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Showing posts from October, 2026

Can AI data centers be mass-produced like cars? This startup aims to find out

Runware is building a factory to turn out prefabricated AI data centers on an assembly line. The real test will be whether it can deliver at that scale. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/qeRZoOi via IFTTT

Waymo taps Toyota to supply robotaxis for Japan and the UK

Waymo will begin testing self-driving versions of Toyota's electric bZ4X vehicles in Japan next year as part of a broader partnership with the automaker. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/qQsCiu3 via IFTTT

You don’t need to believe in a god to get a religious exemption from using AI at work

David Durman, a University of Kentucky administrator, recently earned a religious exemption from using AI in the workplace. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/OTEIalm via IFTTT

I'm 30 but get mistaken for 15. Looking young may seem great, but it's made my professional life and job hunt harder.

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Although many people think it's great to look young, I've found it's created challenges for me. Courtesy of Ayman Eckford I'm 30 years old, but I look young and am often mistaken for being half my age. This has made it difficult for me to feel like I'm being taken seriously in professional settings. Oftentimes, when I apply for jobs or go to the office, I try to make myself look older . "Have you just started studying?" a tall, smiling man in a suit asked me. Although I was in a university building, I wasn't there as a student. I was struggling to find a conference room for a work-related meeting — one that, I soon realized, he was also attending. Of course he was. "Oh, you just look so much younger ," he said after he realized we were colleagues. Maybe it was a compliment, but it didn't feel like one to me. I have countless examples of people perceiving me as half my age, from movie-theater cashiers trying to sell me children's ticke...

What is a neocloud, and why is the market suddenly freaking out about them?

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Investors are worried that funding could be scarce for neoclouds and that AI investment could slow down, hurting their business outlook. Erik Isakson/Getty Images The neocloud panic has rattled a key part of the AI trade lately. "Neocloud" encompasses cloud computing providers that primarily focus on AI services. The subsector has plunged recently amid broader funding concerns and fears AI investment may slow down. What the heck is a neocloud ? It's a question you might have asked yourself while parsing headlines about growing investor panic in the space in the last few week. Concerns have been quietly building in recent months, but only recently escalated to the level of major market risk, resulting in a rout that's spilled over into the AI and chips sectors. The Roundhill Neocloud ETF is now down around 31% since its inception this summer. The sector briefly sold off again on Monday, spooked by bearish comments from Elon Musk , before reversing course to edge highe...

Grok releases the first seven minutes of its AI-generated ‘Odyssey’

The footage looks okay, as long as you're not seeking artistry, inspiration, or human interest. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/ighcM2q via IFTTT

‘Cyberselfish’ author takes aim at Silicon Valley libertarians as her book returns from the dead

"That's a 12-year-old view of the world." from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/EgCdfzV via IFTTT

Trump on high gas prices: 'We're making a freaking fortune'

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President Donald Trump said on Saturday that American oil companies were making a fortune on the Iran war. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images Trump said on Saturday that American oil companies are making a "fortune" on the Iran war. Americans, however, are paying record prices at the pump, according to AAA. Trump made the comments less than two weeks from the midterm elections. Though regular Americans are paying more at the pump , US oil companies are striking it rich, President Donald Trump said on Saturday. Speaking at a rally in Georgia, Trump said that oil prices are "temporarily high," but added that the throttling of the Strait of Hormuz has pushed oil buyers to American companies with operations in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. "The United States oil and gas business is making hundreds of billions of dollars," Trump said. "I don't give a damn, I'm going to say it — we're making a freaking fortune." Indeed, a Q2 report this year fro...

My husband and I moved abroad in our 50s after deciding there was no perfect time to relocate

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Leslie Hodgin and her husband moved to the Netherlands in January 2026. Leslie Hodgin Leslie Hodgin and her husband had dreamed of moving abroad. They finally took the leap in January, deciding not to waste time in their 50s. Hodgin said the move was expensive and time-consuming, but she's been happy with their relocation. This story is based on an interview with Leslie Hodgin, a 55-year-old marketing consultant who moved from the US to the Netherlands with her husband, John Lyman, 52. It has been edited for length and clarity. Until 2026, I was living in Richmond, Virginia, with my husband and our cat. My dad was in the Army, so I grew up all over the world, but Richmond is my adopted home. I lived there for about 10 years. During that time, I got an offer to move to Seoul, South Korea, for my marketing job. My husband, John, and I were dating at the time. We got married one week before moving to Seoul for two years. After the contract ended, we returned to the States. I love Ric...

Peter Thiel says Apple has done 'nothing new' after Steve Jobs

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Peter Thiel said that after Steve Jobs died in 2011, Apple hasn't innovated. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Peter Thiel said Apple hasn't innovated since the iPhone. Thiel said Tim Cook hasn't taken the company in new directions. The billionaire venture capitalist said eccentric CEOs like Elon Musk "are way better for society." Peter Thiel, evidently, isn't a fan of the iPhone Duo . In fact, the billionaire PayPal cofounder and tech investor said he hasn't been very impressed with much of anything that Apple has done since its eccentric founder, Steve Jobs, died of cancer in 2011. "In my telling, it did nothing new after Jobs," Thiel said of the iPhone maker in a September interview with author Walter Isaacson for the "Builder's Podcast," which was released on Thursday. "It turned out, yeah, the mobile phone was this giant invention — there was not that much more to do," he said. "Then it was just scaling and branding a...

Will AI expose the rickety infrastructure of the internet?

The moment you realize the internet is "held together by glue and dreams." from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/ewkm6RD via IFTTT

My dad is 75. He told me our annual family trips make him feel like he still has a future.

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The author travels with her parents and her family. Courtesy of the author My 21-year-old son wanted to visit a lively beach club during our family vacation. I never expected my parents, both in their 70s, to get up and dance to ABBA. Seeing their joy reminded me that getting older doesn't mean giving up new experiences. My 75-year-old dad told me he'll feel like he's closer to dying if our annual family vacations stop. He's not ready for that. Neither am I. It stopped me in my tracks and frankly scared me a little . While I know my parents are aging, I haven't begun thinking about life without them, and I found myself spending the rest of the vacation looking through this new lens. For the last 12 years, my husband, my parents, my son, and I have traveled all over the world on an annual multigenerational trip . And while the sights have been spectacular, what struck me most on this last vacation is just how much each of us has grown to value these trips. I'm i...

The AI graveyard: a running list of projects and startups that didn’t make it

From Apple's repeatedly delayed Siri AI to OpenAI's messy "super app" launch, here's a look at the AI projects that shut down or missed expectations. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/gRZTJM4 via IFTTT

These 26 current US House representatives were born outside the US

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Reps. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) were born outside the US. Getty Images The US House of Representatives has 435 members, each representing a state congressional district. US representatives do not need to be natural-born citizens in order to take office. See the 26 current representatives born outside the US. Similar to the US Senate , members of the House of Representatives do not need to be natural-born citizens in order to take office. In fact, the only members of government who do are the president and vice president. The House of Representatives, one of the two chambers of Congress alongside the Senate , has 435 voting members. They represent congressional districts allocated among the states based on population and serve two-year terms with no term limits. To qualify as a US House representative, a person must be: At least 25 years old A US citizen for at least seven years. Live in the state they want to represent at the time of the election. Many current...

From Toast to Bessemer: Who founders will hear from at TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026 

Hosted by TechCrunch in partnership with Fidelity Private Shares, the full-day event goes beyond fundraising and AI to explore the realities of finding customers, building teams, sharpening a pitch, developing founder leadership, and scaling companies both inside and outside traditional startup hubs. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/8hP2pyu via IFTTT

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says mathematicians have already gone from 'we're cooked' to accepting AI

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Sam Altman says mathematicians are coming around after OpenAI upended mathematics. Bloomberg/Getty Images OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and mathematicians have a complicated relationship. OpenAI has taken credit for solving hundreds of math problems, irking many mathematicians. At a recent talk at Stanford, Altman said mathematicians have already gone from anger to acceptance. Like someone in mourning, Sam Altman said mathematicians went through phases after OpenAI began its blitz into the field. First, there was disbelief. Then, there was pain. "The day one reaction was like, 'We're cooked, and our field is over,'" OpenAI's CEO said. "'We're telling our grad students to switch majors.'" After that, there was anger. "The day three reaction was maybe like: 'It's horrible that OpenAI did this,'" Altman said at a recent talk at Stanford, before hundreds of students jittery about the viability of their future careers. Come day ...

While Amazon blocks AI agents, Walmart rolls out the welcome mat

As Amazon blocks AI agents from shopping on its site, Walmart is taking the opposite approach, introducing new technology that lets AI agents make purchases on customers' behalf, with controls over spending and transaction approvals. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/sqmwdc1 via IFTTT

Legal AI startup Legora raises $550M Series E at $8.8B valuation

Legal AI startup Legora announced Wednesday that it raised a $550 million Series E round, valuing it at $8.8 billion.  from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/aqwC8Mo via IFTTT

This new food delivery service is trying to take on DoorDash and Uber Eats by offering no menu markups

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Restaurant software company Olo is launching a delivery app. Bloomberg/Getty Images Restaurant software provider Olo is launching a delivery app. Olo will offer the same menu prices for delivery that in-person visitors get, it said. Other delivery services often mark up order prices. A new food delivery service is taking aim at menu mark-ups — and some entrenched rivals Restaurant ordering software company Olo is launching its own customer-focused app, it said on Tuesday. The app puts it in competition with more established delivery companies, such as DoorDash and Uber Eats . On Olo's app, customers will see the same prices that restaurants charge in-person patrons, the company said. By contrast, third-party delivery services often charge customers higher menu prices than diners would get at a restaurant. Offering in-store prices can save customers between 15% and 30%, Olo said. "It's a better experience for consumers and a more sustainable model for restaurants, with no ...

ChatGPT now lets you lock your chats

The company says the feature is designed for situations where users might be discussing something personal or planning a surprise and want to keep those conversations private when handing their device to friends or family to show them something in another chat. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/vyQ3n2q via IFTTT

New York has been losing young families to cheaper suburbs. Now the city is expanding free childcare.

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced 10,000 more free 2-K seats. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images Mayor Zohran Mamdani is expanding NYC's free 2-K program, adding 10,000 more seats across the city. New York's under-five population dropped post-pandemic, spurred by high childcare and housing costs. For parents to comfortably afford childcare in New York, they need to make $300,000. As families flee cities across the country in search of more affordable housing and childcare, New York City is angling to keep its youngest residents. On Monday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced that 10,000 more seats under his signature free childcare for two-year-olds program will be covered in fall 2027. Under the expansion, all of the Bronx and Staten Island's school districts will be eligible. "For far too many New York City families, the joy of welcoming a child comes with a terrifying set of questions: How will I afford child care? Will I need to give up my job? Will I be forc...

Tenstorrent hits $6.2B valuation to scale open-weight AI chips

After drawing acquisition interest earlier this year, the Nvidia challenger raised $1.5 billion to remain independent. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/lr8WTKu via IFTTT

I was annoyed by my neighbor's noise. Months later, I'd helped raise $80,000 for her care.

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Heidi Widmer now helps her neighbor, who has Parkinson's. Courtesy of Heidi Widmer Heidi Widmer is a 35-year-old who moved into an apartment building in Los Angeles in July. For the first two weeks, she heard a loud sound from the apartment above and was annoyed. She found out the noise was being made by her neighbor, who has Parkinson's. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Heidi Widmer. It has been edited for length and clarity. In July, I moved into an apartment in Los Angeles , exhausted from a six-day drive across the country from New York. All I wanted to do was get into the apartment and sleep, and luckily, my bed had been delivered on the same day I arrived. Trying to fall asleep at 2 a.m., all I could hear was a loud noise coming from the apartment upstairs . It sounded as if someone was bowling. Although I was tempted to shout for them to be quiet, I held my tongue — I was the new neighbor and didn't want to be difficult. But the noise just didn...

Paris business owners take stock as riots sweep the city: 'They'd taken everything'

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A wine store in Paris was emptied of all its products during riots on Saturday. Nathan Rennolds/Business Insider Paris erupted as protests turned to riots and masked looters ransacked stores on Saturday. Small business owners took stock of what they'd lost on Sunday. "When I got back, they'd taken everything," one store owner told Business Insider. "When I got back, they'd taken everything." That's what one shopkeeper in Paris told me as she cleared debris from her store after major cost-of-living protests turned violent across parts of France. Chaotic scenes unfolded on Saturday as rioters clashed with police and set vehicles and trash bins alight before masked marchers began to ransack businesses, including in the trendy Marais shopping district. After hundreds of arrests and a tense, momentary calm on Sunday morning, more violence broke out Sunday evening as black-clad rioters dragged debris into streets and set it aflame. Employees at a boutique...