Author: TechCrunch News

Satellites are among our most critical infrastructure, providing everything from GPS to disaster coordination, yet their inherent inaccessibility leaves them vulnerable to relatively simple technical issues or attacks. London-based Lodestar is looking to change that with a “first responder” service in space using advanced robotic sentries. …

Don Burnette, CEO and co-founder of self-driving truck startup Kodiak Robotics, had an “a-ha” moment when the company started working with the U.S. Department of Defense.  Kodiak’s mission has always been to pursue long-haul autonomous trucking, but two years ago, the startup won a $50 million contract from the DoD to help the Army automate…

Alongside a slew of announcements for Play—such as AI-powered app comparisons and a feature that bundles similar apps—Google has introduced new “Curated Spaces,” hubs dedicated to specific topics. Announced Wednesday, “Comics,” is designed to appeal to manga fans. Positioned at the top of the screen in between “For You” and “Top Charts,” the new hub…

Lakera, a Swiss startup that’s building technology to protect generative AI applications from malicious prompts and other threats, has raised $20 million in a Series A round led by European venture capital firm, Atomico. Generative AI has emerged as the poster child of the burgeoning AI movement…

Quality assurance in the app development world is a necessary, but often resource-draining, undertaking. According to Statista, 23% of companies’ annual IT budgets are allocated to in-house or third-party contracted QA and testing. The stakes are high. In a survey by QA software-testing company QualiTest Group…

Grocery app Flashfood’s new offering is designed for independently owned grocery stores that want to reduce food waste and consumers who want to save money.  © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only…

Founders of Pesa, a remittance fintech, know too well how costly, inaccessible and unreliable remittance services drive people to opt for risky informal channels —  like WhatsApp groups  — to transfer money.  Their firsthand experience using informal channels and realizing how prevalent their use was among Africans living in the diaspora after settling in Canada…

As a part of TechCrunch’s ongoing Women in AI series, which seeks to give AI-focused women academics and others their well-deserved — and overdue — time in the spotlight, TechCrunch interviewed Lakshmi Raman, the director of AI at the CIA. We talked about her path to director as well as the CIA’s use of AI…

Google is expected to announce four Pixel devices: the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL and Pixel 9 Pro Premium, running Android 15. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only…

With President Joe Biden dropping out of the race, Vice President Kamala Harris may become the Democrats’ new nominee. In announcing his plans, Biden offered his “full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year,” while Harris said her “intention is to win and earn this nomination.” That said…