A startup set out to fight climate change — it did it by helping plumbers
The founders of HERO Software didn’t start out to help small tradespeople in construction with a platform. They started out to fight the climate crisis. But in doing so, they stumbled on a way to help the whole business. Now, the company has closed a €40 million Series B financing
Read moreWhy Commonwealth Fusion Systems’ superconducting magnet sale is more than it seems
Fusion power may still be a few years away, but one startup is laying the groundwork for what it hopes will become a bustling sector of the economy. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Read moreBoston VCs are pleased that HubSpot will remain an independent company
For months, rumors persisted that Google, and perhaps others, were interested in buying HubSpot, a Boston-based CRM and marketing software company. HubSpot’s market cap ballooned as the rumors persisted, eventually reaching over $30 billion. But this week, Bloomberg might have finally put an end to the madness when it reported
Read moreCapCut will stop offering free cloud storage from August 5
Bytedance’s video editing app CapCut will stop offering free cloud storage to host creative assets starting August 5. In the past few days, users have received notifications about Capcut changing its terms for the free tier. Until now, the company used to have 1 GB of free cloud storage —
Read moreEurope confirms first clutch of DSA grievances on Elon Musk’s X
The platform formerly known as Twitter has earned the dubious honor of being the first very large online platform (VLOP) to face a preliminary finding of breaching the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), the bloc’s governance and content moderation rulebook. Penalties for confirmed breaches of the regime can reach
Read moreEU’s AI Act gets published in bloc’s Official Journal, starting clock on legal deadlines
The full and final text of the EU AI Act, the European Union’s landmark risk-based regulation for applications of artificial intelligence, has been published in the bloc’s Official Journal. In 20 days’ time, on August 1, the new law will come into force and in 24 months — so by
Read moreWhy we built Staging Ground
A two-part episode: In part one, Ben chats with friend of the show and senior software engineer Kyle Mitofsky about Staging Ground, a private space within Stack Overflow where new users can receive guidance from experienced users before their question is posted. In part two, Ben talks to Stack Overflow
Read moreWaymo cameras capture footage of man charged in alleged robotaxi tire slashings
A San Francisco man was charged Thursday for allegedly slashing the tires of 17 Waymo robotaxis between June 24 and June 26, according to the city’s district attorney. Prosecutors say the tire slashings were captured by cameras installed on the exterior of Waymo’s robotaxis. This is the latest incident of
Read moreSoftBank acquires UK AI chipmaker Graphcore
While the figure of $500 million has been bandied around in various reports for months, in a press briefing early Thursday morning, Graphcore co-founder and CEO Nigel Toon remained coy on the details. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Read moreX is building a ‘dislike’ button for downvoting replies
Elon Musk’s X, formerly Twitter, is continuing to develop a downvoting feature that will be used to improve how replies are ranked. Although the company has not yet officially announced its plans, more recent findings indicate the downvote feature may actually resemble a “dislike” button instead of a Reddit-style downvote
Read more