To give AI-focused women academics and others their well-deserved — and overdue — time in the spotlight, TechCrunch is launching a series of interviews focusing on remarkable women who’ve contributed to the AI revolution. We’ll publish pieces throughout the year as the AI boom continues, highlighting key work that often goes unrecognized. Read more profiles here. … Read more
Net neutrality’s long trip toward (then away from, then toward again, then away, and now once more toward) federal protections against broadband meddling may be entering its final chapter, either to die forever or be enshrined in law — depending, like so many things, on the outcome of the election in November. If Biden wins … Read more
OpenStack allows enterprises to manage their own AWS-like private clouds on-premises. Even after 29 releases, it’s still among the most active open-source projects in the world and this week, the OpenInfra Foundation that shepherds the project announced the launch of version 29 of OpenStack. Dubbed ‘Caracal,’ this new release emphasizes new features for hosting AI … Read more
Ford announced Thursday that it’s delaying the production of two electric vehicles, a next-generation EV pickup and a three-row EV SUV. The pair are now slated to arrive in 2026 and 2027, delays of one and two years respectively. In their place, the automaker will be introducing hybrids across its U.S. lineup. Ford’s CEO has … Read more
Bitkraft Ventures — a games investor based out of Denver, Colorado, but with European founders — has raised its third fund, coming in at $275 million. The fund will make seed and Series A investments in gaming studios, and platforms to support game production. The moves comes at a time when games investments have actually … Read more
Reuters reported on Thursday that Google’s parent company, Alphabet, is exploring the possibility of buying Boston-based HubSpot, a CRM and marketing automation company with a market cap of over $33 billion – a number that has been climbing on those reports. If such a deal were to happen, the cost would likely be pretty substantial, … Read more
Every year, Time Magazine issues a list of the 200 best inventions of the past 12 months. Frankly, I don’t know how the editors do it. The dirty secret of this job is that true, game-changing inventions rarely cross your desk. In fact, you’re extraordinarily lucky if you average one a year. Oculus’ Rift prototype … Read more
X is warning users they may see a reduction in their follower counts as the company attempts to clear the network of some spammers and bots in a large sweep. Via an announcement published by X’s Safety account, the company on Thursday will begin a “significant, proactive initiative” to eliminate accounts that violate X’s rules … Read more
TechCrunch Early Stage 2024 is gearing up to showcase the next wave of innovation. Among the standout finalists for the highly anticipated “So You Think You Can Pitch” segment are three groundbreaking startups ready to make their mark. These finalists represent diverse sectors, from social media to civic tech to sustainable energy solutions, and beat … Read more
The second half of Y Combinator’s Winter 2024 cohort presented on Thursday, once again bringing dozens and dozens of new startups before a chunk of the venture investing community. As we did on Wednesday, a number of the TechCrunch crew watched the entire run of presentations, picking out a handful of favorites to highlight. Enjoy … Read more