Sam Altman’s officially back at OpenAI — and the board gains a Microsoft observer
Sam Altman is officially back as OpenAI’s CEO after a tumultuous week and change. And OpenAI officially has a new board of directors, replacing most of the board that attempted to oust Altman in the days leading up to Thanksgiving. In a letter circulated internally…
Elon Musk says ‘go fuck yourself’ to advertisers leaving X
Your move, Linda. Elon Musk said “go fuck yourself” to advertisers who recently paused spending on X after he endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory on the platform. Onstage at the DealBook conference, Andrew Ross Sorkin asked the X owner about these pauses in advertising. Musk…
Backed by East Ventures, Fr8Labs aims to digitize Asia’s logistics industry
In Western markets, freight forwarders are well into digitizing their operations, but the same doesn’t hold true in Southeast Asia, say the founders of Fr8Labs. The reasons for that include the lack of localized software and a more fragmented logistics industry where SMBs dominate. Fr8Labs…
SpaceX acquires parachute company for $2.2M, because it turns out space-rated parachutes are very hard
SpaceX is known for its vertical integration, but one component it’s been outsourcing is parachutes — until earlier this month, when the company quietly acquired parachute vendor Pioneer Aerospace after its parent company went bankrupt. The Information first reported the news. This is the second…
AWS re:Invent: Everything Amazon’s announced, from new AI tools to LLM updates and more
Amazon Web Services is live in Las Vegas for its AWS re:Invent event, which kicked off November 27 and runs until December 1. We expect a rapid-fire stream of announcements and unveilings of recent things it’s been working on, particularly given the increased competition for…
Polestar’s climate-tweeting bot isn’t actually a bot, for good reason
“When is a bot a person?,” my colleague Kirsten asked after I learned that Polestar’s climate bot is more human than machine. Polestar launched its “Truth Bot” on X (formerly Twitter) ahead of COP28, the UN climate conference overseen by an oil executive. The Truth…
LockBit claims cyberattack on India’s national aerospace lab
The notorious ransomware gang LockBit has claimed responsibility for a cyberattack targeting India’s state-owned aerospace research lab. On Wednesday, LockBit added the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) to its dark web leak site, which ransomware gangs use to extort victims for ransom payments. The group threatened…
The TechCrunch+ 2023 Holiday Gift Guide
What to buy yourself, your family and your friends! Hello dear TechCrunch readers, we hope that you are healthy, whole and ready to waddle into the holiday season with a cup of something warm and time to read. As many folks like to give gifts…
Scooter startup Tier lays off 22% of workforce to reach profitability
German micromobility operator Tier Mobility is laying off another 22% of its workforce to cut costs in the never-ending grind toward profitability, according to a LinkedIn post from CEO Lawrence Leuschner. The hits keep coming for the micromobility giant, which sailed into 2022 on a…
Google search ads spotted in compromising placements
Adalytics’ report contains a long list of the advertisers whose Google search ads it reports being able to observe displayed on U.S. Treasury OFAC SDN sanctioned, Iranian, and/or pornographic websites — including the following public bodies, companies, organizations and politicians: The United States Treasury; the…
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