Silicon Valley bets big on ‘environments’ to train AI agents

Impulse Space wants to ignite a revolution in in-space logistics.

Altman's first fund, raised in early 2024, was $150 million. So this is a big step up, too.

Tesla is recalling an unspecified number of Powerwall 2 home batteries in Australia after receiving reports of fires.

TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, has been at the center of controversy in the U.S. for four years now due to concerns about user data potentially being accessed by the Chinese...

The round, which brought the two-year-old startup’s total funding to $88 million, was led by Scale Venture Partners.

The app will allow people to use an Alt + Space shortcut to instantly search for information from their computer files, installed apps, Google Drive files, and the web.

Though the month is only half over, Gemini's app has already gained 12.6 million downloads in September, up from 8.7 million in August.

While largely ceremonial, it's an important step for a project that has dealt with a lot of uncertainty the last few years. Rivian R2 SUVs will roll off the line in 2028.

“I’m as guilty of doomscrolling as the next person, but knowing that doomscrolling is actually costing me money makes me feel dumb,” Yang told TechCrunch.

Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana takes the Disrupt Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 (Oct 27–29, SF) to share the realities of scaling autonomous vehicles — from safety to regulation to the road ahead.

Figure said the funding will be used to scale the company’s fleet of humanoid robots, build the necessary infrastructure to accelerate robot training, and launch advanced data collection efforts.  

Waymo has spent years locked in back-and-forth negotiations with SFO, the biggest airport serving its home base of Silicon Valley.

Under the new policy, ChatGPT will be trained to no longer engage in "flirtatious talk" with underage users, and additional guardrails will be placed around discussions of suicide.

The Galaxy phone maker said it was notified in August that hackers are actively exploiting the security flaw to target Samsung customers.

Fourth Power has raised $20 million to build a demonstration version of its thermal batteries, which ultimately could store electricity at $25 per kWh.

Both companies are seeing a strong future of digital avatars for different kinds of videos, including training, marketing, and sales.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received nine reports from owners who couldn't access their cars, including from parents whose children were stuck inside.

YouTube teases new AI-powered tools for turning podcasts into video clips, even if they're audio-only.

YouTube announced new features for livestreaming, such as letting creators play mini-games, AI-powered highlights, and more.

YouTube is bringing a custom version of Google's text-to-video generative AI model, Veo 3, to Shorts, along with a new remixing tool, an "Edit with AI" feature, and more.