The European Commission announced this week that it’s fining Google €2.95 billion (just under $3.5 billion). The commission found that Google had violated European Union antitrust rules by favoring its own advertising services. Specifically, the commission said Google “abused” its “dominant positions” by favoring its ad exchange AdX in both its publisher ad server and…
Tesla shareholders will soon vote whether to let the electric vehicle maker invest in Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI, a proposal pitched as a way to strengthen Tesla’s ambitions in AI, robotics, and energy. Listed in Tesla’s proxy statement alongside a company-backed push to raise Musk’s 10-year pay package to $1 trillion, the proposal comes…
Tesla has proposed a massive new $1 trillion compensation package for its CEO Elon Musk, and many of the benchmarks he needs to hit are simply watered-down versions of promises he’s spent years making about the company. That’s not the picture Tesla’s board of directors paints in the company’s annual proxy statement, where they revealed…
When you design for people instead of institutions, you don’t just build a product. You build a movement. That’s the idea behind this live Builders Stage session called “Creating Communities and Companies That Last,” only at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 on October 27-29 at San Francisco’s Moscone West. This fireside chat brings together Jason Citron, founder…
Acqui-hires feel like they’re here to stay: The team behind Alex, a popular tool that lets developers use AI models within Apple’s development suite Xcode, is joining OpenAI. In a post on X, Alex’s founder Daniel Edrisian said the startup’s team is joining OpenAI’s Codex division, which is building the company’s AI coding agent. Y…
Sodium-ion battery startup Natron ceased operations this week, ending the company’s 12-year quest to commercialize its technology in the U.S. The company had $25 million worth of orders lined up for its Michigan factory, but it couldn’t deliver them until it had UL certification, according to Raleigh’s The News & Observer, which reported on the…
Warner Bros. is suing AI startup Midjourney for copyright infringement, alleging that the company allows users to generate images and videos of characters like Superman, Batman, and Bugs Bunny without permission. As first reported by Reuters, Warner Bros. says that Midjourney knowingly engaged in wrongful conduct, noting that the company previously restricted subscribers from generating…
Tesla spent $400,000 advertising on Elon Musk’s social media platform X in 2024, according to a new regulatory filing. But the automaker appears to be on track to spend just a fraction of that in 2025 as sales have struggled. In the first two months of 2025, Tesla spent $10,000 on X ads, putting it…
Online gaming platform Roblox is launching a TikTok-like short-form video feed for sharing gameplay moments, the company unveiled on Friday at the Roblox Developers Conference. The company also announced increased earnings for creators, new AI tools to boost creation, and other advancements in performance. The new short-form video experience, called “Roblox Moments,” is launching in…
It’s been a tumultuous year for the U.S. semiconductor industry. The semiconductor industry plays a sizable role in the “AI race” that the U.S. seems determined to win, which is why this context is worth paying attention to: from Intel’s appointment of Lip-Bu Tan to CEO — who wasted no time getting to work trying…
