TechCrunch

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• Fortnite plans return to the US iOS App Store next week

  Epic Games’ mega-popular Fortnite is returning to the US iOS App Store next week after a surprising ruling in a years-long legal battle with Apple. The dispute between Epic and Apple began in 2020, when Apple removed Epic Games from the iOS store. Because Apple takes 30% of all in-app purchases, Epic had introduced support […]

• Aurora launches commercial self-driving truck service in Texas

  Autonomous vehicle technology startup Aurora Innovation says it has successfully launched a self-driving truck service in Texas, making it the first company to deploy driverless, heavy-duty trucks for commercial use on public roads in the U.S.  The launch comes just as Aurora hits its deadline: in October, the company delayed its planned 2024 debut to […]

• MoviePass explores a daily fantasy platform for film buffs

  MoviePass, the startup that made its mark with its movie theater subscription service, has always been known for shaking things up, and its latest venture is no exception.  The company announced on Thursday the beta launch of Mogul, a new daily fantasy entertainment platform designed specifically for the Hollywood industry.  To understand what Mogul is, […]

• Google is reportedly showing ads in chats with some third-party AI chatbots

  Google’s AdSense advertising network started supporting ads inside users’ chats with some third-party AI chatbots earlier this year, Bloomberg reported. The company is rolling out the feature following tests with AI search startups iAsk and Liner, the report said, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter. “AdSense for Search is available for websites that want […]

• WhatsApp now has more than 3 billion users a month

  WhatsApp now has more than 3 billion people using it every month, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg noted during the company’s Q1 results conference call on Wednesday. Founded in 2009 and acquired by Facebook for $19 billion in 2014, WhatsApp remains free to use and doesn’t serve any ads. The app reached the 2 billion monthly […]

• From tech pioneers to ‘extremists’: Belarusian founders face exile and statelessness

  In 2013, Tatyana Marynich and Anastasiya Khamiankova opened the doors to Imaguru, a startup hub in Minsk, Belarus that would go on to launch some of Eastern Europe’s most prominent tech success stories. A decade later, they’ve been sentenced ‘in absentia’ to a combined 23 years in prison by Belarusian authorities. Their property has been […]

• Tesla’s board reportedly sought a successor while Musk wheeled around Washington

  According to a new, brow-raising WSJ report, Tesla’s board quietly began searching for Elon Musk’s potential successor about a month ago, approaching executive search firms as the carmaker faced protests, plummeting sales, and shrinking profits while Musk waded into Washington to slash government spending. Board members reportedly met with Musk to express concerns about his […]

• Microsoft’s most capable new Phi 4 AI model rivals the performance of far larger systems

  Microsoft on Wednesday launched several new “open” AI models, the most capable of which is competitive with OpenAI’s o3-mini on at least one benchmark. As it says on the tin, all of the new permissively licensed models — Phi 4 mini reasoning, Phi 4 reasoning, and Phi 4 reasoning plus — are “reasoning” models, meaning […]

• Sam Altman’s World unveils a mobile verification device

  Tools for Humanity, the startup behind the World human verification project co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, unveiled Wednesday a mobile device designed to help people determine the difference between a human and an AI agent. Rich Heley, Tools for Humanity’s Chief Device Officer and a former Apple director, debuted the Orb Mini device during […]

• World partners with Tinder, Visa to bring its ID-verifying tech to more places

  World, the biometric ID company best known for its eyeball-scanning Orb devices, on Wednesday announced several partnerships aimed at driving sign-ups and demonstrating the applications of its tech. World is partnering with Match Group, the dating app conglomerate, to verify the identities of Tinder users in Japan using World’s identity verification system. Additionally, World has […]