Timef 03/05/2025

The European Union is once again being urged to expand its investigation of Google under the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). The big aim of the EU’s flagship competition reform — which came into force last spring — was to level the digital playing field by forcing platform giants into fairer dealing with rivals and […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Two trailblazing computer scientists have won the 2024 Turing Award for their work in reinforcement learning, a discipline in which machines learn through a reward-based trial-and-error approach that lets them adapt within constrained or dynamic environments. Andrew G. Barto, a professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Amherst; and Richard S. Sutton, a professor at […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

YouTube on Wednesday announced a new premium subscription tier called Premium Lite, which would allow users to watch “most” videos ad-free for $7.99 per month. As an entry-level subscription, the new tier would not offer the other benefits of the full YouTube Premium ($13.99 per month) subscription like downloads, background play, or the ability to […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

On Wednesday, Google announced the launch of a new AI image feature for its Shopping tab, designed to help users find clothing items they envision by allowing them to search using their own words. The company is also expanding its AR beauty and virtual try-on tools. The new feature, “Vision Match,” is now available in […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

This well-made hard-sided polycarbonate suitcase offers entry-level luxury and a durable finish.

A man invested $4 million in bitcoin and lost it all with a single click when he was targeted by a vishing scam, which uses phone calls to trick people.

Are you a leader in the AI space? Make your voice heard as a TechCrunch Sessions: AI speaker.  At TechCrunch Sessions: AI, you can help shape what’s next in the AI industry — and share your expertise with 1,200 AI founders, investors, and industry pioneers. Help drive the next wave of innovation on June 5 […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Security experts warn of ‘huge impact’ of actively exploited hypervisor flaws that allow sandbox escape © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Apple announced an M4 MacBook Air Wednesday. It comes out on March 12 and starts at just $999. Here's where you can preorder it.

Apple has launched a new Mac Studio, its desktop computer for professionals who need top-of-the-line performance. The company is trying something new with the Mac Studio as it lets you choose between the M4 Max or the M3 Ultra. The Mac Studio starts at $1,999. Pre-orders open today, and it will be available in Apple […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Apple has introduced a new MacBook Air on its website, offering improved performance while retaining the familiar design. The new laptop is equipped with Apple’s M4 chip, the most recent addition to the M-series chip lineup. The MacBook Air comes in two sizes. Customers can choose between a 13-inch and a 15-inch display. Pricing starts […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

A weekend hackathon project that lets AI agents talk on the phone with each other in a robotic language, one that’s incomprehensible to humans, has gone viral on social media over the past week. The project, called GibberLink, was created by two Meta software engineers during a hackathon competition in London, hosted by ElevenLabs and […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

The 13-inch and 15-inch laptops are faster and, with the lower starting price of $999, more affordable. Need a desktop? Apple has also refreshed the Mac Studio.

The confirmation of the pause on intelligence sharing follows a heated exchange between the U.S. and Ukrainian presidents © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

This projector has remarkable picture quality, but few features beyond gaming performance.

Last month, Google announced the “AI co-scientist,” an AI the company said was designed to aid scientists in creating hypotheses and research plans. Google pitched it as a way to uncover new knowledge, but experts think it — and tools like it — fall well short of PR promises. “This preliminary tool, while interesting, doesn’t […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

You're an action hero, and you need a camera to match. We guide you through all the models, plus accessory recommendations and hidden software tricks to try.

Britain’s competition authority, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), said Wednesday that Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI doesn’t qualify for investigation under the merger provisions of the U.K.’s Enterprise Act 2002, the country’s anticompetitive practices law. The full text of the decision will be published shortly, the CMA said. The CMA began investigating Microsoft’s partnership in […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Foreign exchange fluctuations can make or break a business that trades across borders, but trying to respond to that can be tricky if you’re anything smaller than the world’s largest enterprises. Today, a startup called Grain is emerging from stealth with a product it said will let finance teams from companies of any size better […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

The future is here, and it is jacked up on B vitamins, red dye, and taurine. These are the best energy drinks to get from tired to wired.

Here’s a blast from the past: Digg, one of the web’s early news aggregators, is now back under the ownership of original founder Kevin Rose. Notably, he’s joined as co-owner by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian (both pictured above). Digg and Reddit were once fierce rivals in the online social news aggregation space, launching within a […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Apple's AirPods Pro 2 earbuds normally retail for $249. As of March 5, they're on sale for $199 at Amazon.

Amazon Prime Video is offering a $5 Prime Video credit when you buy two action movies from their selection for a limited time.

Research suggests that free-moving panels on aircraft wings can improve stability, reduce turbulence, and add fuel efficiency.

The expensive plastic-free coffee press from AeroPress makes espresso-ish coffee with glass, metal, and a few manageable quirks.

The SoftBank-backed chipmaker has signed an agreement with the Malaysian government to bolster the country's chip design ecosystem. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

A new study by Graphika found tens of thousands of sexualized, minor-presenting chatbots on popular sites, boosted by existing online communities and tech loopholes.

The Formation interview prep platform teamed up with The Last Mile, an organization that helps the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated enter the tech sector.

Expandable's Touchdown is a designer trailer that promises a luxury off-grid living experience and unfolds into a home in about 15 minutes.

New research shows at least a million inexpensive Android devices—from TV streaming boxes to car infotainment systems—are compromised to allow bad actors to commit ad fraud and other cybercrime.

Yes it shares the same underpinnings as the excellent EV9, but Hyundai’s stately new tech-laden flagship is refined enough to stand out.

"Stranger Things" star and Djo singer Joe Keery appeared on BBC Radio One to play "Unpopular Opinion".

For around $150 per month, you can see how a cargo bike fits into your life. If you find you prefer two wheels to four, you can even buy your rental at a discount.

Andrew Barto and Richard Sutton developed reinforcement learning, a technique vital to chatbots like ChatGPT.

Explaining the 'Trump take egg' meme. What is it, and what does it mean?

The PhotoSphere is a 2TB file backup tool that syncs automatically, and it's only $149.99.

It's only $129.97 to get a lifetime license for Microsoft Office 2024 Home for Mac or PC until March 30 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

Capture every word from meetings or lectures with this AI-powered voice-to-text recorder, now 46% off.

DeskSense is a multipurpose AI assistant that just dropped the price for a lifetime subscription to $38.

Live stream Guadalajara vs. Club America in the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup for free from anywhere in the world.

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Skip the subscription fees — get Microsoft Office Home and Business for Mac with a one-time payment of $39.99 (reg. $229) and enjoy lifelong access.

SXSW Conference and Festivals: Here's our top picks of what to see in film and TV.

Having machines learn from experience was once considered a dead end. It's now critical to artificial intelligence, and work in the field has won two men the highest honor in computer science.

In March 2025, Hulu is offering bundle deals with its service so you can stream excellent shows and movies at a discounted price.

Save 11% on the Kindle Scribe Essentials Bundle at Amazon.

Save 13% on the Dyson V15 at Amazon.

Save 19% on the roborock Qrevo Edge at Amazon.

As of March 5, the Nvidia RTX 5070 is available from $549 at Amazon and Best Buy. Here’s how to get one before stock runs out.

Answers to each clue for the March 5, 2025 edition of NYT's The Mini crossword puzzle.

Apple is challenging a U.K. Government data access order in the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), the Financial Times reports. The order targeted iCloud backups that are protected by end-to-end encryption. Last month, press leaks revealed the existence of the January order asking Apple to build a backdoor in iCloud’s encrypted backups. U.K. officials are exercising […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Darwinbox, an Indian startup building a SaaS platform for hiring, onboarding and employee administration, has raised $140 million to take on the likes of Rippling and Deel as it seeks to expand internationally, especially in the U.S. The funding is being co-led by KKR and Partners Group, and is a mix of primary and secondary […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has announced that GPT-4.5 will "likely" begin rolling out to ChatGPT Plus subscribers "over a few days."

Netflix's trailer for action film "Bullet Train Explosion" teases "Shin Godzilla" director Shinji Higuchi's next project.

A U.K. startup, originating from founder Jacob Nathan’s high school science project on using enzymes to break down plastic waste, has secured an oversubscribed $18.3 million in Series A funding. Founded in 2019 in London, Epoch Biodesign now a 30+ strong multidisciplinary team of chemists, biologists and software engineers. It will be using the new […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Nvidia-backed data center company CoreWeave has acquired AI developer platform Weights & Biases for an undisclosed sum. According to The Information, CoreWeave spent $1.7 billion on the transaction. Weights & Biases was valued at $1.25 billion in 2023, and it recently filed for an IPO. Lukas Biewald, Chris Van Pelt, and Shawn Lewis founded Weights & Biases […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Make meal prep easier for any dietary need while enjoying great savings with our hand-picked Factor discount codes.

EcoDataCenter, a Swedish company that builds eco-friendly data centers used by major compute providers to handle their AI traffic, has raised nearly half a billion dollars — $478 million (€450 million) to be exact — in anticipation of more demand.  The equity funding, which is coming from a group of unnamed institutional investors, will be […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Last October, Meta dipped its toe into the world of facial recognition — an area where it has had a tricky record — with an international test of two new tools: one to stop scams based on likenesses of famous people, and a second facial recognition feature to help people get back into compromised Facebook […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

The court said that Elon Musk could proceed with other parts of a lawsuit he brought against OpenAI last year.

Defense tech startup Epirus has raised a $250m Series D to expand its counter-drone solutions. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

London startup Quantexa has made its name over the years with an enterprise platform that employs AI and data analytics to fight money laundering and fraud. Today, it is announcing new funding of $175 million to double down on that business while also moving deeper into another hot area: using its technology to help organizations […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Save 82% on the award-winning Luminar Neo AI photo editing software at the Mashable Shop.

Live stream Bayern Munich vs. Leverkusen in the Champions League for free from anywhere in the world.

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The best 4K TVs for gaming, movies, sport, and HD entertainment.

Connections: Sports Edition is a New York Times word game about finding common sports threads between words. How to solve the puzzle.

The NYT Strands hints and answers you need to make the most of your puzzling experience.

Connections is a New York Times word game that's all about finding the "common threads between words." How to solve the puzzle.

Here's the answer for "Wordle" #1355 on March 5, as well as a few hints, tips, and clues to help you solve it yourself.

Alec Radford, a researcher who helped develop many of OpenAI’s key AI technologies, has been subpoenaed in a copyright case against the AI startup, according to a court filing Tuesday. The filing, submitted by an attorney for the plaintiffs to the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, indicated that Radford was served […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

"Daredevil: Born Again" is now streaming on Disney+. The soft reboot of the Netflix series "Daredevil" stars Charlie Co and Vincent D'Onofrio.

A federal judge in Northern California denied Elon Musk’s motion for an injunction that would have halted OpenAI’s planned transition into a for-profit company, Bloomberg reported. Musk failed to provide enough evidence necessary for an injunction, U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled Tuesday. However, Rogers said the court is prepared to hold an […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

The fintech startup has been under federal scrutiny for years for questionable financial and carbon accounting practices. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

The imposition of the tariffs on Mexico and Canada represent a violation of the USMCA and could trigger a tariff war, experts say.

New vulnerabilities are actively being weaponized in the wild, affecting Cisco routers and Windows computers.

Figure’s latest AI system, Helix, allows robots to perform complex tasks through simple voice commands—no training required.

Amazon has formed a new group within AWS dedicated to creating AI agents, systems that help people automate parts of their lives, Reuters reported on Tuesday. In an email to staff seen by Reuters, AWS CEO Matt Garman said agentic AI has the potential to be “the next multi-billion business for AWS.” A longtime AWS […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

X is bringing more attention to Communities, a feature that allows X users to connect and engage in discussions around a given topic, similar to how it’s done on Reddit. Today, tabs to access popular Communities are pinned to the top of the app’s homepage alongside your For You feed and other Lists. Now, you’ll […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

One of Africa’s most active investors, known for early bets on unicorns like Flutterwave, Andela, and Wave, has secured fresh capital to invest in startups across the continent. This comes as funding deals and volumes in Africa saw only a slight dip last year, according to a report by VC firm Partech. LoftyInc Capital, which […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

The fires, which the police said were intentionally set, are the latest in a series of attacks against Elon Musk’s company.

Firefly Aerospace successfully landed its Blue Ghost spacecraft on the moon's surface on March 2, and has now released footage of the impressive landing event.

“We’re a long way from pants,” Andy Dunn, founder of online fashion retailer Bonobos, told TechCrunch. Now, the former CEO is taking on a completely different challenge: he wants to help people make friends. Dunn’s newest venture, Pie, is a social app focused on bringing people together in real life. With an $11.5 million Series […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Google released an open source AI model to identify and classify wildlife captured by motion sensor cameras. Here's what SpeciesNet can do.

What is Stake, and why is its logo on so many old viral memes and videos? All about the controversial gambling company.

Foundation Capital has come a long way since it was forced to scale down its fund size from $750 million in 2008 to $282 million (its sixth main fund) in 2013. On Tuesday, the 30-year-old firm announced that it raised a $600 million eleventh flagship fund, which is 20% larger than the predecessor $500 million […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Enforcing the tariffs on Taiwan would be difficult, and they wouldn’t necessarily be enough to meaningfully increase semiconductor manufacturing in the United States, experts told WIRED.

Engineers and executives at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency are drawing healthy taxpayer-funded salaries—sometimes from the very agencies they are cutting.

Get PDF Converter Pro for A$38 (reg. A$160) with our discount code. Convert, edit, and manage PDFs on Macs and Windows without losing formatting.

The founder and CEO of IPO-bound fintech Klarna took to X to once again explain why his company ditched Salesforce’s flagship CRM product about a year ago in favor of its own homegrown AI system.  But this time, Sebastian Siemiatkowski emphasized that he doesn’t think others will — or should — follow his lead. “I […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Amazon reportedly wants to get in on the AI “reasoning” model game. According to Business Insider, Amazon is developing an AI model that incorporates advanced “reasoning” capabilities, similar to models like OpenAI’s o3-mini and Chinese AI lab DeepSeek’s R1. The model may launch as soon as June under Amazon’s Nova brand, which the company introduced […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

While several of Google’s rivals, including OpenAI, have tweaked their AI chatbots to discuss politically sensitive subjects in recent months, Google appears to be embracing a more conservative approach. When asked to answer certain political questions, Google’s AI-powered chatbot, Gemini, often says it “can’t help with responses on elections and political figures right now,” TechCrunch’s […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Experts note that this is just the first step for the alleged North Korean hackers to profit from the historic heist. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

The Houston-based space company Intuitive Machines is about to attempt its second moon landing, after a successful touchdown for NASA last year.

These five top-rated tax software programs are specially designed for freelancers doing their own taxes.

As of March 4, get the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra tablet for $180 off at Samsung with a free pair of Samsung Galaxy Buds3 earbuds.

Human rights organizations say the cuts have undermined years of global democracy-building and free speech initiatives, and put the lives of their staff at risk.

Keep your cables organized with the Anker charging station, which features USB-C, USB-A, and AC ports. It's on sale for $36.

"Warfare," written and directed by Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland, hits theaters April 11.

The Aerogarden Harvest 2.0 is currently on sale at Amazon for $45.31, get it now for 36% off and save $25.08.

The people of New Orleans don't appear to be fans of Elon Musk as they relentlessly booed a Cybertruck at Mardi Gras.

We still didn’t get a straight up definition of exactly what an AI agent is during Bret Taylor’s Mobile World Congress fireside chat in Barcelona on Tuesday. The Sierra founder and OpenAI board chair preferred to side-step CNN moderator Anna Stewart’s question asking how “agentic AI” is “any different to a GenAI chatbot” by suggesting […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4' gets July release date

On June 5, TechCrunch Sessions: AI will kick off — and you can be part of the industry-changing conversations that will be taking place. We have an open invitation for members of the AI community to lead breakout sessions and discussions with over 1,200 startup founders, VC leaders, and AI aficionados attending our newest event, which […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

The Southwest Spring Sale runs through March 6 and has one-way flights for as low as $49.

When US President Donald Trump picked out a handful of cryptocurrencies for potential inclusion in a national strategic reserve, he sparked a trading frenzy—and questions about who stands to benefit.

According to free speech organizations, the bipartisan TAKE IT DOWN Act has some issues.

The Shark AI Ultra Robot Vacuum is on sale at Amazon for $329.99, down from the list price of $649.99. That's a 49% discount.

"Paradise"s finale threw major twists our way, starting with the reveal of who killed Cal (James Marsden). Let's break it down.

Google announced new software updates for the Pixel phones as part of its so-called Pixel Drop program for March. Pixel Watches and all Android devices are also receiving some new features. The most notable parts of the update include using AI to detect scams in messages and calls, better categorization in the screenshot app, menstrual […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

The best Amazon deals on March 4 include the Apple M4 iPad Pro, Fire TV Stick 4K, Fire TV Soundbar Plus, ASUS ZenScreen, and Echo Dot Kids.

Calls for WordPress co-founder and Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg to step down from his leadership role have increased in recent months amid his controversial fight and legal battle with hosting company WP Engine. Mullenweg not only intends to stay, he’s also thinking about how he plans to manage succession planning. He doesn’t want to pass […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

On March 4, Apple dropped the new Apple iPad Air with M3 chip as well as the updated Apple iPad, now with an A16 chip. Both models are available for preorder and will ship on March 12.

Cohere for AI, AI startup Cohere’s nonprofit research lab, this week released a multimodal “open” AI model, Aya Vision, the lab claimed is best-in-class. Aya Vision can perform tasks like writing image captions, answering questions about photos, translating text, and generating summaries in 23 major languages. Cohere, which is also making Aya Vision available for […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

The entire solar industry has been bracing for a rough road ahead. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

The Best Buy Drop for March 4 is a KitchenAid bowl lift mixer for $199.99 — a huge $250 discount for anyone shopping in the Best Buy app.

Colossal Laboratories has revealed the Colossal Woolly Mouse, cute, fuzzy mice genetically engineered with woolly mammoth features.

The JetBlue Big Spring Sale has flights for as little as $49 each way.

Samsung's The Frame TV is on sale for up to 40% off. Shop Frame TV's from 32 inches to 85 inches.

Chinese ride-hail firm Didi is on the hunt for fresh funds for its autonomous vehicle technology unit that could value it at $5 billion, according to Bloomberg News. Investor interest in self-driving cars is high in China on the backs of IPOs from WeRide and Pony AI, which have a market capitalization of $4.7 billion […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

As of Mar. 4, get the Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus for $50 off at Amazon.

Business leaders are paying as much as $5,000,000 to meet one-on-one with the president at his Florida compound, sources tell WIRED, while others are paying $1,000,000 apiece to dine with him in a group setting.

As teased, Apple just introduced the iPad Air with an M3 chip. The tech giant also announced a new Magic Keyboard. Here are the details

The 11-inch and 13-inch tablets have the same look as before but with a minor boost in performance. The new iPads ship on March 12.

Breville Espresso Makers are $200 of at Amazon. Shop the Breville Barista Express for 27% off, bringing it down to $549.95. Or get the Breville Barista Touch, which is down to $799.95 for 20% off.

A refurbished Ninja Slushi is on sale for $239.99 at Woot, down from the current price of $349.99. That works out to a 31% discount.

Get the Jackery Explorer 300 Portable Power Station on sale for $169 and save 35%, or $90 off.

Ulefone has very rugged phones with a ton of stuff built into them.

Produced by Netflix with Meghan and Harry's Archewell Studios, "With Love, Meghan" is essentially a DIY tips show. Review.