Tech

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified in court on Wednesday in a landmark trial aiming to determine if the tech giant’s social media applications are addictive and harmful to teens and kids. The trial, taking place in L.A. Superior Court, already revealed that Meta’s own research indicated that parental supervision couldn’t prevent teens from compulsive use of social media, and teens …

SoftBank subsidiary SB Energy is expected to build a massive 9.2 gigawatt natural gas-fired power plant on the Ohio-Kentucky border, according to a report from Bloomberg. If completed, it would be the largest power plant in the U.S., capable of powering around 7.5 million homes. With a price tag of $33 billion, the project would be more expensive than recent …

OpenAI is nearing a deal to raise more than $100 billion at a valuation that could exceed $850 billion, Bloomberg reports, citing sources familiar with the matter.  The deal comes as the ChatGPT-maker burns through cash as it inches towards profitability. To that end, OpenAI has said it has started testing ads in ChatGPT for free users, a gamble that …

A new app called Current is rethinking the RSS reader, aiming to offer a reading experience that feels more like dipping into a stream of news, and less like a task to be completed. In doing so, the app could make using RSS feeds to consume news and information a more approachable experience for those who aren’t consuming news for …

Last year’s Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition was significant for a few reasons. It was the final major first-party Switch game ahead of the Switch 2’s arrival in June, and the last doomed Wii U game to be granted a second life on Nintendo’s infinitely more successful console. Nearly a year on, a Switch 2 update for one of the most …

Sex toy maker Tenga notified customers of a data breach on Friday, according to an email obtained by TechCrunch. In the message, the Japanese company said that “an unauthorized party gained access to the professional email account of one of our employees,” which gave the hacker access to the contents of the employee’s inbox. This access potentially allowed the hacker …

A student admissions website used by families to enroll children into schools has fixed a security lapse that was exposing their personal information. The website, Ravenna Hub, which lets parents apply and track the status of their kids’ applications across thousands of schools, was allowing any logged-in user to access the personally identifiable data associated with any other user, including …

Rivian has a new pitch for its outdoorsy, tech-loving customers: Ditch the phone and use your Apple Watch to access vehicle controls. The company said on Thursday it plans to launch a companion app that pairs with the Apple Watch as part of a broader update to the Rivian mobile app next week. Rivian owners will be able to perform …

There came a point when Newton Asare realized AI agents weren’t just tools anymore. “They were operating more like teammates,” he told TechCrunch.  The realization crystallized when Asare and Kiran Das, both serial founders, noticed they were using AI agents to perform tasks they usually would have done themselves. Asare said he came to believe that the future lay in …

OpenAI is partnering with Reliance to add AI-powered conversational search to the Indian conglomerate’s streaming service JioHotstar. The feature, which is powered by OpenAI’s API, will let users search for movies, shows and live sports using text and voice prompts in multiple languages, and receive recommendations based on their preferences and history. OpenAI has recently expanded its footprint in India, …