Author: GT

ZAPOPAN, Mexico (AP) — First the scientists dress dead swine in clothes, then they dispose of the carcasses. Some they wrap in packing tape, others they chop up. They stuff the animals into plastic bags or wrap them in blankets. They cover them in lime or burn them. Some are buried alone, others in groups.Then they watch.The pigs are playing an unlikely role as proxies for humans in research to help find the staggering number of people who have gone missing in Mexico during decades of drug cartel violence.Families of the missing are usually left to look for their loved…

Two years ago, logistics company Flexport bought the assets of Convoy, a former freight tech unicorn that had closed up shop. Now it’s sold that platform and delivered a “massive return on investment for Flexport.” Flexport announced the sale on Monday to DAT Freight & Analytics but declined to disclose terms. “Over the past 18 months, we rebuilt and relaunched the [Convoy] platform as a neutral digital freight execution layer that serves brokers, carriers, and shippers across the market,” Flexport founder and CEO Ryan Petersen said in a statement. “That investment paid off. The platform is now stronger, more widely…

Harmonic, an AI startup co-founded by Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, announced Monday the beta launch of an iOS and Android chatbot app where users can access its AI model, Aristotle. With this launch, the company aims to broaden access to Aristotle, which Harmonic claims to offer “hallucination-free” answers for questions involving mathematical reasoning — a bold claim given the reliability problems of today’s AI models. Harmonic is focused on creating “mathematical superintelligence” or MSI; the startup eventually wants to help users with all fields that rely on math, including physics, statistics, and computer science. “[Aristotle] is the first product available…

Waymo said it plans to launch a robotaxi service next year in Dallas, the latest city to be added to the Alphabet-owned company’s growing commercial footprint that already includes Los Angeles and San Francisco. This time around, Waymo is partnering with Avis Budget Group to manage its fleet of all-electric autonomous Jaguar I-Pace vehicles. Avis will handle general depot operations, including charging and maintaining the vehicles. Users will be able to hail a robotaxi through the Waymo app. Waymo has partnered with other companies before, including Uber in Austin and Atlanta and Moove in Phoenix. Avis is the first rental…

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — An artificial intelligence data center that would use more electricity than every home in Wyoming combined before expanding to as much as five times that size will be built soon near Cheyenne, according to the city’s mayor.“It’s a game changer. It’s huge,” Mayor Patrick Collins said Monday.With cool weather — good for keeping computer temperatures down — and an abundance of inexpensive electricity from a top energy-producing state, Wyoming’s capital has become a hub of computing power.The city has been home to Microsoft data centers since 2012. An $800 million data center announced last year by…

Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses on display in the window of a Ray Ban store in London, UK, on Friday, July 19, 2024. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesRevenue from sales of Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses more than tripled year over year, EssilorLuxottica revealed Monday as part of the company’s most recent earnings report.EssilorLuxottica said the success of the Ray-Ban Meta glasses, built via a partnership with the Facebook parent stemming back to 2019, contributed to its first-half overall sales of 14.02 billion euro (US$16.25 billion), which represents a 7.3% year-over-year jump.”We are leading the transformation of glasses as the next computing…

At TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, the AI Stage comes alive with the voices shaping the future of technology, creativity, and security. Top VCs reveal what it takes to win funding in a rapidly evolving landscape, as they place bets on the next wave of AI founders. Hear groundbreaking insights from leaders at visionary startups like Apptronik, ElevenLabs, Hugging Face, Runway, Wonder Dynamics, Writer, and Wayve — pioneers redefining the future of tech. These leaders, and many more below, represent the cutting edge of AI’s growing impact. On the AI Stage at Disrupt, get an inside look at how breakthroughs are transforming…

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Dozens of dairy cattle were on the moo-ve Monday at Michigan State University.About 80 cows hoofed it to their new home, the Dairy Cattle Teaching and Research Center, a $75 million facility the East Lansing school says will allow agriculture, veterinary and other students to learn on a modern farm that’s equipped to replicate the most high-tech operations in the world.George Smith, who heads up Michigan State’s AgBioResearch department, called it a “21st century cattle drive.” Crews erected a fence between the two buildings and herded the animals via claps, calls and whistles.The remaining 180…

The Trump Organization is seeking to prevent some online businesses from hawking counterfeit merchandise promoting President Donald Trump.In a lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Florida, the company accused unnamed merchants of selling “inferior imitations” of Trump-branded products on several online marketplaces, including Amazon, Walmart and eBay.The Trump Organization company, which is owned by Trump, sells a variety of branded merchandise through its website, including a gold T1 smartphone. The Trump Organization alleges the online merchants didn’t license its trademarks and weren’t authorized resellers of genuine merchandise.”By selling counterfeit products that purport to be genuine and authorized products…

As the startup world descends on San Francisco for TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 — happening October 27-29 at Moscone West — one question looms large: Does building in Silicon Valley still give founders an edge? With 10,000+ startup and VC leaders gathering for this milestone Disrupt, the conversation around access, geography, and opportunity has never been more timely. On the Builders Stage, Anh-Tho Chuong (Lago), David Hall (Revolution), and Heather Doshay (SignalFire) lead a must-attend session for anyone looking to scale smart in today’s startup landscape. Register now to save up to $675 before July ends and to join this (and…