5 reasons to attend TC Early Stage 2024

TechCrunch Early Stage 2024 isn’t just another tech startup event — it’s the destination for early-stage startups to get hands-on, actionable insights to scale their business directly from expert leaders. Here are five amazing reasons why you need to mark your calendar for April 25 and secure your spot at this groundbreaking event in Boston. […]

US think tank Heritage Foundation hit by cyberattack

Conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation said on Friday that it experienced a cyberattack earlier this week. A person with knowledge of the cyberattack told TechCrunch that efforts at Heritage were underway to remediate the cyberattack, but said that it wasn’t immediately known what, if any, data was taken. Politico, which first reported the news […]

India’s Exponent Energy brings 15-minute charging to passenger three-wheelers

India is getting an electric three-wheeler passenger vehicle that charges from 0 to 100% in 15 minutes. The launch of the new EV — a collaboration between auto manufacturer Omega Seiki Mobility and battery-tech startup Exponent Energy — comes amid India’s ambition to electrify 80% of all its three-wheelers by 2030 in an effort to […]

WhatsApp trials Meta AI chatbot in India, more markets

WhatsApp is testing Meta AI, its large language model-powered chatbot, with users in India and some other markets, signalling its intentions to tap the massive user base to scale its AI offerings. The company recently began testing the AI chatbot, until now available in testing in select markets including the U.S., with some users in […]

X is removing ability to hide checkmarks for premium users

Last year, Elon Musk-owned social network X rolled out a feature for paid users to hide their checkmarks from others. Now, the company is sending notifications to users saying that the feature will go away soon. Just like a lot of decisions taken by X, there is no definite timeline as to when the hide […]

OpenAI makes ChatGPT ‘more direct, less verbose’

ChatGPT, OpenAI’s viral AI-powered chatbot, just got a big upgrade. OpenAI announced today that premium ChatGPT users — customers paying for ChatGPT Plus, Team or Enterprise — can now leveraged an updated and enhanced version of GPT-4 Turbo, one of the models that powers the conversational ChatGPT experience. This new model (“gpt-4-turbo-2024-04-09”) brings with it […]

Hinge Health, a virtual physical therapist, lays off 10% of its workforce

Hinge Health, a 9-year-old company that offers a digital solution to treat chronic musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, has cut approximately 10% of its workforce on Thursday, TechCrunch has exclusively learned. The company said people who were laid off worked across various functions; according to employees posting on LinkedIn, some were engineers. Before the layoffs, Hinge had […]

Space Force tees up new ‘responsive space’ mission from Rocket Lab and True Anomaly

Rocket Lab and True Anomaly will attempt to deliver and operate space hardware for the military under intentionally tight time frames, as part of the Space Force’s push to solicit “tactically responsive” space capabilities from commercial companies. Each company will design and build a satellite capable of rendezvousing with other spacecraft in orbit at close […]

Ford’s hands-free BlueCruise system was active before fatal Texas crash

The driver of a Mustang Mach-E who crashed into a stationary car in Texas in February was using Ford’s hands-free driver assistance system, BlueCruise, according to data obtained by the National Transportation Safety Board. It’s the first known fatality resulting from a crash involving the use of BlueCruise, which Ford first announced in 2021. The […]

Internal pre-Starlink SpaceX financials show big spending on moonshot bets

Confidential financial statements from SpaceX for 2018 and 2019 capture an early glimpse at the degree to which the company is likely dependent on its Starlink business unit, and bringing the Starship rocket online, to become cash flow positive.  While the comprehensive balance sheets are five years old, they provide an intimate look inside the […]