Author: GT

Foxconn will no longer build electric tractors for California startup Monarch Tractor after the Taiwanese tech giant recently sold its Ohio factory to SoftBank. Monarch CEO Praveen Penmetsa confirmed the news in a LinkedIn comment Tuesday. He also said his company worked with Foxconn to “build up inventory” before the sale of the factory, noting his startup has “enough to meet customer demand for the next 12 months, along with ample spare parts.” “In the coming weeks, we will be sharing more about our plans to introduce more Monarch-enabled products in the market through new manufacturing partnerships,” Penmetsa wrote. Following…

Instagram is working on a feature called “Picks” that aims to help users find common interests. The Meta-owned social network confirmed to TechCrunch that Picks is an internal prototype and isn’t being tested externally. The feature was first spotted by reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi, who often finds unreleased features while they’re still under development. According to screenshots shared by Paluzzi, people select their favorite movies, books, TV shows, games, and music, or their “Picks.” Instagram then finds overlaps with friends who chose the same things. While Instagram hasn’t shared any details about the feature, the company likely views Picks as a…

Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer of Alphabet Inc., during a visit to the Google for Startups campus in Warsaw, Poland, on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. The EU has established a reputation globally for its aggressive regulation of major technology companies, including the likes of Apple and Google over antitrust concerns. Photographer: Damian Lemanski/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesDamian Lemanski | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesPerplexity AI’s bid on Tuesday to buy Google’s Chrome browser for $34.5 billion represents a dramatic moment for the internet search giant, a week before it celebrates the 20th anniversary of its IPO.Even if analysts aren’t taking the offer…

Rapido, a popular ride-hailing platform in India, has quietly begun beta testing its food delivery service in Bengaluru, marking its first serious move to challenge market leaders Swiggy and Zomato in one of the world’s fastest-growing delivery markets. The 10-year-old startup has started testing its food delivery service in three primary localities in the southern city of Bengaluru, namely Byrasandra, Tavarekere, and Madiwala (BTM) Layout, Hosur Sarjapura Road (HSR) Layout, and Koramangala, Rapido co-founder and CEO Aravind Sanka confirmed to TechCrunch. Rapido created a wholly owned subsidiary Ctrlx Technologies to launch its food delivery service, named Ownly. The subsidiary lists…

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has added this vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, with a due date of September 2, 2025, for federal agencies to apply mitigations. WinRAR has released version 7.13 to address a critical security vulnerability that has been actively exploited by cybercriminals, marking another significant security incident for the popular file compression software. The vulnerability, designated CVE-2025-8088, allows attackers to execute arbitrary code through maliciously crafted archive files, prompting immediate action from users worldwide. Critical Security Flaw Exploited by Russian Hackers The newly discovered vulnerability represents a serious threat to Windows users,…

Russian hackers are likely behind suspected sabotage at a dam in Norway in April that affected water flows, police officials told Norwegian media on Wednesday.The director of the Norwegian Police Security Service, Beate Gangås, said cyberattacks are increasingly being carried out against Western nations to stoke fear and unrest.The Associated Press has plotted more than 70 incidents on a map tracking a campaign of disruption across Europe blamed on Russia, which Western officials have described as “reckless.” Since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Western officials have accused Russia and its proxies of staging dozens of attacks and other incidents, ranging from…

As anticipation builds for the Made by Google 2025 event, there’s a buzz around the Pixel 10 series, arriving notably before the iPhone 17. Apple’s hardware event is expected to take place in September.  The tech giant has made its intentions clear to grow the Pixel line, likely incorporating more generative AI capabilities with Gemini. Made by Google will be at 10 a.m. PT on August 20. Get ready for a Gemini boost Image Credits:Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket / Getty Images Google already dropped several AI-related updates at its developer conference in May, but the company will likely demonstrate more Gemini…

Just two years since its launch as a competitor to Twitter (now X), Meta’s Threads has topped 400 million monthly active users (MAUs), Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced on Tuesday. “As of a few weeks ago [there are] more than 400 million people active on Threads every month,” Mosseri wrote. “It’s been quite the ride over the last two years. This started as a zany idea to compete with Twitter, and has evolved into a meaningful platform that fosters the open exchange of perspectives. I’m grateful to all of you for making this place what it is today. There’s so…

Russian authorities announced Wednesday they were “partially” restricting calls in messaging apps Telegram and WhatsApp, the latest step in an effort to tighten control over the internet.In a statement, government media and internet regulator Roskomnadzor justified the measure as necessary for fighting crime, saying that “according to law enforcement agencies and numerous appeals from citizens, foreign messengers Telegram and WhatsApp have become the main voice services used to deceive and extort money, and to involve Russian citizens in sabotage and terrorist activities.” The regulator also alleged that “repeated requests to take countermeasures have been ignored by the owners of the…

In a moonshot move, AI search engine Perplexity has offered to buy Chrome from Google for $34.5 billion cash in an unsolicited offer, Reuters reported, and Perplexity has confirmed to TechCrunch. Perplexity tells TC the terms of the offer include a commitment to keep Chrome’s underlying engine, Chromium, open source and continue to invest in it. Perplexity’s offer includes a promise to invest $3 billion into the open source project. Perplexity is also promising not to change the user defaults of Chrome users, including the default search engine. That is, Perplexity is promising to leave Google as the search engine…