Author: GT

RevenueCat, a company so tied to the mobile economy that now one-in-three new subscription apps launch with its software under the hood, is preparing to expand its business. Capitalizing on its market position, which now includes powering the subscriptions in over 70,000 mobile apps, RevenueCat’s growth plan will focus on using its understanding of the mobile industry to solve more of the common problems that mobile developers face. After the court’s ruling in the Apple-Epic antitrust battle, the company’s focus includes helping developers determine if it’s the right time to support web-based payments, now that it is permitted by Apple’s…

The team behind Vercel’s V0, an AI-powered platform for web creation, has developed an AI model it claims excels at certain website development tasks. Available through an API, the model, called “v0-1.0-md,” can be prompted with text or images, and was “optimized for front-end and full-stack web development,” the Vercel team says. Currently in beta, it requires a V0 Premium plan ($20 per month) or Team plan ($30 per user per month) with usage-based billing enabled. We’re releasing v0’s AI model:• Specialized web-dev knowledge• OpenAI-compatible API• Use in Cursor, Codex, or your own appNow in beta in the API, AI…

The Federal Aviation Administration has cleared SpaceX to perform the ninth test flight of its Starship rocket system, following back-to-back explosions earlier this year. The agency said Thursday it is “expanding the size of hazard areas both in the U.S. and other countries” for the flight based on an updated safety analysis provided by SpaceX. The Starship vehicle mishaps from Flights 7 and 8 caused a greater probability of failure of the vehicle and, therefore, a larger hazard area. Hazard areas are, essentially, temporary no-fly zones the FAA establishes when the potential for impact with debris exists. The new hazard…

During its inaugural developer conference Thursday, Anthropic launched two new AI models that the startup claims are among the industry’s best, at least in terms of how they score on popular benchmarks. Claude Opus 4 and Claude Sonnet 4, part of Anthropic’s new Claude 4 family of models, can analyze large datasets, execute long-horizon tasks, and take complex actions, according to the company. Both models were tuned to perform well on programming tasks, Anthropic says, making them well-suited for writing and editing code. Both paying users and users of the company’s free chatbot apps will get access to Sonnet 4…

Meta signed another big solar deal on Thursday, securing 650 megawatts across projects in Kansas and Texas. American utility and power generation company AES is currently developing the solar-only projects, with 400 megawatts to be deployed in Texas and 250 megawatts in Kansas, the company told TechCrunch. Meta said it signed the deal to power its data centers, which have been expanding to support its growing AI operations. The company already has more than 12 gigawatts of capacity in its renewable power portfolio. AES typically signs new power purchase agreements two to three years before they begin commercial operations, and…

Surf, the new app from Flipboard for browsing the open social web, is making it easier for people to create and discover their own custom feeds focused on their interests. Instead of getting stuck in an algorithmically generated timeline designed by a social network’s owner, custom feeds allow you to build an experience focused on things you actually care about, like your favorite hobbies, sports, communities, or any other topics you want to follow. With Thursday’s introduction of Starter Sets, Surf is simplifying the process of building those custom feeds, personalizing them, and even publishing them off-platform, if you choose.…

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy speaks during an unveiling event in New York on Feb. 26, 2025.Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesAmazon shareholders rejected a proposal to adopt a policy that would require the company’s CEO and board chair roles to remain separate.Vote totals disclosed in a filing Thursday show about 82% of shareholders rejected the proposal. The independent proposal was submitted alongside seven others at Amazon’s annual meeting on Wednesday. Each of the independent proposals were rejected.Amazon split the roles of CEO and board chair when founder Jeff Bezos turned the helm over to Andy Jassy in 2021. As…

Anthropic’s newly launched Claude Opus 4 model frequently tries to blackmail developers when they threaten to replace it with a new AI system and give it sensitive information about the engineers responsible for the decision, the company said in a safety report released Thursday. During pre-release testing, Anthropic asked Claude Opus 4 to act as an assistant for a fictional company and consider the long-term consequences of its actions. Safety testers then gave Claude Opus 4 access to fictional company emails implying the AI model would soon be replaced by another system, and that the engineer behind the change was…

Mozilla announced on Thursday that it’s shutting down Pocket, a read-it-later app it acquired in 2017, on July 8. The company is also shutting down Fakespot, its browser extension that helps users identify unreliable reviews. “Pocket has helped millions save articles and discover stories worth reading,” Mozilla said in a blog post. “But the way people use the web has evolved, so we’re channeling our resources into projects that better match their browsing habits and online needs.” Users will be able to continue using the app and browser extensions for Pocket until July 8. After that date, Pocket will move…

A third-party research institute that Anthropic partnered with to test one of its new flagship AI models, Claude Opus 4, recommended against deploying an early version of the model due to its tendency to “scheme” and deceive. According to a safety report Anthropic published Thursday, the institute, Apollo Research, conducted tests to see in which contexts Opus 4 might try to behave in certain undesirable ways. Apollo found that Opus 4 appeared to be much more proactive in its “subversion attempts” than past models and that it “sometimes double[d] down on its deception” when asked follow-up questions. “[W]e find that,…