Rivian has revealed the first $10 million worth of grants from the Rivian Foundation, three years after the EV maker vowed the philanthropy would receive 1% of its equity to make the “natural world” a “stakeholder in our success.” The company launched Monday a website for the foundation that details 41 grantees who will collectively … Read more
Eighteen months ago, Ford triggered a transformation when the U.S. automaker locked in a deal to give owners of its EVs access to the Tesla Supercharger network. In a stunning shift, automaker after automaker — from GM and Hyundai to Rivian and Mercedes — followed suit. By the end of 2023, nearly every major automaker … Read more
Customers of Kaspersky antivirus in the United States found out in the last few days that their cybersecurity software was automatically replaced with a new one called UltraAV, according to several customers who posted on social media. And some of the customers said they had no idea this was going to happen. “Woke up to … Read more
X will soon change the functionality behind its block button so that if you block an account, they will still be able to see your public posts, according to changes to X’s website spotted by independent app researcher Nima Owji. Elon Musk confirmed these changes on Monday, noting that blocked accounts will still not be … Read more
Microsoft made waves last week when it announced a deal with Constellation Energy to restart a nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island to meet its surging data center power needs, bucking the power source’s seemingly terminal decline. In the last decade, seven nuclear reactors have been decommissioned in the U.S., while only two new ones … Read more
Founder mode? Pffft. Who needs that when you can be the father of creation, ushering in a new age of humanity? Welcome to “god mode.” Sam Altman, the CEO of the AI startup headed for a $150 billion valuation, OpenAI, has historically pitched AI as the solution to the world’s problems, despite its significant impact … Read more
California Governor Gavin Newsom is currently considering 38 AI-related bills, including the highly contentious SB 1047, which the state’s legislature sent to his desk for final approval. These bills try to address the most pressing issues in artificial intelligence: everything from futuristic AI systems creating existential risk, deepfake nudes from AI image generators, to Hollywood … Read more
Hello and welcome back to TechCrunch Space. I wanted to flag once again that the final agenda for the Space Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt is now live. I’ll be pushing this event for the next few weeks, given that we’re just a bit over a month away! We’d love for you to join us. Want … Read more
From Keith Rabois to Ethan Kurzweil, a lot of VCs have switched firms or spun out of storied VC institutions to launch their own funds this year. These employment changes are surprising because unlike in many other fields, venture capitalists don’t traditionally move around very much — especially those who reach the partner or general … Read more
OpenAI’s official press account on X appears to have been compromised by the same cryptocurrency scammers who compromised the accounts of company leadership in previous months. Late Monday afternoon, OpenAI Newsroom, an account OpenAI recently created to spotlight product- and policy-related announcements, posted about a supposedly new OpenAI-branded blockchain token, “$OPENAI.” “We’re very happy to … Read more