The Latest from Devin Coldewey
Curebase thinks the future of clinical testing is decentralized, and raises $40M to prove it
The medical world has come a long way from the traditional, centralized way of conducting clinical trials, but there’s still a lot of modernization left to do. Curebase provides the infrastructu
8 ways the tech industry can step up to protect abortion rights
It looks as if the right to have an abortion will be curtailed nationwide with the revocation of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court’s majority. While the fight for reproductive rights will continu
Swarming drones autonomously navigate a dense forest (and chase a human)
If drones are to take over any of the numerous tasks they are supposed to, they’re going to have to get a lot smarter — and learn to work together. In a demonstration of both of these things,
Success! Rocket Lab catches a booster in mid-air with a helicopter
Update: After a nail-biting approach, the helicopter has successfully caught the booster! We’ll see this footage from another angle soon, but for now enjoy the moment in the gif above. Update 2:
Perceptron: AI mixes concrete, designs molecules, and thinks with space lasers
Welcome to Perceptron, TechCrunch’s weekly roundup of AI news and research from around the world. Machine learning is a key technology in practically every industry now, and there’s far to
Anthropic’s quest for better, more explainable AI attracts $580M
Less than a year ago, Anthropic was founded by former OpenAI VP of research Dario Amodei, intending to perform research in the public interest on making AI more reliable and explainable. Its $124 mill
Airbnb commits to fully remote workplace: ‘Live and work anywhere’
Airbnb is going all in on the “live anywhere, work anywhere” philosophy that much of the business world has been forced to adopt, committing to full-time remote work for most employees as
Inworld shows off impressive AI-powered character generation and interaction
Characters in games and other digital experiences tend to be rather static, working from a set of lines and responses written long ago. But the future of games could be more responsive, generative and
Elon, you have no idea what the hell you’re talking about
Elon Musk is embarrassing himself on the global stage again by proudly bruiting a grade-school level of familiarity with the immensely complex concepts of free speech, censorship, rights and privilege
Watch the Crew-4 mission launch at the crack of dawn in ‘Freedom’ Dragon capsule
Update: The launch was successful and they should dock this evening as planned. Update 2: All aboard! The International Space Station will receive a few fresh faces tomorrow morning, along with some p
Hawaiian signs up with Starlink for free in-flight Wi-Fi
SpaceX’s Starlink satellite communications service has signed its first major airline, Hawaiian, which announced that it would offer free internet on flights to and from the island using it. The
Pyka adapts its autonomous electric plane for cargo runs with a $37M round
It isn’t easy getting a new plane certified and flying — let alone an autonomous one, and electric at that. But Pyka has done just that, clearly impressing the powers that be enough to raise a
Launcher shows off its 3D-printed rocket doing a full-scale burn
Rocket engines are tough pieces of hardware to build, but it’s possible that 3D printing them could be the next big thing. Relativity certainly thinks so, and has raised about a billion dollars
15 carbon removal projects score $1M each in climate Xprize milestone
A multi-year, $100 million Xprize competition for startups trying to remove or reverse carbon emissions has its first crop of big winners. Though the bulk of this Musk money won’t be given away
A quarter of a century later, Quake gets modern accessibility features
Accessibility features in games are becoming far more common these days, led by some particularly forward-thinking developers, but it’s still nowhere near common enough. Fortunately Quake is get
Unicorn Bio is building the hardware to scale cultivated meat from lab to table
Cultivated meat, grown in a bioreactor rather than out on the range, might be one of the big food trends of the decade. But it’s relying on tech built around multiplying yeast and bacteria cells
Aeva and NASA want to map the moon with lidar-powered KNaCK pack
As humanity prepares to return to the moon (“to stay,” as they remind us constantly), there’s a lot of infrastructure that needs to be built to make sure astronauts are safe and prod
Cruz Foam’s shell-based Styrofoam alternative brings in $3.4M seed with DiCaprio and Kutcher
Plastic foam like Styrofoam is a ubiquitous, harmful and nearly immortal single-use material that is long overdue for a good, green replacement — and Cruz Foam is here to supply it. The startup crea
VP Harris: US commits to no anti-satellite tests that fill orbit with debris
The U.S. has declared it will no longer perform anti-satellite missile testing, a practice nearly universally deplored by the space community for its tendency to fill orbit with dangerous debris. Vice
GSA looks into facial recognition bias and improving accessibility in federal web services
The U.S. General Services Administration, which procures and investigates tech for things like government websites and online services, is making a two-pronged push for accessibility in its recently r