Category: Uncategorized

  • Google is replacing Google Assistant with Gemini

    Google will replace Google Assistant on Android phones with Gemini later this year, the company announced on Friday. Google said in a blog post that it’ll upgrade more users from Google Assistant to Gemini “over the coming months.” Later this year, Assistant will no longer be accessible on most mobile devices or available from app… Read more

  • ‘Open’ model licenses often carry concerning restrictions

    This week, Google released a family of open AI models, Gemma 3, that quickly garnered praise for their impressive efficiency. But as a number of developers lamented on X, Gemma 3’s license makes commercial use of the models a risky proposition. It’s not a problem unique to Gemma 3. Companies like Meta also apply custom,… Read more

  • Testing the Uber-Waymo robotaxi, Rivian goes hands-free, and Travis Kalanick has AV FOMO 

    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! For regular readers of TechCrunch Mobility, you may be wondering, “Why did this newsletter land in my inbox on Friday?” Folks, we’re moving days in an effort… Read more

  • AT&T technician Mark Klein, who exposed secret NSA spying, dies

    Klein, a former AT&T technician turned whistleblower, exposed mass surveillance by the U.S. government in 2006. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Read more

  • Tern AI’s low-cost GPS alternative actually works

    We’ve all experienced that moment of frustration when the GPS glitches and you miss an exit on the highway. The team at Tern AI, which is building a low-cost GPS alternative, says that’s because the current technology is limited by its reliance on satellite positioning.  Tern AI says it has figured out how to locate… Read more

  • How ‘The Electric State’ team created a world of unlikely robots

    The new Netflix movie “The Electric State” depicts a world full of robots — but not robots as we know them. Directed by brothers Anthony and Joe Russo (who previously helmed two Avengers blockbusters, “Infinity War” and “Endgame”) for a reported budget of $320 million, “The Electric State” takes place in an alternate version of… Read more

  • China is reportedly keeping DeepSeek under close watch

    China appears to think homegrown AI startup DeepSeek could become a notable tech success story for the country.  After DeepSeek’s sudden rise to fame in January with the release of its open “reasoning” model, R1, the company is now operating under new, tighter government-influenced restrictions, according to The Information. Some of the company’s employees have… Read more

  • Startups Weekly: Founders may be raising less, but deals haven’t been lacking

    Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. This week showed more optimism among startups than in other corners of the world, with entrepreneurs feeling confident enough to acquire other companies, raise fresh funding, and… Read more

  • Arizona proposes law that would shift wildfire liability from utilities to insurers

    Arizona lawmakers are debating a bill that would protect utilities from wildfire-related lawsuits, a move that would likely send shockwaves through the insurance industry.  The bill would make it harder to prove that utilities are to blame for wildfires started by faulty or poorly maintained equipment while also limiting damages. In exchange for reduced liability,… Read more

  • No one knows what the hell an AI agent is

    Silicon Valley is bullish on AI agents. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said agents will “join the workforce” this year. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella predicted that agents will replace certain knowledge work. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said that Salesforce’s goal is to be “the number one provider of digital labor in the world” via the company’s… Read more