the scariest app on your phone β€” and now it’s being shut down

πŸ’₯ Explore this insightful post from TechCrunch πŸ“– πŸ“‚ **Category**: AI,OpenAI,sora πŸ’‘ **What You’ll Learn**: OpenAI announced on Tuesday that it is shutting down Sora, a TikTok-like social app that launched six months ago. OpenAI did not provide a reason for the shutdown, nor did it share information about when it will officially shut down. When Sora first opened as an invite-only social network, it seemed like everyone was demanding an invite. But like Meta's Horizon Worlds β€” the company's virtual reality social platform β€” which is also plagued by turmoil despite once being central to the company's notorious turnaround,…
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Lululemon is betting that Epoch Biodesign can eat its shorts, literally

Lululemon is betting that Epoch Biodesign can eat its shorts, literally

πŸ”₯ Read this trending post from TechCrunch πŸ“– πŸ“‚ **Category**: Climate,Exclusive,plastic recycling,lululemon,Happiness Capital,Kompas,Exantia Capital,Leitmotif,epoch biodesign βœ… **What You’ll Learn**: As the world transitions to electricity, the oil and gas industry relies on plastics for future profits. But not if Jacob Nathan has anything to say about it. Nathan began researching a way to break down plastic when he was still in high school. Now, as founder and CEO of Epoch Biodesign, he's found a way to use a series of enzymes to "convert this unnatural waste" into a form ready to make more plastic, he told TechCrunch. β€œFor us, a…
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With $3.5 billion in new capital, Kleiner Perkins is turning to artificial intelligence

With $3.5 billion in new capital, Kleiner Perkins is turning to artificial intelligence

πŸš€ Explore this must-read post from TechCrunch πŸ“– πŸ“‚ **Category**: AI,Venture,Kleiner Perkins βœ… **What You’ll Learn**: Kleiner Perkins, the prominent US venture firm, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $3.5 billion in new capital across two funds, a significant increase from the company's $2 billion fundraising less than two years ago. The company, founded in 1972, says it has raised $1 billion for its 22nd early-stage venture fund, and $2.5 billion for a separate vehicle designed to fund late-stage growth businesses. The much larger amount of capital is not surprising. Over the past few years, Kleiner Perkins has been…
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A startup affiliated with Thiel’s colleague just launched a drone that it says could replace police helicopters

A startup affiliated with Thiel’s colleague just launched a drone that it says could replace police helicopters

πŸ”₯ Check out this awesome post from TechCrunch πŸ“– πŸ“‚ **Category**: Startups,drones,Peter Thiel,startup,sam altman,Starlink,brinc πŸ“Œ **What You’ll Learn**: When I spoke to Blake Resnick, he was touring his drone startup's newest office space in Seattle β€” a cavernous, 50,000-square-foot facility that, Resnick estimates, won't be fully set up until later in the year β€” likely November. However, the large (and currently largely empty) building offers the promise of a fast-growing company intent on conquering its own industry. The industry in question is public safety and the startup is Brinc, which sells drones to police and public agencies across the United…
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Amazon just bought a startup that makes child-sized humanoid robots

Amazon just bought a startup that makes child-sized humanoid robots

πŸš€ Explore this trending post from TechCrunch πŸ“– πŸ“‚ **Category**: Robotics,Amazon,fauna robotics,rivr,robotics πŸ“Œ **What You’ll Learn**: Amazon has confirmed that it has acquired Fauna Robotics, a two-year-old startup founded by former Meta and Google engineers who are developing child-sized humanoid robots. The acquisition was first reported by Bloomberg. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. What we do know is that Fauna employees, including its founders, will be joining Amazon in New York City. β€œWe are excited about Fauna’s vision of building robots that are capable, safe, and fun for everyone,” an Amazon spokesperson wrote in an email statement. β€œCombined…
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New Mexico just handed its first courtroom defeat on child safety, and the rest of the country is watching

New Mexico just handed its first courtroom defeat on child safety, and the rest of the country is watching

πŸ’₯ Discover this must-read post from TechCrunch πŸ“– πŸ“‚ **Category**: Government & Policy,Social,Facebook,lawsuit,Meta,New Mexico βœ… **What You’ll Learn**: A Santa Fe jury on Tuesday ordered Meta to pay $375 million in civil penalties after finding that the company misled consumers about the safety of its platforms and the danger to children. New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez's office called the decision "a watershed moment for every parent concerned about what could happen to their children when they go online," according to a press release issued immediately after the ruling. The ruling, reached after a six-week trial, found Meta liable for…
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Accel and Prosus have selected six β€œoff-the-map” startups for their inaugural batch in India

Accel and Prosus have selected six β€œoff-the-map” startups for their inaugural batch in India

πŸš€ Read this insightful post from TechCrunch πŸ“– πŸ“‚ **Category**: Startups,Venture,Accel,India,deep tech,Prosus,Atoms X,Accel Atoms πŸ’‘ **What You’ll Learn**: Accel and Prosus have selected six startups for their first joint venture in India, to support what they describe as β€œoff-the-map” ideas – companies that are solving problems where markets are ill-defined and where progress is difficult to measure. The inaugural collection includes healthcare, climate, space and longevity, reflecting a focus on science-led themes with long development timelines and uncertain commercial paths. The six startups were selected from more than 2,000 applications. These are the selected startups: Brian develops air infrastructure systems…
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A Kentucky woman turns down a $26 million offer to turn her farm into a data center

A Kentucky woman turns down a $26 million offer to turn her farm into a data center

✨ Check out this must-read post from TechCrunch πŸ“– πŸ“‚ **Category**: AI,Climate,data centers πŸ’‘ **What You’ll Learn**: For generations, Ida Huddleston and her family have owned a farm in northern Kentucky. They have rejected at least one multi-million dollar offer to preserve it. Last year, a β€œmajor AI company” offered them $26 million to sell part of their farm for a proposed data center, according to a recent report by WKRC. Huddleston and her family declined, saying they did not want to build a data center near them or on any of their 1,200 acres of farmland outside Maysville, Kentucky.…
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The Anthropist gives Claude Codd more control, but keeps him on a leash

The Anthropist gives Claude Codd more control, but keeps him on a leash

πŸ”₯ Check out this trending post from TechCrunch πŸ“– πŸ“‚ **Category**: AI,AI agents,Anthropic,claude auto mode,claude code πŸ“Œ **What You’ll Learn**: For developers using AI, β€œvital programming” today is to monitor every action or risk letting the model run unchecked. Anthropic says its latest update to Claude aims to eliminate that choice by letting the AI ​​decide which actions are safe to take on its own β€” with some limitations. The move reflects a broader shift across the industry, as AI tools are increasingly designed to work without waiting for human approval. The challenge is to balance speed and control: too…
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Arm is launching the first in-house chip in its 35-year history

Arm is launching the first in-house chip in its 35-year history

πŸ”₯ Read this awesome post from TechCrunch πŸ“– πŸ“‚ **Category**: AI,Enterprise,Hardware,Apple,ARM,ARM Holdings,artificial intelligence,cpus,Softbank βœ… **What You’ll Learn**: Popular semiconductor and software company Arm Holdings has begun manufacturing its own chips after nearly 36 years of licensing its designs to companies like Nvidia and Apple. At an event Tuesday in San Francisco, the company unveiled the Arm AGI CPU, a production-ready chip designed to run inference in an artificial intelligence data center. The UK-based company developed the chip using the Arm Neoverse family of IP CPU cores and through a partnership with Meta. Meta is also the first chip customer for…
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