DeepSeek has gone viral. Chinese AI lab DeepSeek broke into the mainstream consciousness this week afterits chatbot app rose to the top of the Apple App Store charts. DeepSeeks AI models, which were trained using compute-efficient techniques,have led Wall Street analystsand technologists to question whether the U.S. can maintain its lead in the AI race [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

David Sacks, Trumps AI and crypto czar, said in an interview on Fox on Tuesday that theres substantial evidence that Chinese AI company DeepSeek distilled knowledge from OpenAIs AI models, a process that Sacks compared to theft. Sacks, who didnt cite the source of this evidence, suggested that DeepSeek used responses from OpenAI models to [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Hype around DeepSeek sent the stock price of several Chinese companies soaring, but proof of their ties to DeepSeek is non-existent. 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Safety is often overlooked in the rush to bring humanoid robots to the workplace. As high-profile corporations ranging from retailers like Amazon to carmakers such as Mercedes and BMW have announced humanoid pilots for factories and warehouses, conversations around worker safety are regularly buried beneath industry hype. One Bay Area-robotics firm is hoping to correct [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

EV owners of GM vehicles like the Chevrolet Silverado EV and Cadillac Lyriq will now officially have access to Teslas Superchargers. 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Indie bookstore backer Bookshop.org launched an e-book platform on Tuesday, making it easier for readers to buy e-books without padding Jeff Bezoss pockets. For years, Amazons chokehold and sway in the publishing industry have been so strong that authors and booksellers have accused the company of operating a monopoly. Amazon is dominant in the sale [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Barely a week after DeepSeek released its R1 reasoning AI model which sent markets into a tizzy researchers at Hugging Face are trying to replicate the model from scratch in what theyre calling a pursuit of open knowledge. Hugging Face head of research Leandro von Werra and several company engineershave launched Open-R1, a [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Openvibes clever app that integrates multiple open social networks including Bluesky, Mastodon, Nostr, and Threads, just got a boost toward its future development. The company on Tuesday announced that it has received outside investment of $800,000 in a round led by Czech Founders VC, which includes backing from WordPress.com and Tumblr parent company, Automattic, as [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt called for the United States to ramp up open-source AI efforts to address the rise of DeepSeek in a Washington Post op-ed published Tuesday. Just last year, Schmidt said America was two or three years ahead of China. But DeepSeeks rise marks a turning point for the global AI race, [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

DeepSeek, a Chinese AI lab, has Silicon Valley reeling with its R1 reasoning model, which it claims uses far less computing power than those of American AI leaders and, its open source. The DeepSeek app has shot to the top of the App Store charts this week, dethroning ChatGPT. But who is Liang Wenfeng, [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Alphabet-owned autonomous vehicle company Waymo might be planning to test a feature that will allow robotaxi riders to add a tip that will go to the charity of their choice after a ride. Jane Manchun Wong, a security researcher who recently hacked the display dome on top of a Waymo vehicle, found the new tip [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

U.C. Berkeley spinout Ambi Robotics announced Tuesday the arrival of AmbiStack, a novel system that automates pallet packing. The system features an industrial robotic arm mounted above a conveyer belt that moves along the X and Y axes and lifts boxes up via suction cups mounted to a gripper. Once lifted from the conveyer belt, [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

UK documents show that the UKs Department of Business and Trade spent five years convincing Andreessen Horowitz to create a presence in London, only for the US firm to leave 18 after launching an office, according to government documents obtained by Sifted. In 2023, a16z launched a crypto office in London, deeming the crypto environment [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Geek Ventures is raising a Fund II, according to a recent SEC filing. The firm, founded in 2021 by Ihar Mahaniok, focuses on investing in early-stage immigrant founders. Mahaniok immigrated to the U.S. from Belarus and spoke to TechCrunch a few years ago about how hard the venture ecosystem can be for immigrants. Talent is [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Amazon announced Monday it has picked the North England town of Darlington as the first site for its planned U.K. drone-delivery expansion. Amazon was expected to expand Prime Air to the U.K. and Italy in 2024. After missing that initial target, the company opted to not share a timeline for this latest launch. Instead, the [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Waymo robotaxis have become a common sight on Los Angeles surface streets. Now those driverless vehicles are heading to the citys network of freeways. The Alphabet-owned autonomous vehicle technology company said Tuesday it will begin testing its fleet of robotaxis on the Los Angeles freeway system, including Interstates 10, 110, 405, and 90. These robotaxis [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech! This week were looking at the story behind the sale of Divvy Homes, Ramps new product, some notable fundraising deals, and more! To get a roundup of TechCrunchs biggest and most important fintech stories delivered to your inbox every Tuesday at 8:00 a.m. PT, subscribe here. The big story Last week, [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Falls are common for older people living semi-independently. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), theyre the leading cause of injury for adults aged 65 and up. On average, about 10% of these falls are serious, requiring medical attention. Yet many fall victims dont get the treatment they need. George Netscher, a [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Google Play is rolling out Verified badges for select VPN apps to make it easier for users to find trust services. Apps with the badge prioritize user privacy and safety, Google said in a blog post on Tuesday. The badge indicates that the developers of an app have adhered to the Play safety and security [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

There are a number of projects now underway that are focused on developing a video-first app for the open source social network Bluesky. However, one stands out from the rest: An upcoming app called Reelo isnt building on top of the Bluesky social network, as so many others are, but is building on the underlying [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Boom Supersonics XB-1 demonstrator plane just went supersonic in the skies over Californias Mojave desert, making it the first civil aircraft to break the sound barrier. The American startups plane notched the historic achievement in its twelfth test flight. It cleared Mach 1 and stayed supersonic for around four minutes, reaching Mach 1.1. Test pilot [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Jetify, the company formerly known as Jetpack.io, is launching its first AI agent product Tuesday. Dubbed Testpilot, the companys first AI agent is meant to make the majority of the routine test creation process a matter of simply letting Jetify create a test plan, execute it, and report back, all while the agent directly interacts [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

General Motors expects to save up to $1 billion annually by ending its Cruise robotaxi development program, CEO and Chair Mary Barra said Tuesday during the companys earnings call. The estimate comes nearly two months after the automaker said it would no longer fund Cruise, its self-driving subsidiary that aimed to commercialize robotaxis. GM has [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Quibim, a Spanish startup thats developing foundational AI models for medical imaging spanning oncology, immunology, neurology, and metabolic disorders, has raised $50 million in a Series A round of funding. The cash injection comes as AI makes ever deeper inroads into healthcare, spanning everything from drug discovery to clinical trials. Quibim, for its part, is [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

The zero-day bug was fixed in iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple TVs, Apple Watches and Vision Pro headsets. 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

AI dev platform Hugging Face has partnered with third-party cloud vendors including SambaNova to launch Inference Providers, a feature designed to make it easier for devs on Hugging Face to run AI models using the infrastructure of their choice. Hugging Face says partners including Fal, Replicate, Together AI, and the aforementioned SambaNova have worked with [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Elon Musk-owned social network X announced a partnership with Visa to handle person-to-person payments for its upcoming X Money product. The company will use Visa Direct, which is Visas solution for real-time money transfers, to load money into X Moneys wallet, connect to a debit card for paying other users, and transfer money back to [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

The edtech giant is notifying state attorneys general about the breach but wont say how many individuals have been affected 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

In a week dominated by headlines about Chinas growing AI competitiveness, OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Gov. The new version of the AI-powered chatbot platform is designed to provideU.S. government agencies an additional way to access the tech. ChatGPT Gov includes many of the capabilities found in OpenAIs corporate-focused tier, ChatGPT Enterprise. Using the platform, agencies [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Quantum computing remains something of a holy grail in the world of technology: it promises a huge leap in computing power, but only if someone can figure out how to square away the fault rates that prevent any scaling of the tech. Now, one of the more promising quantum startups in Europe is announcing a [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Owners of the electric Lucid Gravity SUV will gain access to Teslas Supercharging network starting January 31. The Gravity is Lucids second vehicle model in its lineup after its flagship Air sedan series, and the first to be built with charge ports compatible with Teslas NACS (North American Charging Standard) charge plugs.Lucid Air owners will [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Audio streaming company Spotify said Tuesday that it paid $10 billion to the music industry last year. The company added that it has given nearly $60 billion in industry payouts since its inception. This is another effort from Spotify to dispel reports that the company doesnt reward artists properly for their work. The key point [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

While the adoption of IP (intellectual property) blockchain and tokenization of assets is still in its early stages, more creatives in the entertainment industry are embracing what is called tokenized storytelling. This approach enables fans to participate in story development, contributing elements such as characters and plot that can be tokenized and owned [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

The engineering and automation contractor for the U.S. government said the hackers encrypted some of the company's files. 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Atomicwork has raised $25 million in a Series A round co-led by Khosla Ventures and Z47 to expand its AI agentic platform for enterprises. 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Helion's unorthodox approach to fusion power and relative secrecy has earned it plenty of fans and critics. But dont count its investors among the naysayers. 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Microsoft is rolling out a new tool dubbed scareware blocker, which uses machine learning and computer vision to identify a very pervasive type of online scam. Scareware has blighted the web almost since its inception, often in the form of fake antivirus software that claims to have detected a non-existent threat on a users machine. [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Quick-commerce startup Zepto has moved its domicile to India from Singapore, joining a growing number of Indian startups that have moved their headquarters home ahead of an IPO in the country. The transition marks the fastest shift of registered headquarters to India by a startup in the country, according to Zeptos chief financial officer Ramesh [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Barcelona-based business travel management platform TravelPerk has raised $200 million at a hefty $2.7 billion valuation almost double the $1.4 billion valuation at its previous fundraise last year. Alongside the raise, TravelPerk also announced it has acquired Swiss startup Yokoy to bring native expenses management into the fray. With the travel and tourism industry [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Google will rename the Gulf of Mexico and Alaskas Denali mountain in Google Maps once a federal mapping database reflects changes ordered by the Trump Administration, the company announced Monday. Google is complying with an executive order issued last week by President Donald Trump that changed the names of several American landmarks. The executive order [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and Siddhartha Mukherjee, cancer researcher and author of the book The Emperor of All Maladies, have co-founded an AI-powered drug discovery startup, Manas AI. The company, which will initially focus on breast cancer, prostate cancer, and lymphoma, has raised $24.6 million in seed funding from Hoffman, General Catalyst, and Greylock. Manas [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

The tech industry's reaction to AI model DeepSeek R1 has been wild.Pat Gelsinger, for instance, is elated and thinks it will make AI better for everyone. 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

SonicWall said the bug is confirmed as being actively exploited in the wild by malicious hackers. 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Quartz, the international business news outlet, has been quietly aggregating reporting from other outlets, including TechCrunch, in order to publish AI-generated articles under the byline Quartz Intelligence Newsroom. Quartz started publishing simple AI-generated earnings reports months ago, but beginning last week, the outlet moved on to short articles. One of the 18 AI-generated articles published [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Here's a step-by-step guide on how to turn off and disable Apple Intelligence from your devices. 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Chinese AI lab DeepSeek has released an open version of DeepSeek-R1, its so-called reasoning model, that it claims performs as well as OpenAIs o1 on certain AI benchmarks. R1 is available from the AI dev platform Hugging Face under an MIT license, meaning it can be used commercially without restrictions. According to DeepSeek, R1 beats [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup, became the talk of the proverbial AI town when it released its R1 model on Friday. R1s functionality and accuracy compared to its U.S. counterparts, despite using fewer resources and less compute power, seems like a win for the overall AI industry. But it isnt necessarily good news for everyone. [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Chinese AI lab DeepSeek might be getting the bulk of the tech industrys attention this week. But one of its top domestic rivals, Alibaba, isnt sitting idly by. Alibabas Qwen team on Monday released a new family of AI models, Qwen2.5-VL, that can perform a number of text and image analysis tasks. The models can [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Researchers at Cornell University on Monday showcased a pair of bio-inspired robotics running on a hydraulic fluid-powered battery. The redox flow battery (RFB) also mimics biological functions, as it releases electrolytic fluids, which dissolve to create energy through chemical reaction. The first two robots on display are a modular worm and a jellyfish, designed by [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

The number of machine identities is booming thanks to the growth of cloud and AI and its posing real security problems by giving hackers way more entry points than ever before. For example, a 2023 hack of authentication app Okta was caused by exploiting a service account while in 2024, Microsoft disclosed a major [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.