Author: GT

Battery materials startup LeydenJar has closed a €13 million ($15.2 million) round to scale up manufacturing of its silicon anode technology for an unnamed “leading U.S.-based consumer electronics company.” The Netherlands-based startup will use the funding, along with a €10 million commitment from the U.S. customer, to build the first phase of its facility, PlantOne, in Eindhoven, Netherlands, which will open in 2027. Investors Extantia and Invest-NL lead the round. Today, a majority of the world’s lithium-ion batteries, and the graphite anodes within them, are made in China. Silicon anodes could upend that relationship while also dramatically improving the performance…

Amazon suspended a software engineer who protested the company’s work with the Israeli government, CNBC has confirmed.Ahmed Shahrour, a Palestinian engineer who works for Amazon’s Whole Foods business and is based in Seattle, was informed Monday morning that he was being suspended with pay “until further notice” after he posted messages on Slack criticizing the company’s ties to Israel.”It has come to Amazon’s attention that a post you made in multiple internal company Slack channels may violate multiple policies,” an Amazon human resources representative wrote in a message, which was viewed by CNBC. The company said in the message that…

Synthetic speech is no longer the stuff of science fiction. From audiobooks and dubbing to gaming and avatars, AI-generated voice is breaking into the mainstream — and Mati Staniszewski, CEO and co-founder of ElevenLabs, is helping lead the charge. At TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, he’ll take the stage to talk about what it takes to make voice AI truly human. Shaping the future of sound ElevenLabs has quickly become a key player in the generative AI space, known for pushing the boundaries of synthetic voice technology. In this session, Mati will explore how ElevenLabs built a platform that can replicate natural…

As AI evolves at breakneck speed, attackers are evolving right alongside it. Vibe coding, AI agents, and prompt-based attacks are opening enterprises up to new vulnerabilities daily. The pressure is on for cybersecurity tools to keep pace, and startups are seizing the moment. Few have grown as rapidly as Wiz, which Google is acquiring for $32 billion in its largest-ever purchase. On today’s episode of Equity, Wiz co-founder and chief technologist Ami Luttwak joined Rebecca Bellan to discuss how AI is fundamentally reshaping cybersecurity threats, from supply chain attacks that leverage vibe coding to hackers targeting the AI agents that…

Reddit on Wednesday launched a set of free tools for publishers to track their article performance and receive suggestions on where to share their stories within the site’s communities. The new features are launching as a part of Reddit Pro, a suite of business tools it debuted last year to help organizations grow their presence on the platform. There are three key tools being added under the Links tab in Reddit Pro. These include article insights to see where stories have been shared and stats related to them, including views, upvotes, and clicks. Image Credits:Reddit Publishers can also sync their…

The Federal Trade Commission has launched an inquiry into several social media and artificial intelligence companies about the potential harms to children and teenagers who use their AI chatbots as companions.The FTC said Thursday it has sent letters to Google parent Alphabet, Facebook and Instagram parent Meta Platforms, Snap, Character Technologies, ChatGPT maker OpenAI and xAI. The FTC said it wants to understand what steps, if any, companies have taken to evaluate the safety of their chatbots when acting as companions, to limit the products’ use by and potential negative effects on children and teens, and to apprise users and…

In this photo illustration a virtual friend is seen on the screen of an iPhone on April 30, 2020, in Arlington, Virginia.Olivier Douliery | AFP | Getty ImagesThe Federal Trade Commission on Thursday announced it is issuing orders to seven companies including OpenAI, Alphabet, Meta, xAI and Snap to understand how their artificial intelligence chatbots potentially negatively affect children and teenagers.The federal agency said AI chatbots may be used to simulate human-like communication and intrapersonal relationships with users, and that it wants to understand what steps these companies have taken to “evaluate the safety of these chatbots when acting as…

Apple on Tuesday announced its iPhone 17 lineup, which consists of the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. All four of the devices will be available to preorder on Friday and will be available on September 19. iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Air Differential specs Display: iPhone 17: 6.3″ Super Retina XDR display iPhone 17 Air: 6.5″ Super Retina XDR display Size (L x W x H) and weight: iPhone 17: 5.89 in. (149.6 mm) x 2.81 in. (71.5 mm) x 0.31 in. (7.95 mm); 6.24 oz (177 grams) iPhone 17 Air: 6.15…

Customers are discovering brands and learning about products and services in new ways from traditional search to AI search, to AI agents and more, the discovery journey has completely changed, and brands need to adapt to the new paradigm.Launched earlier this year, Yext Scout is an AI search and competitive intelligence agent that’s designed to boost brand visibility and uncover critical insights related to the new AI-driven search platforms, alongside ‘traditional’ searches as we know them.Scout is part of Yext, the leading brand visibility platform. Scout provides performance benchmarks laid out against a brand’s local competitors, and creates smart recommendations…

Investors hear hundreds of pitches — but only a few break through. On the Builders Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, a candid panel of seasoned operators and investors will reveal what captures their attention, what turns them off, and the subtle signals founders often miss. Register here to take advantage of regular pricing with up to $668 off your ticket before rates go up. Get to know this Builders Stage panel Medha Agarwal, general partner, Defy.vc — backing founders from day zero through hyper-growth, with a track record at Redpoint Ventures supporting fintech, SaaS, marketplaces, and healthcare startups. Jyoti Bansal,…