Author: Editor-in-Chief

Ask Starpath CEO Saurav Shroff his thoughts on America’s space priorities and he’ll say we’re “one order of magnitude high on cost and one order of magnitude low on ambition.” Starpath answer, at least to part of the problem, is ultra-low-cost space power, which is generated by solar panels. Starpath’s new space-rated solar panel business kicked off sales in the U.S. on September 25 with an eyebrow-raising pitch. The company says its solar panels, called “Starlight,” are priced around 10 times cheaper than typical industry pricing of $75-250 per watt, roughly a 90% cost reduction versus the status quo. There…

Audio streaming service TuneIn announced on Thursday a collaboration with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to deliver emergency alerts directly to drivers. TuneIn is now compatible with the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), FEMA’s national system that delivers verified local alerts and critical emergency information to the public. Through this integration, drivers in affected geographic areas will receive real-time alerts from local, state, tribal, and federal agencies, including warnings about extreme weather, natural disasters, and other urgent emergencies. The alerts are prioritized by severity. For instance, minor threats activate brief notifications, whereas more critical situations disrupt the…

Hardware startup Nothing said Thursday that it plans to make its affordable device brand, CMF, into an independent subsidiary, with India serving as its headquarters for manufacturing and R&D. The company first launched CMF in 2023 with a pair of earbuds and a smartwatch. Since then, it has introduced smartphones under the brand as well. Nothing said that it is partnering with Indian ODM (original design manufacturer) Optiemus to create a joint venture for manufacturing. While the startup didn’t reveal the ownership structure of this venture, it said that it aims to invest more than $100 million over the next…

Zoox has asked federal regulators for an exemption that would allow the Amazon-owned autonomous vehicle company to commercially deploy its custom-built robotaxis, which lack traditional controls like pedals and a steering wheel. The exemption request was first reported by Bloomberg. A Zoox spokesperson confirmed that it has submitted a petition for a “555 exemption” and continues to work closely with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration through this new exemption process. An NHTSA spokesperson told TechCrunch that Zoox applied for a temporary exemption from eight Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards applicable to its passenger car equipped with an automated driving…

The Trump administration might be fond of calling the energy transition the “green new scam,” but that isn’t stopping it from seeking a significant stake in what promises to be the largest lithium mine in the Western Hemisphere. In exchange for renegotiating the repayment period of a $2.26 billion Department of Energy loan, the Trump administration is asking for as much as 10% equity in Lithium Americas, a company in which GM is a major investor. Reuters first reported the news Tuesday. “President Trump supports this project. He wants it to succeed and also be fair to taxpayers,” a White…

Microsoft is leaning into its new partnership with OpenAI’s chief rival, Anthropic. Starting Wednesday, the software giant will incorporate Anthropic’s AI models into its AI assistant Copilot, which has previously been fueled mainly by OpenAI. The deal signals yet another step toward the slow disentangling between the erstwhile exclusive partners, and comes a couple of weeks after Microsoft inked a deal to use Anthropic’s AI in Office 365 apps like Word, Excel, and Outlook. Copilot business users will be able to choose between OpenAI’s deep reasoning models and Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.1 and Claude Sonnet 4 for help with certain…

Oracle is reportedly looking to raise funds just weeks after the company inked a historic AI infrastructure deal with OpenAI. Cloud infrastructure giant Oracle is looking to raise $15 billion through corporate bond sales, according to reporting from Bloomberg, citing sources. The sale could include up to seven different parts, with the potential for one said part to be an uncommon 40-year bond, Bloomberg reported. TechCrunch reached out to Oracle for more information. This report comes just a few weeks after Oracle reportedly signed a sizable deal with OpenAI to supply the AI research lab with $300 billion worth of compute. Questions of how either side was going to pay for such a deal came shortly after. The company is also reportedly in talks with…

The AI Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, happening October 27-29 in San Francisco, is officially locked and loaded, featuring the powerhouses shaping the future of artificial intelligence. Join the leaders from Character.AI, Hugging Face, Mercor, Runway, Wayve, and many more top tech voices as they tackle everything from generative AI and developer tools to autonomous vehicles, creative machines, and national security. Founders will get a first look at the technologies defining the next wave of innovation and will hear the strategies, lessons, and insights directly from the teams building them. Want a front-row seat to the future of AI in…

The U.K.’s National Crime Agency (NCA) said on Wednesday that a man was arrested in connection to the ransomware attack that has caused delays and disruptions at several European airports since the weekend. The hack, which began Friday, targeted check-in systems provided by Collins Aerospace, causing delays at Brussels, Berlin, and Dublin airports, as well as London’s Heathrow, which lasted until yesterday. While the NCA did not name the arrested man, the agency said he is “in his forties” and that he was arrested in the southern county of West Sussex on Tuesday under the country’s Computer Misuse Act “as…

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 that kills as many as 10 million people every year. “For some time, I’ve been trying to bring more attention to the global public health crisis that’s related to what some refer to as conventional air pollution, or PM2.5,” Gore…