Tech

Just south of Seoul, in the city of Seongnam, sits what many call the “Silicon Valley of South Korea”: the sprawling tech complex known as Pangyo Techno Valley (PTV), which is just a 15-minute subway ride from Gangnam, better known for its luxury boutiques, K-pop agencies, and neon nightlife in Seoul. Since launching in 2011, the 661,000-square-meter development has evolved …

Former Vice President Al Gore’s latest project gives polluters nowhere to hide. The nonprofit Climate Trace, which Gore co-founded, on Wednesday launched a tool that uses AI to track fine particulate pollution from more than 660 million sources worldwide. Many people are aware that burning fossil fuels warms the planet, but fewer know that burning them creates fine particulate matter …

OpenAI announced on Tuesday that it plans to build five new AI data centers across the United States with partners Oracle and SoftBank through its Stargate project. The new data centers will bring Stargate’s planned capacity to seven gigawatts — enough energy to power more than five million homes. Three of the new sites are being developed with Oracle. They’re …

The space economy isn’t just about rockets and satellites — it’s about infrastructure, autonomy, and entirely new models for building and defending off-Earth assets. At TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, happening October 27–29 at San Francisco’s Moscone West, the Space Stage is where this shift gets real. If you’re ready to explore how next-gen tech meets the cosmos, grab your ticket before …

Is the grass greener on the other side? We’re not sure, but the sky is most certainly bluer. It’s been over two years since Elon Musk purchased Twitter, now X, leading people to set up shop on alternative platforms. Mastodon, Post, Pebble (two of which have already shuttered operations) and Spill have been presented as potential replacements, but few aside …

Google Search is bringing its AI Mode feature — its AI-powered search experience — to Spanish-speaking users, the company announced on Tuesday. This expansion will introduce Google’s conversational search interface to a broader market, allowing users to ask questions using natural language queries, engage in back-and-forth conversations, upload images, dig deeper on complex topics, and more. The Spanish-language rollout comes …

This is not California state Senator Scott Wiener’s first attempt at addressing the dangers of AI. In 2024, Silicon Valley mounted a fierce campaign against his controversial AI safety bill, SB 1047, which would have made tech companies liable for the potential harms of their AI systems. Tech leaders warned that it would stifle America’s AI boom. Governor Gavin Newsom …

As Google’s project manager for developer tools, Ryan Salva has a front-row seat to the ways AI tools are changing coding. Formerly of Github and Microsoft, he’s now responsible for tools like Gemini CLI and Gemini Code Assist, nudging developers into the new world of agentic programming. His team released new third-party research on Tuesday showing how developers actually use …

Disney is raising the price of Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions once again. Starting October 21, many of the streaming services’ standalone plans and bundles will see price increases. The Disney+ standalone plan with ads will increase by $2 to $11.99 per month, while the no-ads Disney+ Premium plan is increasing by $3 to $18.99 per month. The Disney+ Premium annual …

Rapido, a popular ride-hailing platform in India that competes with Uber, has doubled its valuation to $2.3 billion following a secondary share sale by food delivery giant Swiggy. The share sale comes just weeks after Rapido began piloting food deliveries, edging into Swiggy’s core territory. Swiggy has offloaded its entire 12% stake in Rapido for ₹24 billion (about $270 million) …