Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Rainmaker Technology’s bid to deploy cloud-seeding flares on small drones is being met by resistance from the airline pilots union, which has urged the Federal Aviation Administration to consider denying the startup’s request unless it meets stricter safety guidelines. The FAA’s decision will signal how the regulator views weather modification by unmanned aerial systems going…

With Tesla shareholders set to vote on a proposed 10-year, $1 trillion compensation package for CEO Elon Musk in November, board chair Robyn Denholm spoke to The New York Times to defend what would be the largest pay package in corporate history. Denholm, who was also on the special committee that put the compensation proposal…

Hike, once one of India’s most valuable startups with unicorn status, has become the latest casualty of New Delhi’s recent real-money gaming ban, with the company — led by Kavin Bharti Mittal, son of Airtel founder Sunil Bharti Mittal — now shutting down. On Saturday, Hike founder Mittal (pictured above) said that the startup’s U.S.…

President Donald Trump made countering immigration one of his flagship issues during last year’s presidential campaign, promising an unprecedented number of deportations.  In his first eight months in office, that promise turned into around 350,000 deportations, a figure that includes deportations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (around 200,000), Customs and Border Protection (more than 132,000),…

Investors took a cautious approach to transit software startup Via’s IPO on Friday, with shares opening below the company’s IPO price before recovering at the end of the day slightly higher.  The company, which initially filed confidentially for IPO in July, priced its IPO at $46 per share, raising $492.9 million. Those shares slipped to…

The all-electric Ram 1500 REV pickup truck is dead. Long live the extended-range Ram 1500 REV (once called the Ramcharger). Stellantis, the parent company of Ram, said Friday that it will no longer develop a battery-electric full-size pickup. The company cited low demand for full-size battery-electric trucks as the primary reason, according to a statement…

TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 hits Moscone West in San Francisco on October 27–29, and if you’re aiming for big funding goals, then leaning in on this session on October 29 at the Builders Stage is essential. Three powerhouse voices in venture and AI-driven innovation will share what it really takes to close major rounds — long…

The countdown is on: The application to host a Side Event at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 closes tonight at 11:59 p.m. PT. If you’ve been considering a way to amplify your brand during the week’s tech epicenter, now is the time to lock it in. Your Side Event could be the dinner everyone’s still talking about,…

OpenAI announced Thursday it reached a non-binding agreement with Microsoft, its largest investor, on a revised partnership that would allow the startup to convert its for-profit arm into a public benefit corporation (PBC). The transition, should it be cleared by state regulators, could allow OpenAI to raise additional capital from investors and, eventually, become a…

California has taken a big step toward regulating AI. SB 243 — a bill that would regulate AI companion chatbots in order to protect minors and vulnerable users — passed both the State Assembly and Senate with bipartisan support and now heads to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk. Newsom has until October 12 to either veto…