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Self-driving truck startup Waabi’s billion-dollar fundraise isn’t just about trucks. The deal, for $750 million up front plus another $250 million from Uber tied to deployment milestones, marks a major expansion into robotaxis for the company founded by former Uber AI chief Raquel Urtasun. It also feels like another chip from Uber on the autonomous vehicle roulette table. With more than 20 AV partners worldwide, the question isn’t just whether Waabi can deliver on its plans to deploy over 25,000 robotaxis, but whether Uber’s bet-on-everything strategy actually works. Watch as Equity podcast hosts Kirsten Korosec, Sean O’Kane and Anthony Ha discussed Uber’s AV partnership strategy, why Waabi’s “simulation-first” approach might be different, and…
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Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin is pausing its space tourism flights for “no less than two years” in order to focus all of its resources on upcoming missions to the moon, the company announced Friday. The decision puts a temporary halt on a program that Blue Origin has been using to fly humans past the Kármán line, the recognized boundary of space, for the last five years. Blue Origin made the announcement just a few weeks ahead of the expected third launch of its New Glenn mega-rocket, which is slated for late February. The company had previously suggested it…
At WIRED, we recommend a bunch of Nomad accessories for a variety of gadgets, such as your smartphone, tablet, earbuds, and smartwatch. But it can get expensive—it’s the price you pay for luxury. If you’ve been holding out for a sale, you’re in luck. The company is currently offering discounts on a variety of items, including iPhone cases, iPad cases, wireless chargers, and more. Right now, you can get up to 80% off by using the links above. You’ll find a lot of the accessories on sale in our Best iPhone 16 Cases guide, Best Apple 3-in-1 Wireless Chargers guide,…
The viral personal AI assistant formerly known as Clawdbot has a new name — again. After a legal challenge from Claude’s maker, Anthropic, it had briefly rebranded as Moltbot, but has now settled on OpenClaw as its new name. The latest name change wasn’t prompted by Anthropic, which declined to comment. But this time, Clawdbot’s original creator Peter Steinberger made sure to avoid copyright issues from the start. “I got someone to help with researching trademarks for OpenClaw and also asked OpenAI for permission just to be sure,” the Austrian developer told TechCrunch via email. “The lobster has molted into…
Sometimes, eating makes me feel like Sisyphus. Every day, I must toil up the mountain and the rock to figure out what the heck I want to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I tested Factor meals earlier this year, and they’re a solid option if you’re the type of person that doesn’t want to fuss over your food. With expansive menus and an emphasis on tracking macros and nutrition, you can simply pick out your meals, get them delivered, and then reheat them in the microwave or oven when it’s time to eat.Texture eaters might not love Factor’s meals,…
OnlyFans — the massive adult creator network where performers and influencers sell subscription-based content directly to fans — is considering selling a majority stake of its business to investment firm Architect Capital, a source close to the deal told TechCrunch. The deal would value the platform at $5.5 billion. The source said that of that $5.5 billion, $3.5 billion would be equity and $2 billion would be debt. Under those terms, Architect would assume a 60% stake in the business. The two parties are in exclusivity, meaning that OnlyFans is barred from negotiating with other potential buyers for a set…
When you wake up the next morning, before you’ve had anything to eat or drink, you spit into a little vial. Then you prick your fingertip with the provided mini lancet, which didn’t hurt at all. You fill four minivettes (think tiny turkey basters) from the little drops of blood that form on your fingertip. Once that’s accomplished, you get to have an awkward poop. The kit comes with a little paper hammock that sticks to the seat of your toilet and hangs down a little.Poop on it, and then you use the provided scoop to select a little ball…
From the street, the only indication I’ve found Physical Intelligence’s headquarters in San Francisco is a pi symbol that’s a slightly different color than the rest of the door. When I walk in, I’m immediately confronted with activity. There’s no reception desk, no gleaming logo in fluorescent lights. Inside, the space is a giant concrete box made slightly less austere by a haphazard sprawl of long blonde-wood tables. Some are clearly meant for lunch, dotted with Girl Scout cookie boxes, jars of Vegemite (someone here is Australian), and small wire baskets stuffed with one too many condiments. The rest of…
I still have some complaints, starting with the TV’s relentless pursuit of Samsung’s ad-based TV service, Samsung TV Plus. The service launches by default during startup, forcing me to sweep through the Advanced Settings and turn it off under Startup Options. Even then, it kept turning on The Fairly Odd Parents on startup, eventually seeming to stop on its own.Tizen also apparently auto-scans for OTA antenna channels, leaving me confused about how to rescan, while the S90F’s lack of ATSC 3.0 support means you won’t get next-gen channels with features like HDR. One final oddity is that the TV’s HDMI…
Kofi Ampadu, the partner at a16z who led the firm’s Talent x Opportunity (TxO) fund and program, has left the firm, according to an email he sent to staff that TechCrunch obtained. This comes months after the firm paused TxO and laid off most of its staff. “During my time at the firm, I was deeply grateful for the opportunity and the trust to lead this work,” Ampadu wrote in the email, sent Friday afternoon, with the subject line “Closing My a16z Chapter.” “Identifying out-of-network entrepreneurs and supporting them as they sharpened their ideas, raised capital, and grew into confident…
Compare the Top 6 Beard TrimmersFrequently Asked QuestionsHow We Test and Evaluate Beard TrimmersAccordionItemContainerButtonA beard grows about a millimeter every two or three days—an eighth of an inch a week, on average. So testing beard trimmers can take a long time.In general, we test each beard trimmer once a beard has grown out enough for a good trim—using at least two cutting lengths. Weight and balance matters, and so does the blade’s ability to get to the awkward areas around the neck. We check the trimmer’s ability to function as a shaver, whether for balding or on the neck.Our testers…
This week has been another revolving door of hires and promotions at brands, from chief marketing officer (CMO) appointments to marketing restructures.We’re rounding up the U.S. and global marketing leadership moves you should know about for the week ending Jan. 30.– Having named Asad Ayaz as its first chief marketing and brand officer earlier this month, Disney has confirmed his direct marketing chief reports in the new structure. Ron Faris will oversee Disney consumer products; Scott Hudgins will be responsible for Disney experiences; Martha Morrison will head up marketing for the entertainment Studios; Shannon Ryan will be responsible for entertainment television, including Disney+…
Instagram is developing a feature that will allow users to remove themselves from someone’s “Close Friends” list, Meta told TechCrunch on Friday. The company says the feature is still in the early stages and is not being tested publicly yet. The social network’s Close Friends feature lets users share Stories, Reels, and posts with a select group of people, rather than their entire follower base. Since the feature’s launch in 2018, users haven’t been able to remove themselves from someone else’s Close Friends list. The internal prototype was first spotted by reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi, who specializes in finding unreleased…
Brandon Herrera, a prominent gun influencer with over 4 million followers on YouTube, said in a video posted this week that while it was unfortunate that Pretti died, ultimately the fault was his own.“Pretti didn’t deserve to die, but it also wasn’t just a baseless execution,” Herrera said, adding without evidence that Pretti’s purpose was to disrupt ICE operations. “If you’re interfering with arrests and things like that, that’s a crime. If you get in the fucking officer’s way, that will probably be escalated to physical force, whether it’s arresting you or just getting you the fuck out of the…
In Dove’s Super Bowl 60 ad, girls march to their own beat. Literally. The beauty brand is returning to the Big Game with a 30-second ad encouraging joy and confidence at a time when half of girls quit sports by age 14 due to low body confidence.For the third consecutive year, Dove will use its spot to show what happens when we support girls to focus on what their bodies can do, not how they look. Its 2026 commercial, “The Game is Ours,” which was created by Ogilvy, opens with a young athlete looking in the mirror as text reads:…