Privacy-focused messaging app Signal has been flying high in the Dutch app stores this past month, often sitting at the top as the most downloaded free app on iOS and Android across all categories, per data from multiple app-tracking platforms such as Sensor Tower. The app has experienced surges in popularity over the years, often…
President Donald Trump is throwing his support behind the creation of a federal reserve of cryptocurrency assets — initially highlighting XRP, Solana, and Cardano for inclusion, then later adding Bitcoin and Ethereum. In January, Trump issued an executive order calling for the formation of a working group that would study and make recommendations around crypto…
Artificial intelligence is a deep and convoluted world. The scientists who work in this field often rely on jargon and lingo to explain what they’re working on. As a result, we frequently have to use those technical terms in our coverage of the artificial intelligence industry. That’s why we thought it would be helpful to…
Welcome back to Week in Review. This week we’re diving into OpenAI’s newest, biggest model GPT-4.5, Microsoft pulling the plug on Skype, how Anthropic used Pokémon Red to train its Claude 3.7 Sonnet model, the unexpected return of Fyre Festival, and more! Let’s get into it. OpenAI announced the launch of GPT-4.5, the much-anticipated AI…
Researchers have developed small robots that can work together as a collective that changes shape and even shifts between solid and “fluid-like” states — a concept that should be familiar to anyone still haunted by nightmares of the T-1000 robotic assassin from “Terminator 2.” A team led by Matthew Devlin of UC Santa Barbara described…
Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Ben Horowitz has donated a fleet of Tesla Cybertrucks to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police, the department has confirmed to TechCrunch. The Cybertruck fleet is the latest entry in a list of gifts Horowitz has given to the Las Vegas police — a relationship TechCrunch revealed in detail late last year. The…
Since its founding in 2021, OpenAI Startup Fund has raised $175 million for its main fund and secured an additional $114 million through five separate special purpose vehicles, which are investment pools for specific opportunities. Unlike many sizable tech companies, OpenAI says it doesn’t use the company’s money to invest in startups. The ChatGPT maker…
SymbyAI, a SaaS platform that uses AI to streamline scientific research, announced a $2.1 million seed round with participation from Drive Capital and CharacterVC, among others. Launched just last year by Ashia Livaudais and Michael House, the platform provides organized workspaces for researchers to access papers, code, data, and experiences within one place. It helps…
Google co-founder Sergey Brin sent a memo to employees this week urging them to return to the office “at least every weekday” in order to help the company win the AGI race, The New York Times reports. Brin told employees that working 60 hours a week is a “sweet spot” for productivity. While Brin’s memo…
We’re barely a couple of months into 2025, but this year has already seen several data breaches affecting the personal information of millions of individuals, including everything from student records to phone data and sensitive health information. Last year, 2024, saw more than one billion records stolen. If the first two months of this year…