Tech

Earlier this year, Anker, the Chinese company that makes Eufy security cameras, offered its users money in exchange for videos of packages and car thefts.  The popular internet-connected security camera maker said it would pay its customers $2 per video to train its AI systems to help better detect thieves who steal cars and packages.   “To ensure we have enough …

SB 53, the AI safety and transparency bill that California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law this week, is proof that state regulation doesn’t have to hinder AI progress.   So says Adam Billen, vice president of public policy at youth-led advocacy group Encode AI, on today’s episode of Equity.  “The reality is that policy makers themselves know that we have to do something, and they know from working on …

Tilly Norwood is a London-based actress with about 40,000 Instagram followers. Also, she’s not real — she is an AI-generated character created by Xicoia, the AI division of the production company Particle6. Eline Van der Velden, the Dutch producer who founded Particle6, introduced the idea of Norwood at the Zurich Film Festival in September. Van der Velden is currently seeking …

On Tuesday, a new SPAC from VC and All-In podcast host Chamath Palihapitiya became a public company. Dubbed with the lofty name “American Exceptionalism,” it raised $345 million with a mission to acquire one or more startups in the fields of energy, AI, crypto/DeFi, or defense, then convert those companies into publicly-traded entities. But Palihapitiya wants retail investors to know: …

Character.AI received a cease-and-desist letter from Disney, urging the chatbot company to remove Disney characters from among the millions of AI companions on its platform, Variety reports. The company allows users to generate AI chatbots that can range from real people like Elon Musk to fictional characters like Hermione Granger, plus users’ own original creations. These chatbots can be quite …

The footage was striking: A food delivery worker scrambles with his e-bike across a bridge in Chicago, chased by a cadre of armed, masked federal agents. “Get him!” one yells, before the worker ultimately slips away. The viral clip became a rallying point this week for critics of President Donald Trump’s deportation machine, which has spread to multiple U.S. cities …

California just made history as the first state to require AI safety transparency from the biggest labs in the industry. Governor Newsom signed SB 53 into law this week, mandating that AI giants like OpenAI and Anthropic disclose, and stick to, their safety protocols. The decision is already sparking debate about whether other states will follow suit.  Adam Billen, vice …

In a video on OpenAI’s new TikTok-like social media app Sora, a never-ending factory farm of pink pigs are grunting and snorting in their pens — each is equipped with a feeding trough and a smartphone screen, which plays a feed of vertical videos. A terrifyingly realistic Sam Altman stares directly at the camera, as though he’s making direct eye …

Exit planning is no longer optional — it’s an essential conversation on the Going Public Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, happening October 27–29 at San Francisco’s Moscone West. Whether you’re already eyeing a liquidity event or just starting to scale, this is your chance to hear what top VCs and operators are looking for and how to set up your …

New York City regulators have extended Waymo’s autonomous vehicle testing permit through the end of the year, the company said Wednesday.   The permit was initially granted in August to allow Waymo to test its robotaxis in the city until the end of September. The terms of the extended permit are the same: Waymo can deploy up to eight of its Jaguar I-Pace vehicles in Manhattan and …