Billionaire founder of Luminar replaced as CEO following ethics inquiry
Austin Russell, who became a billionaire after his lidar startup Luminar went public, appears to be out as CEO, according to the company’s board. Luminar’s board announced Wednesday — the same day of its first-quarter earnings report — it had replaced Russell and appointed Paul Ricci to the role. Ricci
Read moreYouTube introduces an interactive product feed for shoppable TV ads
YouTube made its pitch to advertisers on Wednesday, accompanied by a flashy performance from Lady Gaga and special appearances from popular YouTubers like Brittany Broski and MrBeast. During its upfront presentation, YouTube executives introduced new ad formats coming to the platform, including an enhanced shoppable connected TV (CTV) offering that
Read moreYouTube targets TV dollars with NFL deal, bingeable ‘shows’ from creators
YouTube announced a range of initiatives designed to attract more TV ad dollars to its platform at Brandcast, its annual Upfront event for advertisers. Notably, the Google-owned video service is expanding its relationship with the NFL and plans to exclusively stream the NFL’s first Friday game of the 2025-2026 season.
Read moreYouTube viewers will start seeing ads after ‘peak’ moments in videos
Imagine you’re watching a highly anticipated video from your favorite YouTube creator — perhaps the moment a famous couple finally gets engaged — when an ad pops up immediately after the clip. This is part of YouTube’s new ad format called “Peak Points.” The company revealed the new ad format
Read moreMultiplying by quaternions on the left and right
The map that takes a quaternion x to the quaternion qx is linear, so it can be represented as multiplication by a matrix. The same is true of the map that takes x to xq, but the two matrices are not the same because quaternion multiplication does not commute. Let q = a + bi
Read moreThe latest Apple Maps update will bring out your bougie side
Apple Maps announced a collaboration with the MICHELIN Guide, The Infatuation, and Golf Digest to help users find recommended restaurants and golf courses in their area. Starting in the U.S., users will be able to filter their Maps searches to see restaurants with MICHELIN ratings, which denote exceptional dining experiences.
Read moreNetflix adds more live TV to its lineup
Netflix is adding more livestreaming content, the company announced at its Upfront presentation on Wednesday. The service, which now reaches over 94 million global monthly active users, has been steadily introducing live TV to its audience with sports content from WWE wrestling, comedy, and awards shows, and other special events
Read moreOpenAI brings its GPT-4.1 models to ChatGPT
OpenAI is releasing its GPT-4.1 and GPT-4.1 mini AI models in ChatGPT, the company announced in a post on X Wednesday. The GPT-4.1 models should help software engineers who are using ChatGPT to write or debug code, OpenAI spokesperson Shaokyi Amdo told TechCrunch. GPT-4.1 excels at coding and instruction following
Read moreWhite House scraps plan to block data brokers from selling Americans’ sensitive data
The decision to reverse course comes after an industry lobby group called for the rule change to be withdrawn.
Read moreHow this VC spots the global game changers
Accel’s Sonali De Rycker chatted with TechCrunch’s Editor-in-Chief Connie Loizos about what it takes to spot and scale category-defining companies in today’s fast-evolving tech landscape. She shared perspectives on identifying early-stage bets and supporting global growth.
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