Author: GT

The tech layoff wave is still kicking in 2025. Last year saw more than 150,000 job cuts across 549 companies, according to independent layoffs tracker Layoffs.fyi. So far this year, more than 22,000 workers have been the victim of reductions across the tech industry, with a staggering 16,084 cuts taking place in February alone. We’re tracking layoffs in the tech industry in 2025 so you can see the trajectory of the cutbacks and understand the impact on innovation across all types of companies. As businesses continue to embrace AI and automation, this tracker serves as a reminder of the human…

Two years after launching, social network Bluesky is revising its Community Guidelines and other policies, and asking for feedback from its users on some of the changes. The startup, a competitor to X, Threads, and open networks like Mastodon, says its new policies are meant to offer improved clarity and more detail around its user safety procedures and the appeals process. Many of the changes are being driven by new global regulations, including the U.K.’s Online Safety Act (OSA), the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), and the U.S.’s TAKE IT DOWN Act. Some of the changes represent an effort by…

Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg departs after attending a Federal Trade Commission trial that could force the company to unwind its acquisitions of messaging platform WhatsApp and image-sharing app Instagram, at U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 15, 2025. Nathan Howard | ReutersSen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said Friday that he will investigate Meta following a report that the company approved rules allowing artificial intelligence chatbots to have certain “romantic” and “sensual” conversations with children.Hawley called on Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to preserve relevant materials, including emails, and said the probe would target “whether Meta’s generative-AI products enable exploitation,…

Set your alarms. Bookmark this page. Refresh like your future depends on it. After reviewing thousands of groundbreaking applications from around the globe, TechCrunch is just days away from announcing the 2025 Startup Battlefield 200 — our handpicked cohort of the most promising early-stage startups set to take the stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 this October 27-29. The 2025 Startup Battlefield 200 list will go live, right here, on Wednesday, August 27, at 9:00 a.m. PT. Whether you applied, referred a standout founder, or just want to see who made the cut, this is the moment you’ve been waiting for.…

Is the grass greener on the other side? We’re not sure, but the sky is most certainly bluer. It’s been over two years since Elon Musk purchased Twitter, now X, leading people to set up shop on alternative platforms. Mastodon, Post, Pebble (two of which have already shuttered operations) and Spill have been presented as potential replacements, but few aside from Meta’s Threads have achieved the speed of growth Bluesky has reached. As of February 2025, Bluesky has surpassed 30 million users. Its growth stems from several policy changes at X, including a heavily criticized change to the block feature…

Intel’s underlying problems won’t be solved by the U.S. government purchasing an equity stake in the struggling chipmaker, Bernstein warned clients in a note published Friday. The Trump administration is in talks with Intel to buy a stake in the company in order to help fund a delayed manufacturing hub in Ohio, people familiar with the plan told Bloomberg News . It is the latest example of President Donald Trump’s interest in building government-backed national champions in strategic industries, in a stark departure from the free-market orthodoxy of previous administrations. Investors welcomed the prospect of government intervention with Intel’s stock…

The Trump administration continues to meddle with semiconductor giant Intel. The U.S. government is reportedly in discussions to take a stake in Intel, according to reporting from Bloomberg. This deal would be structured to help the company expand its U.S. manufacturing efforts, including its much-delayed Ohio chip factory. This news comes less than a week after President Donald Trump insisted that Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan resign because of perceived conflicts of interest. While Trump didn’t provide a reason, this came after Republican U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton wrote to Intel’s board asking about Tan’s alleged ties to China. Tan met with…

GENEVA (AP) — Negotiations to reach a major treaty to end growing plastic pollution around the world fell apart on Friday, with delegates in Switzerland adjourning with no immediate plans to resume. The consequence of the failed talks is devastating, as it leaves no clear path for nations to collectively address the mountains of plastic that are filling landfills, clogging oceans and showing up in chunks on beaches and other public places.“Consensus is dead,” Bjorn Beeler, international coordinator for the International Pollutants Elimination Network, upon adjournment. Every year, the world makes more than 400 million tons of new plastic, and…

Talk about customer service. On Wednesday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai posted on X about Google Calendar’s new feature to duplicate events — an addition that was specifically requested by Stripe co-founder John Collison last month, also via an X post. On July 5, Collison asked if Google Calendar users could get a Ctrl-click option that would allow them to easily duplicate events, similar to the feature that many native calendar applications already have. Collison tagged Pichai in his post at the time. While users often tag companies and CEOs with online feedback and complaints, you know you’ve made it when…

I’m riding in the back of a Waymo that’s autonomously navigating the busy streets of San Francisco with relative ease thanks to 29 external cameras, six radar, and five lidar sensors all feeding into an AI model. For just 15 bucks, I get to experience what feels like a miracle of modern technology, and yet, there’s a nagging thought I can’t shake. The music sucks in here. Waymo’s music-streaming feature has felt like an aged barnacle attached to a futuristic shell. Until this week, passengers were limited to a few music stations that played lo-fi beats, smooth jazz, K-pop, or…