Author: GT

OpenAI released new data on Monday illustrating how many of ChatGPT’s users are struggling with mental health issues and talking to the AI chatbot about it. The company says that 0.15% of ChatGPT’s active users in a given week have “conversations that include explicit indicators of potential suicidal planning or intent.” Given that ChatGPT has more than 800 million weekly active users, that translates to more than a million people a week. The company says a similar percentage of users show “heightened levels of emotional attachment to ChatGPT,” and that hundreds of thousands of people show signs of psychosis or…

Stock photo of a nuclear power plant.Larry Lee Photography | Corbis | Getty ImagesGoogle and American electrical utility giant NextEra Energy announced a partnership Monday to revive Iowa’s only nuclear power plant to meet growing low-carbon energy demand from artificial intelligenceThe Duane Arnold Energy Center, which closed in 2020, could begin operating in early 2029, pending regulatory approval.”Once operational, Google will purchase power from the 615-MW plant as a 24/7 carbon-free energy source to help power Google’s growing cloud and AI infrastructure in Iowa, while also strengthening local grid reliability,” the companies said in a press release.  The Central Iowa Power…

Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana believes other companies working on autonomous vehicles need to do more to prove their technology is safe, she said during an interview at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025. Mawakana had just been asked who she considered to be on the list of companies trying to make roads safer during Monday’s interview. “I don’t know who’s on that list, because they’re not telling us what’s happening with their fleets,” she said. Prioritizing safety while scaling operations was a big topic during the interview, and Mawakana was sure to cite the data Waymo recently released that shows, by its count,…

Waymo is currently the robotaxi leader in the United States, and that status has put the company’s vehicles in the crosshairs of vandals multiple times over the last year — most recently this past weekend in Los Angeles. On the sidelines of TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana said vandalism against Waymo’s robotaxis is “not okay.” “Obviously, vandalism is a crime, so we’re very focused on working with law enforcement to make sure that we pursue the people who are committing these crimes against our fleet,” Mawakana told TechCrunch. “It doesn’t matter whose fleet it is. It’s not acceptable, it’s…

Waymo’s co-CEO, Tekedra Mawakana, had a clear message during her interview on the TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 stage Monday: “It is imperative that we scale.” Mawakana was speaking in the context of how Waymo balances fundraising (and burning through that money) with eventually achieving profitability. But she was also clear in the interview that she believes Waymo can increase road safety by reaching that scale. All this helps explain why the company has been on an expansion tear this year and expects to launch in many more U.S. cities — D.C., Miami, Denver, Dallas, Seattle, and Nashville — as well as…

President and CEO of Saudi’s Aramco, Amin H. Nasser, speaks during the Future Investment Initiative (FII) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia October 29, 2024. Hamad I Mohammed | ReutersThink of Saudi Arabia and the first thing that comes to mind might be its massive, oil-derived wealth.While oil continues to drive Saudi Arabia’s economy, the kingdom is now expanding into areas such as artificial intelligence, tourism and sports to diversify its growth avenues.According to Saudi Arabia’s Minister for Investment Khalid Al Falih, more than half — 50.6% — of the Saudi economy is now “completely decoupled” from oil.”This percentage is growing,” Al…

TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 is here! If you’re still on the fence about attending in person, dive into the extensive schedule of speakers, networking opportunities, workshops, after-parties, and more that’s available here. There’s still plenty of time to get a ticket!  But if you’re not able to attend in person, the next best thing is to check out our livestream of the Disrupt Stage, which features some of our most prominent speakers and the highly anticipated Startup Battlefield 200 pitch competition. We’re streaming via YouTube, so you can catch the embed below, or just follow this link to watch live.  Here’s…

Dan Rosensweig, CEO, CheggScott Mlyn | CNBCChegg said on Monday it would lay off about 45% of its workforce, or 388 employees, as the “new realities” of artificial intelligence and diminished traffic from internet search have led to plummeting revenue. The online education company, founded 20 years ago, has been hit by the rise of generative AI software tools, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which have become increasingly popular among students. Chegg also sued Google in February, arguing that AI summaries of search results have hurt its traffic and sales.The company reiterated that claim on Monday, saying AI and “reduced traffic…

Social network X said over the weekend that it plans to retire its twitter.com URL for authentication. This means users who have enabled two-factor authentication using a hardware key like YubiKey will have to re-enroll their keys before November 10. “By November 10, we’re asking all accounts that use a security key as their two-factor authentication (2FA) method to re-enroll their key to continue accessing X. You can re-enroll your existing security key, or enroll a new one,” the social network’s safety account posted last Friday. Two days later, the company explained that this was necessary because the company wanted…

Pinterest announced on Monday new AI-powered upgrades to its boards to make them more personalized for users. These features include an AI-driven collage, “Styled for you,” that helps users create outfits from saved fashion Pins, and “Boards made for you,” which are personalized boards curated with AI.  “Styled for you” collages allow users to combine different clothing and accessories to create new outfits tailored to their individual style preferences. By tapping an item in the collage, users can swipe through AI-recommended saved pins for mixing and matching. Pinterest is also testing “Boards made for you,” personalized boards curated from a…