Author: GT

JALALABAD, Afghanistan (AP) — A Taliban crackdown to “prevent immorality” is spreading across Afghanistan, with more provinces losing access to fiber-optic internet after the country’s leader imposed a complete ban on the technology. It’s the first time a ban of this kind has been imposed since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, and leaves government offices, the private sector, public institutions, and homes without Wi-Fi internet. Mobile internet remains functional, however. Officials say alternatives are being found “for necessities.”The northern Balkh province confirmed a Wi-Fi shutdown on Tuesday, with reports of severe disruption in other parts of the country.…

Fourth Power’s take on long-duration energy storage sounds like something out of a James Bond film. The thermal batteries come complete with superheated liquid tin and argon-filled hermetically sealed chambers. The company’s goal, though, is far more prosaic — to store electricity cheap enough to make solar and wind an obvious choice for 24/7 power. Here’s how the technology works: To store energy, electricity from the grid heats blocks of carbon inside insulated chambers filled with argon gas. When power is needed, the system pumps molten tin heated to a scorching 2,400°C (4,352°F) through graphite pipes — the only cost-effective…

Samsung says it has fixed a zero-day security vulnerability that is being used to hack into its customers’ phones.  The phone maker said the security flaw, discovered in a software library for displaying images on Samsung devices, allows hackers to remotely plant malicious code on Samsung devices running Android 13 through the most recent version, Android 16.  Samsung’s advisory said security teams from Meta and WhatsApp privately notified the company on August 13 and was told that “an exploit for this issue has existed in the wild.”  Samsung did not provide a list of devices affected by the vulnerability. The…

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced on Tuesday a raft of new user policies, including a pledge to significantly change how ChatGPT interacts with users under the age of 18. “We prioritize safety ahead of privacy and freedom for teens,” the post reads. “This is a new and powerful technology, and we believe minors need significant protection.” The changes for underage users deal specifically with conversations involving sexual topics or self-harm. Under the new policy, ChatGPT will be trained to no longer engage in “flirtatious talk” with underage users, and additional guardrails will be placed around discussions of suicide. If an…

Waymo has been granted a permit to start testing its autonomous vehicles at San Francisco International Airport, ahead of the launch of a commercial service. The San Francisco mayor’s office announced Tuesday that the airport, known as SFO, and Waymo have signed a “Testing and Operations Pilot Permit” after years of back-and-forth negotiations. The deal with SFO comes just two weeks after Waymo was cleared to start testing at nearby San Jose Mineta International Airport — and as Tesla is also trying to elbow its way into offering ride-hail service to these airports. SFO is not the first airport that…

Humanoid robotics company Figure raised its largest round of funding yet, a sign of growing investor interest in robots designed to work alongside humans in warehouses, factories, and other settings. The company, based in San Jose, California, announced on Tuesday that it raised a Series C funding round that values it at $39 billion. The round, which “exceeded $1 billion,” said Figure, was led by Parkway Venture Capital with participation from Brookfield Asset Management, Nvidia, and Intel Capital, among others.   Figure said the funding will be used to scale the company’s fleet of humanoid robots, build the necessary infrastructure…

At the Meta Connect developer conference, Mark Zuckerberg, head of the Facebook group Meta, shows the prototype of computer glasses that can display digital objects in transparent lenses.Andrej Sokolow | Picture Alliance | Getty ImagesMark Zuckerberg on Wednesday unveiled the $799 Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses, the social media company’s first consumer-ready smart glasses with a built-in display.The glasses, which costs $799, contain a small digital display that can be controlled via hand gestures through a wristband powered by neural technology, confirming a CNBC report in August. A promotional video of the new smart glasses appeared on Meta’s YouTube page on…

Autonomous vehicles have long been touted as “just around the corner,” but the reality of bringing self-driving cars to the streets is far from simple. At TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 — October 27–29 at Moscone West in San Francisco — Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana joins the Disrupt Stage for a wide-ranging conversation on the true state of AVs and where the industry goes from here. Inside the self-driving reality check While headlines often highlight crashes, controversies, or overblown promises, Mawakana has spent years navigating the real-world path to autonomous mobility. At Disrupt, she’ll dig into what it actually takes to scale…

Former U.S. presidential candidate and entrepreneur Andrew Yang is starting a new mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) — a company that resells wireless service using another carrier’s network infrastructure — that will give you money back on your bill if you use less data. “I’m as guilty of doomscrolling as the next person, but knowing that doomscrolling is actually costing me money makes me feel dumb,” Yang told TechCrunch. “Now my wallet and financial incentives are tied to what I want to do, which is to look up more and use my phone a little bit less.” Using T-Mobile’s network,…

Rivian has officially broken ground on its long-planned factory near Atlanta, Georgia, which will one day allow the company to make as many as 400,000 of its next-generation electric vehicles per year. The company held a shovel ceremony on Tuesday where CEO RJ Scaringe was joined by Georgia officials, including Governor Brian Kemp. But, as TechCrunch first reported in July, the company is still eyeing the first quarter of 2026 for an official construction start date, with vehicle production starting in 2028. Most of what’s taking place now is prep work, like hooking up electrical systems and water supply, and…