Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Do A.I. chatbots packaged inside cute-looking plushies offer a viable alternative to screen time for kids? That’s how the companies selling these A.I.-powered kiddie companions are marketing them, but The New York Times’ Amanda Hess has some reservations. She recounts a demonstration in which Grem, one of the offerings from startup Curio, tried to bond…

A federal judge has granted a preliminary injunction blocking the Federal Trade Commission’s investigation into left-leaning advocacy group Media Matters. Back in 2023, Media Matters published research showing ads from major companies had appeared alongside antisemitic and other offensive content on Elon Musk-owned X. When major advertisers subsequently pulled back from the platform, X sued…

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) said he intends to investigate whether Meta’s generative AI products exploit, deceive, or harm children, after leaked internal documents showed the company’s chatbots were allowed to have “romantic” and “sensual” chats with children.  “Is there anything – ANYTHING – Big Tech won’t do for a quick buck?” Hawley wrote in a…

Another crypto company is headed for the public markets. This time, it’s Gemini Space Station Inc., the New York-based crypto exchange and custodian bank founded by billionaire twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. The outfit, which plans to list on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol GEMI, was founded in 2014 and operates as…

James Showalter describes a pretty specific if not entirely implausible nightmare scenario. Someone drives up to your house, cracks your Wi-Fi password, and then starts messing with the solar inverter mounted beside your garage. This unassuming gray box converts the direct current from your rooftop panels into the alternating current that powers your home. “You’ve…

I’m looking out at Alcatraz Island from a Mediterranean restaurant in San Francisco with hundred-dollar fish entrees on the menu. As I make small talk with other reporters, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman jumps through the door on my left. Altman’s looking down at his bare iPhone to show us all something, and an intrusive thought…

Two years after launching, social network Bluesky is revising its Community Guidelines and other policies, and asking for feedback from its users on some of the changes. The startup, a competitor to X, Threads, and open networks like Mastodon, says its new policies are meant to offer improved clarity and more detail around its user…

Set your alarms. Bookmark this page. Refresh like your future depends on it. After reviewing thousands of groundbreaking applications from around the globe, TechCrunch is just days away from announcing the 2025 Startup Battlefield 200 — our handpicked cohort of the most promising early-stage startups set to take the stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 this…

Is the grass greener on the other side? We’re not sure, but the sky is most certainly bluer. It’s been over two years since Elon Musk purchased Twitter, now X, leading people to set up shop on alternative platforms. Mastodon, Post, Pebble (two of which have already shuttered operations) and Spill have been presented as…

The Trump administration continues to meddle with semiconductor giant Intel. The U.S. government is reportedly in discussions to take a stake in Intel, according to reporting from Bloomberg. This deal would be structured to help the company expand its U.S. manufacturing efforts, including its much-delayed Ohio chip factory. This news comes less than a week…