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Meredith Whittaker, AI researcher and an organizer of last year’s Google walkout, is leaving the company Meredith Whittaker, founder of Google’s Open Research Group and one of the leaders of last year’s employee walkouts, is leaving the company. Google confirmed her departure, which wasfirst disclosed on Twitter by a Google engineer and reported by Bloomberg, but had no additional comment. TechCrunch has also contacted Whittaker for comment. Whittaker and another one […]
Pokmon GO battles will soon be less tappy, more Fruit Ninja-y At the end of last year, Pokmon GO finally got a player-versus-player battling system. While it was a very much welcomed addition, it has always seemed a bit… monotonous. It just requires so… much… tapping. You repeatedly tap the screen to make your Pokmon attack, simultaneously building up its “Charge” move with each tap. Once […]
Curve, the ‘over-the-top’ banking platform, raises $55M at a $250M valuation Curve, the London-based “over-the-top banking platform,” has raised $55 million in new funding. The startup lets you consolidate all of your bank cards into a single Curve card and app to make it easier to manage your spending and access other benefits. Curve’s Series B round is led by Gauss Ventures, the U.S.-based fintech investor, […]
What to expect from tomorrow’s antitrust hearing featuring big tech Tomorrow, representatives from Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple will testify before Congress in the second hearing organized as part of the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust investigation into the world’s largest technology companies. While the first hearing focused on the ways technology companies busted the traditional news business, this one promises to look at the “impact […]
Facebook snags former Vine GM to run product for its new experimental app division, NPE Team Is Facebook preparing to launch a serious competitor to TikTok? If so, the company just picked up some key talent to make that happen. Last week, Facebook announced plans for a new division, called the NPE Team, which will build experimental consumer-focused apps where it will try different ideas and features, then see how people […]
SpaceX and NASA detail cause of Dragon test failure, crewed flight this year looks ‘increasingly difficult’ SpaceX held a press conference on Monday to discuss the results of a months-long investigation conducted by itself and NASA into an anomaly that took place during a static fire test in April. The investigation found that the “anomaly” that occurred during the test was the result of oxidizer mixing with the helium component of […]
Computing pioneer and LGBT icon Alan Turing will grace the 50 note in 2021 Alan Turing, one of the pioneering figures in modern computing, and also a tragic one in LGBT history, will soon appear on the U.K.'s 50 note. He was selected from a shortlist of scientists and bright minds so distinguished that it must have made the decision rather difficult.
Why commerce companies are the advertising players to watch in a privacy-centric world The unchecked digital land grab for consumers’ personal data that has been going on for more than a decade is coming to an end, and the dominoes have begun to fall when it comes to the regulation...
UK-based women’s networking and private club, Allbright, raises $18.8 million as it expands into the U.S. AllBright, the London-based women’s membership club backed by private real estate investment firm Cain International, has raised $18.8 million to expand into the U.S. The company’s new round was led by Cain International and was designed to take AllBright into three U.S. locations — Los Angeles, New York, and Washington. The company said that the […]
Paige details first AI pathology tech with clinical-grade accuracy in new research paper Researchers associated with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and medical tech and computational pathology startup Paige have published a new article in the peer-reviewed medical journal Nature Medicinedetailing its artificial intelligence-based detection system for identifying prostate cancer, skin cancer and breast cancer, which the company says achieves “near-perfect accuracy.” The tech described in the article, […]
Dish’s AirTV launches an $80 streaming stick for accessing Sling TV, Netflix & broadcast channels Dish is expanding its hardware lineup today with the launch of a new 4K streaming stick, the AirTV Mini, designed to make it easier for cord cutters to access from one user interface its live TV service Sling TV, plus Netflix and over-the-air channels. The Android TV-powered device is meant to complement an existing setup […]
Blackstone is acquiring mobile ad company Vungle Private equity firm Blackstone just announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire mobile advertising company Vungle. The companies aren’t disclosing the financial terms, but as part of the transaction, Vungle has also reached a settlement with founder Zain Jaffer, who filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the company earlier this year. (Update: Multiple […]
On Prime Day, Amazon workers and immigrants’ rights organizations are protesting On the start of Amazon’s biggest sales event of the year, Amazon workers and activists are taking to the streets today in protest of the retail giant. Protests are planned for San Francisco, Minnesota, New York, Seattle and other locations across Europe. The biggest employee-led demonstration is happening in Shakopee, Minn., where Amazon warehouse workers […]
Quibi comedy from Thomas Lennon will focus on tech entrepreneur who takes over a winery Yet-to-launch streaming media startup Quibi has been keeping up a slate of announcements at a fever pace, and its latest is a show that sounds potentially relevant to TechCrunch’s audience. The series, which will be created, written, executive produced by and star Reno 911! alum Thomas Lennon, will follow a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who turns […]
The need-to-know takeaways from VidCon 2019 VidCon, the annual summit in Anaheim, CA for social media stars and their fans to meet each other drew over 75,000 attendees over last week and this past weekend. A small subset of those where entertainment and tech executives convening to share best practices and strike deals. Of the wide range of topics discussed in […]