Author: GT

Black Forest Labs, the AI startup whose models once powered the image generation features of X’s Grok chatbot, on Thursday released a new suite of image-generating models — some of which can both create and edit pics. The most capable of the models in the new family, called Flux.1 Kontext, can be prompted with text and, optionally, a reference image to create new images, writes Black Forest Labs in a blog post. “The Flux.1 Kontext models deliver state-of-the-art image generation results with strong prompt following, photorealistic rendering, and competitive typography — all at inference speeds up to 8x faster than…

AI dev platform Hugging Face continued its push into robotics on Thursday with the release of two new humanoid robots. The company announced a pair of open source robots, HopeJR and Reachy Mini. HopeJR is a full-size humanoid robot that has 66 actuated degrees of freedom, or 66 independent movements, including the ability to walk and move its arms. Reachy Mini is a desktop unit that can move its head, talk, listen, and be used to test AI apps. Hugging Face doesn’t have an exact timeline for shipping these robots. The company’s co-founder and CEO, Clem Delangue, told TechCrunch over…

At TechCrunch Sessions: AI, the spotlight is on the future of artificial intelligence and the startups shaping it. This high-energy event brings together founders, investors, and technologists to explore how AI is transforming industries — from the pitch deck to full-scale deployment. We’re proud to spotlight our partners — not just for their support, but also for the expertise they bring to the stage. Their sessions offer a front-row view into the latest developments in AI and are a must-attend for anyone looking to stay ahead in this fast-evolving space. Catch “Your Next Co-Founder Will Be AI” on the main…

The Innovation of the Year Award celebrates the boldest and most visionary startups exhibiting at VivaTech 2025. Open to all exhibiting companies, the award honors those pushing boundaries and redefining industries. Startups were scored on Innovation & Creativity, Market Disruption, and Scalability. From hundreds of applicants, 30 made the short list. The top five will pitch live at VivaTech on June 11, and the winner will be revealed at the VivaTech Global Awards Ceremony on June 12. The prize? A pitch slot at the ceremony, a free Startup Corner at VivaTech 2026, and a coveted spot in the TechCrunch Startup…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Elon Musk arrived in the nation’s capital with the chain saw-wielding swagger of a tech titan who had never met a problem he couldn’t solve with lots of money, long hours or a well-calibrated algorithm.President Donald Trump was delighted to have the world’s richest person — and a top campaign donor — working in his administration, talking about how he was “a smart guy” who “really cares for our country.”Musk was suddenly everywhere — holding forth in Cabinet meetings while wearing a “tech support” shirt and black MAGA hat, hoisting his young son on his shoulders in…

Context, a startup building an AI-powered office suite, on Wednesday announced that it raised $11 million in a seed round led by Lux Capital with participation from Qualcomm Ventures and General Catalyst. The round, which brings the company’s total raised to around $15.75 million, values Context at $70 million. Founder Joseph Semrai, a Thiel Fellow, started working on Context in 2024 after he realized that current digital office suites are not well-suited to take advantage of AI models. “[W]e have a bunch of disparate applications that aren’t necessarily built keeping the power of [AI models] in mind,” Semrai told TechCrunch…

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy speaks during an Amazon Devices launch event in New York City, U.S., February 26, 2025. Brendan Mcdermid | ReutersAmazon’s devices unit has a new team tasked with inventing “breakthrough” consumer products that’s being led by a former Microsoft executive who helped create the Xbox.The ZeroOne team is spread across Seattle, San Francisco and Sunnyvale, California, and is focused on both hardware and software projects, according to job postings from the past month. The name is a nod to its mission of developing emerging product ideas from conception to launch, or “zero to one.”Amazon has a checkered history…

Microsoft announced on Wednesday that it has started rolling out the beta version of its Copilot for Gaming experience. Beta testers can access the experience in the Xbox app on iOS and Android. The early version of the experience allows the assistant to answer questions about the games you’re interested in, give you links to more information, and answer questions based on your account, play history, achievements, and more. For example, you could ask something like: “What’s my gamer score and can you give me some tips to raise it?” or “I love horror movies. Any suggestions for what game…

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — A new supercomputer named after a winner of the Nobel Prize in chemistry will help power artificial intelligence technology and scientific discoveries from a perch in the hills above the University of California, Berkeley, federal officials said Thursday.U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced the project Thursday alongside executives from computer maker Dell Technologies and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.The new computing system at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory will be called Doudna after Berkeley professor and biochemist Jennifer Doudna, who won a Nobel in 2020 for her work on the gene-editing technology CRISPR. It’s due to switch…

Palmer Luckey, Founder @ Oculus VR Andutil Industries, during day two of Collision 2019 at Enercare Center in Toronto, Canada.Stephen McCarthy | Sportsfile | Getty ImagesMeta and Anduril, the defense-tech startup founded by Palmer Luckey, announced Thursday that they’ve formed a partnership to create virtual and augmented reality devices intended for use by the U.S. army.The partnership represents a major step by Meta to supply cutting-edge technology to the government in addition to working once again with Luckey, who sold his Oculus VR startup to the social media company for $2 billion in 2014.Luckey and Meta had an acrimonious split,…