Volkswagen’s Xpeng deal sets example for EV alliance between the West and China
The major news from China’s auto industry this week is Volkswagen’s $700 million investment in the country’s electric vehicle startup, Xpeng. This partnership has the potential to set a precedent for Western automakers seeking to leverage Chinese firms for their EV expertise, while their Chinese counterparts can benefit from their
Read MoreAWS launches major GenAI push, debuts new offerings at NYC Summit
Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) will transform every application, industry and business and is finally taking shape due to an assortment of technological advances, Swami Sivasubramanian, vice president of database, analytics and machine learning (ML) at Amazon Web Services (AWS) said yesterday. Speaking at the AWS Web Summit in New York
Read MoreA new study found that Facebook’s Pages and Groups shape its ideological echo chambers
New research published Thursday offers an unprecedented dive into political behavior across Facebook and Instagram — two major online hubs where people express and engage with their political beliefs. The studies, published by an interdisciplinary set of researchers working in tandem with internal groups at Meta, encompasses four papers published
Read MoreUS, Australia cyber agencies warn IDOR security flaws can be exploited ‘at scale’
U.S. and Australian government cybersecurity agencies are warning that common and easily exploitable security vulnerabilities in websites and web apps can be abused to carry out large-scale data breaches. In a joint advisory published Thursday, U.S. cybersecurity agency CISA, the National Security Agency and the Australian Cyber Security Centre said
Read MoreSolidity 0.8.21 Language Feature: Flexible Immutables
Image generated with Hotpot.aiIn the past, Solidity’s handling of immutable variables has been quite rigid. However, the game has changed with the arrival of Solidity 0.8.21. Immutable variables, while still unchangeable after a contract’s construction, now abide by a more flexible set of guidelines for their initialization and assignment. In
Read MoreFord’s Q2 earnings show a thriving trucks, commercial business with EVs playing catch up
Ford generated $45 billion in revenue in the second quarter, a 12% pop from the same period last year largely fueled by sales of gas-powered trucks like the new Ranger, SUVs and commercial vans. Its EV business, meanwhile, has a long way to go. Notably, the automaker raised its full-year
Read MoreThree more VCs sign on to Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023
One of the best ways startup founders can hone their pitch until it’s sharp enough to impress VCs — and bring home the bacon — is by watching other founders pitch to investors. And there’s no better place to do that than by watching the Startup Battlefield competition at TechCrunch
Read MoreMobile website builder Universe launches AI-powered designer
Universe, the no-code mobile website builder, announced today that it’s launching an AI-powered website designer in beta. The designer, called GUS (Generative Universe Sites), can help anyone build and launch a custom website from their iOS device. Once you get started with GUS, you will enter the familiar Universe grid
Read MoreAre you going to let Sam Altman’s crypto project scan your eyeballs or not?
Welcome back to Chain Reaction. To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important crypto stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday at 12 p.m. PT, subscribe here. Earlier this week, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s audacious eyeball-scanning crypto startup Tools for Humanity started the global rollout of its Worldcoin
Read MoreSamsung introduces new foldable phones and more at Galaxy Unpacked
Yesterday at Galaxy Unpacked, broadcast live from Seoul, South Korea, Samsung unveiled the latest iteration of its folding phones, plus new tablets and watches, all of which will hit the market over the next few weeks. The phones Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 and Galaxy Z Flip5. Image: Samsung Galaxy Z
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