Author: TechCrunch News

In November 2022, the FDA passed a resolution allowing Americans to purchase hearing aids over-the-counter. The move launched a mini-industry, with companies rushing to make available technology that was previously mired in healthcare restrictions. Consumer electronics firms saw opportunity, as well. In September, Apple announced that it would be bringing hearing aid features to the…

The funnest car I ever drove was the original Tesla Roadster. This was in 2011, back when Elon Musk’s EV company was courting press instead of denigrating us, and they offered me a test drive. I took the car up I-280 — a beautiful, mostly deserted highway with perfectly banked curves that seemed designed for Silicon…

Drone-maker DJI filed a lawsuit Friday against the US Department of Defense over its inclusion on a DoD list of “Chinese military companies.” A DJI spokesperson said the company filed the suit after “attempting to engage with the DoD for more than sixteen months” and deciding “it had no alternative other than to seek relief…

SpaceX was awarded an eight-launch, $733 million contract by the U.S. Space Force on Friday, as part of an ongoing program intended to foster competition among launch providers. The award includes seven launches for the Space Development Agency and one for the National Reconnaissance Office, all anticipated to use Falcon 9s and occur no earlier…

Acrew Capital has raised $700 million in fresh funds. The San Francisco-based venture capital firm announced in a blog post on Thursday that it raised $700 million to invest in companies building in data and security, healthcare, or fintech. This fundraise brings the firm’s assets under management to $1.7 billion…

SandboxAQ began as Alphabet’s moonshot AI and quantum computing and now has an impressive roster of projects. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only…

Web hosting provider WP Engine has filed an injunction in a court in North California, asking it to intervene and restore its access to the WordPress.org open-source repository. After WP Engine filed a lawsuit against WordPress co-creator Matt Mullenweg and Automattic last month, Mulleweng — who also owns WordPress.org — blocked the company’s access to…

Byju Raveendran, the founder of the embattled edtech group Byju’s, acknowledged on Thursday afternoon that he made mistakes, mistimed the market, overestimated growth potential and that his startup, once valued at $22 billion, is now effectively worth “zero.” Speaking to a group of journalists, Raveendran said the company’s aggressive acquisition of more than two dozen…

The U.S. automotive safety regulator has opened a new investigation into Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software after four reported crashes in low-visibility situations. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only…

Navigating the complex decision of when to sell a startup or keep pushing forward is one of the toughest challenges founders face. In an era where IPOs are frequently delayed and acquisition offers arrive earlier, determining the right moment to either cash out or stay independent is increasingly nuanced…