Timef 03/07/2025

Russian propaganda may be influencing certain answers from AI chatbots including OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Meta’s Meta AI, according to a new report. NewsGuard, a company that develops rating systems for news and information websites, claims to have found evidence that a Moscow-based network named “Pravda” is publishing false claims to affect the responses of AI […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

CollX, a company offering an online trading card marketplace, has raised $10 million in Series A funding. The round was co-led by Austin-based Brand Foundry Ventures and Philadelphia-based 114 Ventures, both of which were previous investors in the company. Other investors such as Next Coast Ventures, FJ Labs, and Ben Franklin Technology Partners also participated […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

TechCrunch Sessions: AI kicks off on June 5 in Zellerbach Hall at UC Berkeley — and we want AI leaders to take part in industry-changing conversations. Make your mark by leading breakout sessions and discussions with over 1,200 startup founders, VC leaders, and other industry pioneers at TC Sessions: AI. But don’t wait, you have […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Jim Sanborn’s inbox is flooded with amateur cryptographers who say they’ve cracked the code with chatbots like Grok 3.

Meta’s next major “open” AI model may have a voice focus, per a report in Financial Times. According to the piece, Meta is planning to introduce improved voice features with Llama 4, the next flagship in its Llama model family, which is expected to arrive in “weeks.” Reportedly, Meta has been particularly focused on allowing […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

X is actively working to expand the reach of xAI’s Grok model to more users on the platform. Multiple users noted today that people can now mention Grok in replies and ask a question to get an explanation about a post. Users of the Elon Musk-owned social media platform could already access Grok through a button […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Physics is weird. Especially when you’re dealing with moving reference frames.

Bong Joon Ho has already made a huge impact in film history for his artistry. Toni Collette and Naomi Ackie describe how his process might be his most impressive talent.

Eleven11bot infects webcams and video recorders, with a large concentration in the US.

No matter whether you’re streaming movies or playing Overwatch, AOC’s QD-OLED gaming monitor shines.

This efficient, smart hair dryer would feel more intelligent if it got the basics right.

How to get free indie sci-fi books on Stuff Your Kindle Day.

“I think Google realizes that this is a once-in-a-generation chance to reinvent the search experience”

This emergency first aid kit will be ready to rescue your Mac or Windows machine when disaster strikes.

Tackle your tax prep with this deal on H&R Block Tax Software Deluxe + State, now $32.99 with code FILEEASY through March 30.

Stephen Colbert has trolled Elon Musk and DOGE with a poem on "The Late Show".

Big Dating got singles hooked on convenience culture. But finding a partner is work—and a batch of matchmaking services think they’ve cracked the code for partnership.

The old-fashioned drip coffee maker has come a long way. Our favorite machines here can turn your barista into a stranger.

How to get free indie horror books on Stuff Your Kindle Day.

A digital ID may be even more secure than a physical ID. Storing your driver's license in your Apple Wallet is an ideal solution for commuters.

As of March 7, Apple Watch Series 10 (GPS, 42mm) is available for $299 at Amazon. That’s a $100 discount off its usual price of $399.

As of March 7, the Bose Smart Soundbar 550 is on sale for $199 at Walmart. That’s a $300 discount off its usual price of $499.

The FBI is warning that scammers are impersonating the BianLian ransomware gang using fake ransom notes sent to U.S. corporate executives. The fake ransom notes, first reported by U.S. cybersecurity company GuidePoint Security, claim that hackers have gained access to an organization’s network to steal sensitive data, and threaten to publish the stolen data unless […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

President Trump signed an Executive Order to create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.

Chronic loneliness can increase cortisol and inflammation and weaken your immune system, says social scientist Kasley Killiam. She argues it’s time to accept that good quality social connections are a fundamental human need.

Save $240 on a lifetime subscription to Luvly Holistic Face Yoga App

Play golf year round with the Phigolf Home Golf Game Simulator Sensor, on sale for just $89.97 (reg. $199) now through March 30.

Charge up to six devices at once with Flash Pro Plus, now $229.99 (reg. $319).

Psycho-biddy horror has a new twist in "The Rule of Jenny Pen," James Ashcroft's terrific follow-up to "Coming Home in the Dark." Review.

Find out how to watch A24's "Heretic" at home, including how to save with the best Max streaming deals.

What happened at the end of "Heretic," the new horror movie from A24 starring Hugh Grant? Explainer.

Hugh Grant stars alongside Chloe East and Sophie Thatcher in A24's "Heretic," in theaters November 8.

Rungano Nyoni's sophomore effort, "On Becoming a Guinea Fowl," is a rigorous work of African feminism.

An explainer of the twisted ending of Daniel Kokotajlo's 'Starve Acre,' based on Andrew Michael Hurley's novel of the same name.

Lady Gaga reacted to Bowen Yang's "Alejandro" tattoo as part of a series of "SNL" promo skits.

As of March 7, the 10th-gen Apple iPad (64GB, Wi-Fi) is on sale for $259.99 at Amazon. That’s a 26% discount from its usual $349.

"Severance" reveals that Ms. Cobel (Patricia Arquette) and Miss Huang (Sarah Bock) share a prestigious Lumon fellowship.

"Sweet Vitriol" reveals that Ms. Cobel (Patricia Arquette) came up with severance, which explains a lot of her Season 1 behavior.

In "Severance" Season 2, episode 8, Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette) visits her childhood home. We've rounded up some of the smaller details and clues you may have missed.

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

From personalized gifts to business essentials, WIRED can help you save with our selection of VistaPrint promo codes.

Check out our deals for Nike this month, including up to 40% off select styles.

The best free online courses from Harvard University.

How to get free books on Stuff Your Kindle Day. The Indie Author Spring Spectacular is offering free books by indie authors.

On March 20, celebrate Cone Day 2025 by enjoying a free vanilla soft-serve cone at participating Dairy Queen locations.

Answers to each clue for the March 7, 2025 edition of NYT's The Mini crossword puzzle.

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

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

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" #1357 on March 7, as well as a few hints, tips, and clues to help you solve it yourself.

The first-of-its-kind reserve would be anchored by a stash of Bitcoin the government already owns, estimated to be worth billions of dollars, the White House’s crypto czar said.

SpaceX’s Starship spiraled out of control while in space during a test flight on Thursday, marking the second launch in a row that the vehicle has run into a fatal problem on its way to orbit. The company launched Starship using its Super Heavy booster and things looked normal for the first eight minutes of the […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Poorna Jagannathan, who plays crime boss 'Lucky' in the new Hulu series, 'Deli Boys', may have just carved out a new corner of the crime boss trope.

Intuitive Machines' Athena spacecraft experienced an issue while landing on the moon, but the exact condition of the NASA-funded mission is unclear.

The ticket reselling site joins the social chat app Discord and the artificial intelligence company CoreWeave in pursuing a public offering.

Google co-founder Larry Page is building a new company called Dynatomics that’s focused on applying AI to product manufacturing, according to The Information. Page is reportedly working with a small group of engineers on AI that can create “highly optimized” designs for objects and then have a factory build them, per The Information. Chris Anderson, […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Intuitive Machines has landed a second spacecraft on the moon, just one year after accomplishing the feat for the first time ever. Unfortunately, much like that first attempt, it seems the company’s spacecraft may have tipped on its side. The lunar lander, called Athena, touched down on the moon’s surface at around 12:30 p.m. ET […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, has long held anti-surveillance views. Now she oversees a key surveillance program she once tried to dismantle.

The problematic code changed file permissions that broke some systems, users say. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

The Ninja Woodfire 8-in-1 Outdoor Oven is on sale for $299.99, down from the usual price of $399.99. That's a 25% discount.

Scale AI is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Labor for compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Plans to redevelop a Northern Virginia warehouse site have long been complicated by the area’s worst-kept secret—the presence of a CIA facility. The GSA put the site up for sale anyway.

Google has a new search experiment called AI Mode to compete with Perplexity and ChatGPT search mode, plus expanded AI Overviews.

As of March 6, get the Anker Prime Charging Station for 31% off at Amazon.

U.S. immigration agency proposes a rule change that would require a review of social media profiles during status and citizenship benefits changes.

OpenAI’s flagship AI chatbot, ChatGPT, returned to solid growth in the latter half of 2024, according to a new report published on Thursday by VC firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). While it took ChatGPT nine months to grow from 100 million weekly active users in November 2023 to 200 million in August 2024, it’s now taken […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

DataBreaches.net declined to comply, citing a lack of jurisdiction. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

On Uncanny Valley this week, our hosts talk about the pronatalism movement, and how the push to increase birth rates is trending among some of Silicon Valley's biggest and wealthiest names.

AI company founders have a reputation for making bold claims about the technology’s potential to reshape fields, particularly the sciences. But Thomas Wolf, Hugging Face’s co-founder and chief science officer, has a more measured take. In an essay published to X on Thursday, Wolf said that he feared AI becoming “yes-men on servers” absent a […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Shield AI is now one of the U.S.'s biggest defense tech startups by valuation, raising $240 million at a $5.3 billion valuation in its latest round. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

An international coalition of law enforcement agencies seized the official website of Garantex, which has previously been sanctioned by the U.S. and E.U. governments. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Documents obtained by WIRED show the US Department of Defense is considering cutting up to 75 percent of workers who stop the spread of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons.

A shadowy group of unelected figures reshaping the federal government to their own benefit from the inside? Sounds familiar!

OneWeb, Project Kuiper, and IRIS2 could all, in time, replace Elon Musk's satellite communications system in Ukraine, but they will struggle to replicate Starlink's coverage and usability.

Nearly 6,500 artists demanded in an open letter that fine art auction house Christie’s cancel its first show dedicated solely to works created with AI. Yet, the show, Augmented Intelligence, went on — and reportedly exceeded expectations. According to Christie’s, the show brought in more than $700,000, with many lots reaching beyond their high estimates. […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

ChatGPT, OpenAI’s AI-powered chatbot platform, can now directly edit code — if you’re on macOS, that is. The newest version of the ChatGPT app for macOS can take action to edit code in supported developer tools, including Xcode, VS Code, and JetBrains. Users can optionally turn on an “auto-apply” mode so ChatGPT can make edits […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Spotify has acknowledged an issue that’s causing some of its paid Premium subscribers to encounter ads when trying to play music. In an X post published on Thursday by Spotify’s customer service account, the company said it’s looking into the problem and linked to its Community website where the issue has been documented by users […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Mistral AI, the French company behind AI assistant Le Chat and several foundational models, is officially regarded as one of France’s most promising tech startups and is arguably the only European company that could compete with OpenAI. But compared to its $6 billion valuation, its global market share is still relatively low.  However, the recent […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! TechCrunch’s transportation team — well at least myself and senior reporter Rebecca Bellan — are hittin’ the road. Destination: SXSW, the annual tech, music, film, and culture […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

New internet restrictions at the embattled SSA have cut off access to WIRED, along with other “general news” websites like The Washington Post and The New York Times.

The newly appointed deputy director of the F.B.I. has a long history of criticizing the bureau and its leadership. He has promised “dramatic change.”

ONE also announced the close of a new funding round. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

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.

A high-profile ex-OpenAI policy researcher, Miles Brundage, took to social media on Wednesday to criticize OpenAI for “rewriting the history” of its deployment approach to potentially risky AI systems. Earlier this week, OpenAI published a document outlining its current philosophy on AI safety and alignment, the process of designing AI systems that behave in desirable […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Large language models work particularly well with raw text. Companies that want to create their own AI workflow know that it has become extremely important to store and index data in a clean format so that this data can be reused for AI processing. That’s why Mistral is launching a new API today for developers […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Intangible AI, now backed by $4 million in seed funding, offers an AI-powered creative tool that allows users to create 3D world concepts with text prompts to aid creative professionals across a variety of industries. The company’s mission is to make the creative process accessible to everyone, including professionals such as filmmakers, game designers, event […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

This week, Apple announced two new iPad models joining the line-up. You can preorder the device at Walmart and save up to $50.

Getting ghosted is never fun. Especially if you’re a founder seeking capital from investors. It’s similar to dating. You might be left wondering “Why is this person not getting back to me? Did I do something wrong?” Did the investor hate the product? Did they not care for me personally?” It’s enough to drive anyone […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Certain types of gambling content will now be restricted on YouTube to "protect viewers from potentially harmful content."

Facing the looming threat of A.I. as a competitor, some publishers are considering an alternative to the internet’s all-powerful algorithms.

As of March 6, get the M4 MacBook Air for $50 off as a paid My Best Buy member.

Private search engine DuckDuckGo is leaning further into the generative AI opportunity. The non-tracking search engine has been dabbling with expanding the role of AI assistance in its product for the past year, including launching a chatbot-style interface last fall — available at Duck.ai. In a blog post Thursday, the company said the service is […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

More consolidation is playing out in the security industry as platform players scoop up technology to give them deeper expertise in growing business areas. Thursday, Armis, a $4.2 billion specialist in cyber exposure management, said it would be acquiring Otorio, a specialist in securing industrial and physical environments.  Terms of the deal are not being […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

As of March 6, get the Ninja Foodi Smart XL Grill for 39% off at Amazon

Uber executive Sachin Kansal has a reputation for dogfooding — the tactic of using one’s own products and services to root out problems and make improvements. As he ascended Uber’s executive ladder over the past eight years, Kansal ratcheted up 700 trips delivering food or people to their destinations. Lengthy reports, often dozens of pages […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Merino is one of the best fabrics you can wear. We explain the different blends, what GSM means, and how to care for your clothes.

Faireez, which aims to bring “5-star hotel-style housekeeping” to multifamily buildings, is emerging from stealth with $7.5 million in seed funding, the startup told TechCrunch exclusively. Founded in 2023, New York-based Faireez’s goal is to make the cleaning services it offers as customized as possible. It offers a subscription model where each building is assigned […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Reddit announced on Thursday it’s introducing a set of new tools to make it easier for users to participate on its platform. The features are designed to help users find communities, ensure their posts don’t break any rules, and understand how to contribute across the social network. Combined, the features are meant to enhance the […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

The Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 Bluetooth speaker is on sale for $139.99 at Woot, down from the normal price of $299.99. That's a 53% discount.

The best Amazon deals on March 6 include the 10th generation Apple iPad, Shark FlexStyle, Bose TV Speaker, and Samsung M8 smart monitor.

REI members can get a free 25-ounce Yeti Yonder water bottle in store on Sunday, March 9 when they spend over $100.

Viewers who solve the murder mystery at the heart of "Dreamcrusher" could win $100 thousand. The series premieres March 18 on streamer Reveel.

Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender face off in Steven Soderbergh and David Koepp's sexy and sophisticated spy thriller "Black Bag." Review.

Alef Aeronautics' 'real' flying car is set for mass production