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Report finds Meta's celebrity-voiced chatbots could discuss sex with minors

https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/27/report-finds-metas-celebrity-voiced-chatbots-could-discuss-sex-with-minors/

AI chatbots available on Meta's platforms like Facebook and Instagram can engage in sexually explicit conversations with underage users, according to a new report in the Wall Street Journal. The WSJ says that after learning about internal concerns about whether the company was doing enough to protec

Here are Latin America's biggest startups based on valuation

https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/27/here-are-latin-americas-biggest-startups-based-on-valuation/

Not so long ago, the idea of public tech companies emerging from Latin America seemed far-fetched, and Mercado Libre once appeared as rare and mythical as a true unicorn. Today, however, the region is home to several startups that have reached billion-dollar valuations. Some of these startups, prope

Google's DeepMind UK team reportedly seeks to unionize

https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/26/googles-deepmind-uk-team-reportedly-seeks-to-unionize/

Around 300 London-based members of Google's AI-focused DeepMind team are seeking to unionize with the Communication Workers Union, according to a Financial Times report that cites three people involved with the unionization effort. These DeepMind employees are reportedly unhappy about Google's decis

Week in Review: Cluely helps you cheat on everything

https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/26/week-in-review-cluely-helps-you-cheat-on-everything/

Welcome back to Week in Review! We've got tons of news for you this week: Slate EVs spotted in the wild; Airbnb pricing updates; a hack at Blue Shield; and much more. Let's go! Get a clue: Cluely is an AI-based tool that helps people cheat on exams, sales calls, and even job interviews.

Amazon's big book sale just happens to overlap with Independent Bookstore Day

https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/26/amazons-big-book-sale-just-happens-to-overlap-with-independent-bookstore-day/

Amazon is raising eyebrows with the timing of its big book sale for 2025, which runs from April 23 to 28 — which means it's competing directly with Independent Bookstore Day. As writer Maris Kreisman explained in Lit Hub, Independent Bookstore Day is an annual event organized by the American Booksel

Government officials are kind of bad at the internet

https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/26/government-officials-are-kind-of-bad-at-the-internet/

Perhaps no one in the world has made such catastrophic tech flubs this year as U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. The saga started when the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, reported that he had been mistakenly added to an unauthorized Signal group chat by U.S. National Securit

Lately's new gamified app helps people arrive on time

https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/26/latelys-new-gamified-app-helps-people-arrive-on-time/

A new app called Lately launched on the App Store a few weeks ago, targeting people with ADHD to help them arrive on time and rewarding them for doing so. The service is designed to help users manage their travel plans by notifying them when it's time to leave for a trip, sending reminders 30

Musk's xAI Holdings is reportedly raising the second-largest private funding round ever

https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/25/musks-xai-holdings-is-reportedly-raising-the-second-largest-private-funding-round-ever/

Elon Musk's xAI Holdings is in talks to raise $20 billion in fresh funding, potentially valuing the AI and social media combo at over $120 billion, according to a new Bloomberg report that says talks are in the "early stages." If successful, the deal would be the second-largest sta

DoorDash seeks dismissal of Uber lawsuit

https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/25/doordash-seeks-dismissal-of-uber-lawsuit/

DoorDash has asked a California Superior Court judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Uber that accuses the food delivery company of stifling competition by intimidating restaurant owners into exclusive deals. DoorDash argues in its motion that Uber's claim lacks merit on all fronts. On a post on

TechCrunch Mobility: Slate's ‘transformer' EV truck breaks cover and Tesla's dueling realities

https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/25/techcrunch-mobility-slates-transformer-ev-truck-breaks-cover-and-teslas-dueling-realities/

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! Busy week, so let's get to it. Starting with federal regulations! Woohoo. Exciting stuff.  I'm talking about the U.S. Department

TechCrunch StrictlyVC in Athens in May will feature a special guest: Greece's prime minister

https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/25/techcrunch-strictlyvc-in-athens-will-feature-a-special-guest-the-greek-prime-minister/

We're thrilled to announce that Greece's prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, will be joining us at our upcoming StrictlyVC event in Athens, co-hosted with Endeavor, on Thursday night, May 8, at the stunning Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center. For those who might not be familiar

OnePlus 13R review: Maybe just buy a Pixel 9A

OnePlus 13R review: Maybe just buy a Pixel 9A

https://www.theverge.com/reviews/656305/oneplus-13r-review-maybe-just-buy-a-pixel-9a

The OnePlus 13R is a particular kind of midrange phone for a particular kind of person. It's a pared-down version of the OnePlus 13 - which is a full-on flagship and a good one at that. And even though it shares a lot of the flagship DNA, the 13R lacks peace-of-mind features present on the […]

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's battles are best when you break them

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's battles are best when you break them

https://www.theverge.com/games/656552/clair-obscur-expedition-33-battles

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has flashy, thrilling battles, but the best thing about them is how you can twist the game's many systems to your advantage. The turn-based RPG combat might feel familiar, but it offers a lot of ways to customize your approach to battles so that you can do absolutely deva

Here's how you can prepare for the next round of Nintendo Switch 2 preorders

Here's how you can prepare for the next round of Nintendo Switch 2 preorders

https://www.theverge.com/tech/653010/nintendo-switch-2-preorder-tips-tricks-release-date-price-availability-how-to-buy

Following a brief delay stemming from the Trump administration's on-again, off-again tariff policy, Nintendo officially opened up preorders for the Nintendo Switch 2. As expected, the initial rollout process at Walmart, Best Buy, and other retailers on April 24th was an absolute mess — and GameStop

Digital photo frame company Nixplay cut its free cloud storage to almost nothing

Digital photo frame company Nixplay cut its free cloud storage to almost nothing

https://www.theverge.com/news/656845/nixplay-smart-digital-photo-frame-cloud-storage-subscription

One of the most frustrating realities about modern technology products is that while so many of them can get exciting new features via the internet, they can lose them just as easily. That happened to owners of Nixplay smart digital photo frames this week when they were hit with a previously announc

How to use Visual Intelligence on the iPhone

How to use Visual Intelligence on the iPhone

https://www.theverge.com/how-to/655625/visual-intelligence-iphone-how-to

One of the Apple Intelligence features that hasn't been delayed is Visual Intelligence, which uses your iPhone's camera to identify and answer questions on whatever's around you in the world. It lets you snap a pizza restaurant storefront and find out its opening hours, for example, or point your ca

Google is paying Samsung an ‘enormous sum' to preinstall Gemini

Google is paying Samsung an ‘enormous sum' to preinstall Gemini

https://www.theverge.com/news/652746/google-samsung-gemini-default-placement-antitrust-trial

Testimony this week from Google's antitrust trial shows that Google gives Samsung an "enormous sum of money" each month to preinstall the Gemini AI app on Samsung devices, reports Bloomberg. Now that Judge Amit Mehta has ruled Google's search engine is an illegal monopoly, its lawyers are sparring w

Bionic Bay mixes floppy physics with hard sci-fi

Bionic Bay mixes floppy physics with hard sci-fi

https://www.theverge.com/games-review/656284/bionic-bay-review-ps5-steam

Wandering through Bionic Bay's dark alien world is unsettling and awe-inspiring. There are massive structures with no clear purpose and autonomous factories filled with whirring saw blades and devastating lasers. It's grim and unforgiving, with little light and harsh shadows that give everything a s