TechCrunch is on the ground at SXSW 2025, the annual tech conference in Austin, to explore the latest trends and innovations in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). This year’s event highlights the practical applications of AI in various industries, from healthcare to transportation. With the likes of Uber and Waymo launching robotaxi services, the…
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The U.S. Department of Labor is investigating Scale AI, a data-labeling startup, for potential labor law violations. The investigation, which has been ongoing since August 2024, centers around the company’s classification of workers as contractors rather than employees. Scale AI has faced criticism and lawsuits from former workers alleging underpayment and misclassification. Forecast for 6…
Signal President Meredith Whittaker has sounded the alarm on the potential risks of agentic AI, warning that the technology could compromise user privacy and security. Whittaker, a vocal advocate for secure communications, expressed concerns that AI agents, which are designed to perform tasks on behalf of users, could access sensitive information and undermine the security…
Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, has acquired a 1 million-square-foot property in Southwest Memphis to expand its AI data center footprint. This move is part of xAI’s efforts to upgrade its primary Memphis-based facility, Colossus, to 1 million Nvidia GPUs. While this expansion is expected to boost AI innovation, it has also raised concerns about…
French AI developer Mistral has launched a new API, Mistral OCR, which enables developers to convert complex PDF documents into text files, making them easily ingestible by AI models. This multimodal API can detect and process illustrations, photos, and text within documents, outputting formatted Markdown files. The API is expected to simplify access to internal…
Mach Industries, a defense tech startup founded by 21-year-old Ethan Thornton, has landed a contract with the U.S. Army to develop a vertical takeoff precision cruise missile called “Strategic Strike.” The company also plans to build its first factory, Forge 1, in Huntington Beach, California, which will be one of many decentralized factories to support…
Signal, a privacy-focused messaging app, has seen a significant surge in popularity in the Netherlands, becoming the most downloaded free app on iOS and Android. The app’s growth can be attributed to a combination of factors, including growing awareness of privacy, distrust of big tech, and the political reality in the Netherlands. This shift in…
OpenAI has released GPT-4.5, its largest AI model to date, which boasts a deeper world knowledge and higher emotional intelligence. However, the model’s performance is mixed, and it falls short of newer AI reasoning models from Chinese AI company DeepSeek and Anthropic. The industry is holding its breath to see if GPT-4.5 will be a…
Microsoft has announced that it will be retiring Skype, a pioneering internet calling service, on May 5. The decision comes as the company shifts its focus to Teams, a platform that has gained significant traction in recent years. Skype users will have 10 weeks to migrate their data to Teams or download their information using…
The tech industry has seen a significant wave of layoffs in 2024, with over 150,000 job cuts across 542 companies. This trend is expected to continue in 2025, with major players like Google, Tesla, and Microsoft announcing further reductions. The impact of these layoffs on innovation and the job market is a pressing concern, with…