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Renowned AI scientist Yann LeCun confirmed on Thursday that he had launched a new startup — the worst-kept secret in the tech world — though he said he will not be running the new company as its CEO. His startup is called Advanced Machine Intelligence (AMI) and has hired Alex LeBrun, co-founder and CEO of medical transcription AI startup darling Nabla, as its CEO. Nabla disclosed LeBrun’s new job in a press release and LeCun confirmed it in a brief post on LinkedIn. “Yes, AMI Labs is my new startup. I’m the Executive Chairman. And Alex LeBrun is transitioning from…
The hardware world had a brutal week, with iRobot, Luminar, and Rad Power Bikes all filing for bankruptcy. Each company faces its own mix of tariff pressures, supply chain issues, and shifting markets, but together they tell a larger story about the challenges of building physical products in an era of global trade tensions and cheap overseas competition. From the Roomba maker that almost got acquired by Amazon to the e-bike company that couldn’t escape its Chinese supply chain, this week’s bankruptcies are a warning sign for hardware startups everywhere. Today on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Anthony Ha, Rebecca Bellan,…
The Justice Department on Friday released proof the feds had been warned about Jeffrey Epstein’s predatory behavior toward teenage girls decades ago, at the same time saying law enforcement needed more time to be fully transparent about investigations into the financier’s abuse. Amidst thousands of documents released by the DOJ in accordance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act Friday was an FBI complaint accusing the deceased financier of seeking out and possessing child pornography in 1996. The complaint was filed by Maria Farmer, one of the first women to speak out about Epstein, who has long claimed the feds could…
The latest update to the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service has added Rayman 2: The Great Escape and Tonic Trouble to the list of Nintendo 64 games in the Nintendo Classics library. Switch Online subscribers willing to pay $50 per year instead of $20 per year get access to everything available in the base tier plus free DLC and a selection of exclusive games reserved for the Expansion Pack. Some of the highest-rated games ever made were released for the Nintendo 64, and so for many nostalgic gamers, the Switch Online Expansion Pack is worth it. While it started off…
After a year of unexpected turbulence for crypto markets, 2026 could mark a turning point driven by regulatory clarity, accelerating stablecoin adoption and an improving macroeconomic backdrop, according to a new outlook from Coinbase Institutional.In its 70-page report, Coinbase Institutional said digital assets have evolved “from a niche market to an emerging pillar of global market infrastructure,” even as price volatility and uneven liquidity defined much of 2025. Looking ahead, Coinbase’s institutional arm expects clearer global regulatory frameworks to provide stronger policy guardrails, supporting innovation and long-term market maturation.Rather than another retail-driven boom-and-bust cycle, 2026 is framed as a year…
As the new year draws closer, eyes are turning to Wall Street to see whether it will pull off the coveted Santa Claus rally. The so-called rally — coined by Yale Hirsch, founder of the Stock Trader’s Almanac, in 1972 — occurs between the last five trading days of the year and the first two of the new year. In this case, that would be from the opening bell on Dec. 24 until the second trading day of 2026, or Jan. 5. Since 1950, the S & P 500 has recorded an average gain of 1.3% over the course of…
In its latest effort to address growing concerns about AI’s impact on young people, OpenAI on Thursday updated its guidelines for how its AI models should behave with users under 18, and published new AI literacy resources for teens and parents. Still, questions remain about how consistently such policies will translate into practice. The updates come as the AI industry generally, and OpenAI in particular, faces increased scrutiny from policymakers, educators, and child-safety advocates after several teenagers allegedly died by suicide after prolonged conversations with AI chatbots. Gen Z, which includes those born between 1997 and 2012, are the most…
Celeste Amadon and Asher Allen were working on an app that used AI to book restaurants for dates when they stumbled on a bigger idea that encourages people to meet in person. And now it’s catching on with investors. The duo created a voice-powered AI onboarding system for their app that helped them learn more about users without them having to fill out a form. What they discovered: People loved to talk, and that increased the length of the onboarding session with the app clocking 26 minutes on average. That is how San Francisco-based dating startup Known was born. “Our…
It’s all hands on deck at Meta, as the company develops new AI models under its superintelligence lab led by Scale AI co-founder, Alexandr Wang. The company is now working on an image and video model codenamed “Mango” along with a new text-based model internally known as “Avocado,” The Wall Street Journal reported. The tech giant plans to release the new models in the first half of 2026, the publication said, citing an internal Q&A at Meta on Thursday, where Wang and chief product officer Chris Cox unveiled the new roadmap. Wang had said Meta aims to make the text-based…
OpenAI is in talks to raise up to $100 billion in a funding round that could value the ChatGPT maker at up to $830 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing anonymous sources. The company is aiming to raise the funding by the end of the calendar first quarter next year, and it may ask sovereign wealth funds to invest in the round, the WSJ reported. The Information first reported news of the deal, though it said the fundraise would land OpenAI a $750 billion price tag. The funding would come as OpenAI commits to spend trillions of dollars…