Author: GT

The Reliance Industries Ltd. oil refinery in Jamnagar, Gujarat, India, on Saturday, July 31, 2021.Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesIndia’s largest private oil refiner Reliance Industries is reportedly halting purchases of Russian crude, following the U.S.’ decision to sanction Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil.Reliance has become a major buyer of Russian crude. In September, it purchased around 629,590 barrels of Russian crude per day from the two firms, out of India’s total imports of 1.6 million barrels per day, according to data by commodities data analytics firm Kpler.Over the same month last year, Reliance purchased around 428,000…

The U.S. government has accused a former executive at defense contractor L3Harris of stealing trade secrets and selling them to a buyer in Russia, according to court documents seen by TechCrunch.  On October 14, the Department of Justice accused Peter Williams of stealing eight trade secrets from two unnamed companies. The DOJ made the allegation in a “criminal information” document, which, like an indictment, represents a formal accusation of alleged crimes.   The document does not specify Williams’ relationship with the two companies or the types of trade secrets, nor does it name the alleged Russian buyer.  TechCrunch has confirmed…

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union on Friday said Meta and TitTok had breached their transparency obligations after an investigation that could result in billions of dollars in fines.The inquiry found both companies had violated the Digital Services Act, the EU’s trailblazing digital rule book that imposes a set of strict requirements designed to keep internet users safe online, including making it easier to report counterfeit or unsafe goods or flag harmful or illegal content like hate speech, as well as a ban on ads targeted at children.“We are making sure platforms are accountable for their services, as ensured by…

With the AI infrastructure push reaching staggering proportions, there’s more pressure than ever to squeeze as much inference as possible out of the GPUs they have. And for researchers with expertise in a particular technique, it’s a great time to raise funding. That’s part of the driving force behind Tensormesh, launching out of stealth this week with $4.5 million in seed funding. The investment was led by Laude Ventures, with additional angel funding from database pioneer Michael Franklin. Tensormesh is using the money to build a commercial version of the open source LMCache utility, launched and maintained by Tensormesh co-founder…

At its London Symbiosis 4 event on 22 October, Druid AI introduced what it terms Virtual Authoring Teams – a new generation of AI agents that can design, test, and deploy other AI agents. The announcement marks a move towards what the company calls a ‘factory model’ for AI automation. According to Druid, the system enables organisations to build enterprise-grade AI agents up to ten times faster, and the platform offers orchestration facilities, plus compliance safeguards and measurable ROI tracking. The orchestration engine, Druid Conductor, serves as a control layer that integrates data, tooling, and human oversight into a single…

Google said today that it will invest in a natural gas power plant in Illinois that intends to capture the majority of its carbon emissions. The 400-megawatt power plant will be built outside of Decatur next to an ethanol plant run by Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM), which already captures CO2 from its operations. Google will buy most of the electricity to power its nearby data centers, while ADM will use some of the power plant’s steam and electricity. Low Carbon Infrastructure is developing the new project.   Google intends to capture “approximately 90%” of the CO2 generated by the power plant, the…

President Donald Trump has pardoned Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, as first reported by CNBC. Zhao previously pleaded guilty to enabling money laundering while running the cryptocurrency exchange and served four months in prison last year. “President Trump exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr. Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden Administration in their war on cryptocurrency,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. Trump’s pardon comes two months after The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump family’s own crypto venture benefited from a partnership with an under-the-radar trading platform operated by…

Microsoft has a new Clippy, and it’s an AI friend called Mico. At the company’s Copilot fall release press event on Thursday, the company introduced a range of new features and updates for its AI chatbot, but one that telegraphed how the tech giant intends to bring AI to consumers was the official introduction of its AI chatbot’s “face” — an expressive avatar blob named Mico. The company explains that Mico (its name a nod to “Microsoft Copilot”) is meant to offer consumers a “warm” and “customizable” visual presence that “listens, reacts, and even changes colors to reflect your interactions.”…

Microsoft released a new batch of features for its AI assistant Thursday, including an ambitious project that builds artificial intelligence directly into one of its most central products. More than a simple extension, the Copilot Mode in Microsoft’s Edge browser is Microsoft’s take on the long-hyped AI browser category — an intelligent and flexible AI assistant that follows you as you browse the web. Mustafa Suleyman, the CEO of Microsoft AI, even described the new product in those terms in the announcement. “Copilot Mode in Edge is evolving into an AI browser that is your dynamic, intelligent companion,” Suleyman wrote…

San Francisco is getting a symbolic jolt very soon as newly elected mayor Daniel Lurie steps onto the Disrupt Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, taking place October 27-29 at Moscone West, in a homecoming of sorts for both tech and the city that helped define it. Disrupt has long been a launchpad for founders and investors chasing the next wave. Lurie’s visit signals a renewed effort to weave innovation back into San Francisco’s future. Register now to save up to $444 on your pass, and get 60% off a plus-one ticket. Daniel Lurie, who campaigned on revitalizing the city’s economy…