US drone maker Skydio faces battery squeeze after Chinese sanctions
America’s supply chain vulnerabilities were on full display Thursday after drone manufacturer Skydio told customers it was facing a battery squeeze after being hit with sanctions from China. “This is an attempt to eliminate the leading American drone company and deepen the world’s dependence on Chinese drone suppliers,” Skydio CEO
Read moreDecart’s AI simulates a real-time, playable version of Minecraft
Decart, an Israeli AI company that emerged from stealth today with $21 million in funding from Sequoia and Oren Zeev, has released what it’s claiming is the first playable “open-world” AI model. Called Oasis, the model, which is available for download, powers a demo on Decart’s site: a Minecraft-like game
Read moreBBG Ventures raises new $60 million fund to support diverse founders
BBG Ventures raised a new $60 million fund to support founders from “diverse backgrounds,” including gender, race, age, and class, Business Insider reported. The firm is known for backing exclusively women founders, and this new fund is a slight departure from that focus but comes as funding to diverse founders continues
Read moreFemale Founders Fund returns its Fund I
After 10 years, the Female Founders Fund has returned its $5.85 million Fund I, according to Fortune. The news makes FFF one of the few diverse-focused funds to fully return a fund in a move that may boost the image of investing in women founders across Silicon Valley. Any further
Read moreCarl Pei says Nothing could build its own operating system
Two mobile operating systems currently comprise nearly 100% of the global smartphone market. Building one is hard, and for most phone makers, there are better uses of resources, especially when Android is right there for the taking. While it’s a potential differentiator, these companies have largely opted to maintain Google’s mobile
Read moreKalshi secures tens of millions in loans from VCs, eyes $50M+ round amid election betting boom, source says
Investors are rushing to throw millions at a hot startup called Kalshi as loans or even as unusual we’ll-figure-it-out later cash. Kalshi is an exchange that allows people to bet, as official commodity trading contracts, on the outcomes of cultural events, from election results to how long Taylor Swift’s latest
Read moreFord pauses F-150 Lightning production as Tesla Cybertruck heats up
Ford will pause production of its F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck starting in mid-November for almost two months as it struggles with decreased demand, increased competition, and losses in its electric vehicle business. “We continue to adjust production for an optimal mix of sales growth and profitability,” a Ford spokesperson
Read moreZoox robotaxis are finally rolling out, Waymo snags more cash, and Aurora delays its self-driving truck launch
Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 is wrapped! And what a whirlwind it was. Some highlights? Zoox co-founder and CTO Jesse Levinson weighed in on whether
Read moreMeta is making a robot hand that can ‘feel’ touch
Meta says it’s partnering with sensor firm GelSight and Wonik Robotics, a South Korean robotics company, to commercialize tactile sensors for AI. The new devices aren’t meant for consumers. Rather, they’re intended for scientists. Meta says it envisions them being used to advance research into AI that can “learn about
Read moreCollege social app Fizz’s ‘serial failed retiree’ CEO steps down as founder takes helm
Veteran entrepreneur Rakesh Mathur stepped down as CEO of the college social network Fizz, handing over the reins to 22-year-old founder Teddy Solomon. It’s full circle for Fizz, the anonymous platform that Solomon started with his Stanford classmate Ashton Cofer before they dropped out to work on the app full-time.
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