Author: GT

Amazon-owned autonomous vehicle company Zoox has opened its first full-fledged production facility, where it expects to one day build 10,000 robotaxis per year. The facility marks the latest step in Zoox’s evolution out of the development phase. The company is currently testing vehicles in multiple U.S. cities and offering rides to early-access participants in Las Vegas. That early-rider program will expand to San Francisco later this year, and Zoox plans to launch paid public rides in Las Vegas this year, too. The 220,000-square-foot factory is located in Hayward, California, near Zoox’s Foster City headquarters. This is the company’s second production…

Waymo said Wednesday it has applied for a permit to test its autonomous vehicles in New York City, the Alphabet company’s first step in a sticky regulatory process to bring its robotaxis to U.S.’s largest city. Waymo applied for a permit with the New York City Department of Transportation to operate its self-driving Jaguar I-Pace vehicles with a human safety operator behind the wheel in Manhattan. New York’s autonomous vehicle demonstration or testing permit requires a human driver to be able to take over; a $5 million insurance policy; and every test vehicle operator must be adequately trained in the…

OpenAI researchers say they’ve discovered hidden features inside AI models that correspond to misaligned “personas,” according to new research published by the company on Wednesday. By looking at an AI model’s internal representations — the numbers that dictate how an AI model responds, which often seem completely incoherent to humans — OpenAI researchers were able to find patterns that lit up when a model misbehaved. The researchers found one such feature that corresponded to toxic behavior in an AI model’s responses —meaning the AI model would give misaligned responses, such as lying to users or making irresponsible suggestions. The researchers…

Facebook is rolling out support for passkeys on both iOS and Android, the social network announced on Wednesday. Passkey logins make it harder for bad actors to remotely access your accounts because they require physical access to your phone. Unlike standard logins, passkeys use Face ID or Touch ID, a PIN, or a physical security authentication key to validate logins. Passkeys remove the need to rely on username and password combinations, which can be susceptible to phishing and other issues. Image Credits:Facebook Facebook says that passkeys will also start rolling out to Messenger in the coming months, and that users…

The Colossus data center operated by xAI outside of Memphis is facing a lawsuit for operating a fleet of natural gas turbines without permits. “Over the past year, xAI has installed and operated at least 35 combustion turbines and other sources of air pollution at the Colossus site without ever obtaining the necessary preconstruction or operating air permits,” the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) wrote in a letter to xAI. The legal group submitted the letter on behalf of the NAACP. It serves as a notice for intent to sue xAI for violations of the Clean Air Act. The law…

We’ve heard it all — X is turning into a right-wing echo chamber, Bluesky is a liberal bubble, and so on. But a glitch on Threads has turned these concerns into a reality: Everyone is saying the same exact thing over and over again. In a bug affecting some Threads users on desktop and mobile, it appears that one user’s post will get repeated over and over again, looking as though every user on your feed is saying the same thing. “Siri, unsubscribe me from 2025,” one Threads user wrote, per a screenshot from social media expert Alexa Heinrich. But…

OpenAI is phasing out its work with Scale AI and cutting ties with the data provider following Meta’s deal with the startup, an OpenAI spokesperson told Bloomberg on Wednesday. Sarah Friar, the chief financial officer of OpenAI, previously suggested the company would continue its work with Scale AI. Now, it appears OpenAI has changed its tone. OpenAI said it was already winding down its work with Scale AI ahead of Meta’s announcement last week that it was investing billions of dollars in the startup and bringing on CEO Alexandr Wang. An OpenAI spokesperson told Bloomberg that OpenAI had been seeking…

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to keep TikTok running in the U.S. for another 90 days to give his administration more time to broker a deal to bring the social media platform under American ownership.“As he has said many times, President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark. This extension will last 90 days, which the administration will spend working to ensure this deal is closed so that the American people can continue to use TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt…

Shared micromobility startup Voi is on the hunt for acquisitions. And on CEO Fredrik Hjelm’s wishlist is Bolt, the European mobility super-app best known for ride-hailing. Not that Bolt’s micromobility business is necessarily for sale — despite talk of Voi buying the company’s scooter and bike arm. Bolt declined to comment when TechCrunch reached out.  “Bolt is a great company, but they are mainly a ride-hailing company,” Hjelm told TechCrunch onstage at the Micromobility Industries roundtable in Brussels, where he was joined by Bird co-CEO Michael Washinushi and Dott/Tier CEO Henri Moissinac. Hjelm said Bolt’s challenge is that it needs…

Smoke blankets the sky above Tehran, Iran, following explosions in the capital after the Israeli army hit Iranian targets, on June 18, 2025.Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty ImagesCrude oil futures rose more than 1% on Thursday, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered Israel’s military to intensify attacks against Iran.U.S. crude oil was last up $1.36, or 1.81%, to $76.50 per barrel by 9:38 a.m. ET, while global benchmark Brent added $1.10, or 1.43%, to $77.80 per barrel. Prices have gained more than 11% over the seven days since Israel began pounding Iran’s nuclear and missile programs.Netanyahu ordered Israel’s military to…