Author: GT

Earlier this year, Apple introduced its Foundation Models framework during WWDC 2025, which allows developers to use the company’s local AI models to power features in their applications. The company touted that with this framework, developers gain access to AI models without worrying about any inference cost. Plus, these local models have capabilities such as guided generation and tool calling built in. As iOS 26 is rolling out to all users, developers have been updating their apps to include features powered by Apple’s local AI models. Apple’s models are small compared with leading models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, or Meta.…

BERLIN (AP) — Mysterious drone flights over the airspace of European Union member countries in recent weeks have alarmed the public and elected officials.Intrusions into NATO’s airspace, some of them blamed on Russia, reached an unprecedented scale last month. Some European officials described the incidents as Moscow testing NATO’s response, which raised questions about how prepared the alliance is against Russia.On Sept. 10, a swarm of Russian drones flew into Poland’s airspace, forcing NATO aircraft to scramble to intercept them and shoot down some of the devices. It was the first direct encounter between NATO and Moscow since Russia launched…

Apple has removed ICEBlock and other apps from its App Store that allow users to anonymously report sightings of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, following pressure from the Trump administration. The app, which went viral earlier this year, allowed users to lawfully share information about where they’ve seen ICE agents within a 5-mile radius of their location, and also share details of the clothing agents are wearing. According to various media reports, Apple said it removed the apps after it was contacted by “law enforcement” about “safety risks” associated with ICEBlock and similar apps. “We reached out to…

Zehra Naqvi, 26, grew up as an obsessive fan girl in the 2010s.  This was the era of Tumblr and Twitter. She would stay up all night breaking down the release dates of Marvel movies or analyzing the movements of One Direction members. She eventually gained a collective 250,000 followers across the two platforms. “Those early internet rabbit holes taught me how magical it felt to not just consume culture but to contribute to it,” she told TechCrunch. She went on to start a company at 12, study art history at Columbia, and then became a consumer investor at Headline Ventures.…

EUNICE, NEW MEXICO — Paul Lorskulsint was a shift manager at a brand new uranium enrichment facility deep in the American Southwest when catastrophe struck Japan in 2011.A massive tsunami and earthquake had caused a severe accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Thousands of miles away in Eunice, New Mexico, Lorskulsint turned on the television to make sure his team could witness what was happening across the Pacific Ocean.Lorskulsint knew the disaster in Japan was a watershed moment for the nuclear industry. The plant where he was leading an operations shift had just opened in 2010, after the…

When Jamie Gull graduated from Stanford University in 2007 with a master’s degree in aeronautics, there was one place he wanted to go next: the desert. The Mojave Desert, to be specific. A company called Scaled Composites had spent years developing experimental aircraft out on that arid land, and Gull wanted in. He could have tried to get a more traditional aerospace job, but Gull was worried he’d “work five years on a latch” — a common joke about those bigger, slow-moving companies. But at Scaled Composites? “I knew I would build something, and I would do it quickly, and…

A notorious predominantly English-speaking hacking group has launched a website to extort its victims, threatening to release about a billion records stolen from companies who store their customers’ data in cloud databases hosted by Salesforce. The loosely organized group, which has been known as Lapsus$, Scattered Spider, and ShinyHunters, has published a dedicated data leak site on the dark web, called Scattered LAPSUS$ Hunters.  The website, first spotted by threat intelligence researchers on Friday and seen by TechCrunch, aims to pressure victims into paying the hackers to avoid having their stolen data published online.  “Contact us to regain control on…

Silicon Valley is full of comfortable offices with gleaming meeting rooms and on-site baristas. So when early HappyRobot engineer Ari Polakof decided to strike out and start his own company, he didn’t exactly expect to wind up tapping on his laptop in a service bay alongside mechanics. “Very noisy, impossible to concentrate,” he laughed. But that’s part of the story of how Polakof’s new AI-for-car-dealerships startup Flai got off the ground last year. Founded by Polakof and his brother Alen (also from HappyRobot) at Y Combinator, along with former Netflix data scientist Juan Alzugaray, Flai is one of a number…

The Founder and Investor bundle sale for TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 is live — but only until tonight at 11:59 p.m. PT. This is your only chance this year to lock in group bundle savings on Founder Passes and an even bigger discount on group Investor Passes. After today, these deals are gone. Disrupt 2025 brings together over 10,000 founders, investors, and operators from around the world to tackle the toughest challenges and uncover the biggest opportunities in tech. Image Credits:Noam Galai Why this matters for founders TechCrunch Disrupt isn’t just a conference — it’s a launchpad for your startup. With…

The space economy isn’t just about rockets and satellites anymore — it’s about building resilient infrastructure, deploying autonomous systems, and creating entirely new models for how we operate and defend assets off-Earth. At TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, taking place October 27–29 at San Francisco’s Moscone West, the Space Stage is where these seismic shifts in space innovation come to life. Save big this week by registering as a group. Save up to 20% on your ticket if you register with a group of 4-9 before today at 11:59 p.m. PT. Or, if you’re going solo, secure your pass to save up…