Tech
27Platforms, chips, startups, and product launches
Physical Intelligence in Talks to Raise $1B Again, Doubling Valuation to $11B in Four Months
Physical Intelligence, the robotics AI startup, is reportedly in talks to raise another $1 billion round β just four months after its last raise β which would effectively double its valuation to roughly $11 billion. The speed of this funding cycle reflects the white-hot investor appetite for physical AI and robotics, a sector energized by recent Pentagon interest and a wave of humanoid robot deals. If completed, it would be one of the fastest valuation doublings in venture history for a company at this stage.
Iranian Hackers Claim They Breached FBI Director Kash Patel's Personal Gmail
Pro-Iranian hacking group Handala, allegedly working for Iran's government, claims to have breached FBI Director Kash Patel's personal Gmail account and published what it says are his emails, rΓ©sumΓ©, and photos. The FBI acknowledged the situation but said the information leaked is 'historical in nature.' The attack is a significant escalation in Iran's cyber operations against U.S. officials, targeting the nation's top law enforcement officer at a time of active armed conflict.
European Commission Hit by Major Cyberattack, Hackers Claim Data Stolen
The European Commission has confirmed it was hit by a cyberattack after hackers claimed to have stolen large amounts of data from its cloud storage systems. The breach targets the EU's top executive body at a moment of heightened geopolitical tension, and comes just days after the European Commission was navigating energy and economic fallout from the Iran war. Details on the extent of the breach and who is responsible have not yet been officially confirmed.
SK Hynix Eyes $10β14B US IPO to End the Global 'RAMmageddon' Memory Shortage
South Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix is considering a U.S. IPO that could raise $10β14 billion β proceeds earmarked to fund new manufacturing capacity that analysts say could help end the severe global DRAM and NAND shortage dubbed 'RAMmageddon.' The move would also be one of the largest foreign tech listings on US markets in years, and could encourage other chip makers to follow. AI-driven demand for memory has made the shortage one of the biggest bottlenecks in the global tech supply chain.
Waymo Ridership Has Grown Tenfold in Under Two Years
A new chart from Waymo shows weekly paid robotaxi trips have grown tenfold in less than two years, a stunning adoption curve that underscores the company's lead over every competitor in the autonomous vehicle space. The data comes as rival Zoox just began carrying passengers in Austin and Miami, but Waymo's scale advantage is now enormous. With AI models improving rapidly and regulatory approvals expanding, analysts say autonomous ride-hailing is transitioning from experiment to mainstream service.
Jury Finds Meta and Google Negligent in Landmark Social Media Addiction Trial
A Los Angeles jury found Meta and Google negligent in a landmark social media addiction trial, awarding a plaintiff $6 million in damages after evidence showed Meta knowingly built addictive features targeting teenagers. The verdict could have broad implications for hundreds of pending cases across the US and may prompt regulators in the UK and elsewhere to tighten social media rules. Meta is also cutting several hundred jobs across sales, recruiting, and its Reality Labs division in a separate announcement.
Iran War Disrupts Helium Supply, Threatening Global Chip Production
The Iran war is now rippling into an unexpected corner of the tech sector: helium supply. Qatar produces a large share of the world's helium, a critical coolant used in semiconductor fabrication, and the conflict is restricting access to those supplies. The disruption adds a new dimension to the war's economic fallout, raising fears of chip production slowdowns on top of already-elevated energy prices.
Waymo Robotaxis Taken Over by Police During Active Crime Scenes, TechCrunch Investigation Finds
A TechCrunch investigation has found that police and first responders have had to manually take control of Waymo autonomous vehicles during emergency situations, including at least two active crime scenes. The incidents raise new questions about the reliability and real-world safety protocols of fully driverless robotaxis when confronted with complex, fast-moving emergencies. Waymo has not publicly detailed its protocols for law enforcement intervention.
Croatian Startup Verne Enters Robotaxi Market with Uber Partnership, Launching in Zagreb
Verne, a robotaxi startup launched under the Rimac Group, is entering the autonomous vehicle market with a service starting in Zagreb, Croatia, with backing from Uber. The little-known company represents a new wave of non-US challengers looking to carve out regional robotaxi markets. Uber's partnership signals its continuing strategy of backing third-party autonomous platforms rather than building its own self-driving technology.
LiteLLM Open Source AI Project Hit by Credential-Harvesting Malware
LiteLLM, a widely-used open-source AI project with millions of users, was found to be infected by credential-harvesting malware, raising serious supply chain security concerns. The incident highlights the growing risk of malware infiltrating popular open-source AI tools that underpin much of the industry's infrastructure. Delve, the security compliance firm that had audited LiteLLM, is now facing scrutiny over how the malware went undetected.
Granola Raises $125M, Valuation Jumps to $1.5B as Meeting AI App Goes Enterprise
Granola, a meeting notetaker app, has raised $125 million in new funding, catapulting its valuation from $250 million to $1.5 billion in a single round. The company is pivoting beyond simple transcription to become a broader enterprise AI application with enhanced support for AI agents. The deal highlights booming investor interest in productivity AI tools that embed deeply into corporate workflows.
Amazon Acquires Second Robotics Startup in a Month, This Time Targeting Kid-Size Humanoids
Amazon has acquired Fauna Robotics, a startup building child-sized humanoid robots, marking its second robotics acquisition in March alone. The move signals Amazon's intensifying push into physical AI and automation beyond its existing warehouse robot fleet. Industry observers see the back-to-back acquisitions as Amazon racing to build a comprehensive robotics portfolio ahead of competitors like Tesla and Figure AI.
Sony and Honda Abandon Joint Afeela EV Project
Sony Honda Mobility has killed plans for its Afeela sedan and SUV electric vehicles, ending one of the auto industry's most high-profile EV joint ventures. The decision follows Honda's earlier move to scale back EV ambitions in the US market, reflecting broader struggles in the premium EV segment amid softening consumer demand and intense competition from Chinese manufacturers. The collapse marks a significant retreat for Sony's ambitions to break into the automotive industry.
Meta Fined $375M for Misleading Users on Child Safety
A New Mexico court has found Meta liable and ordered the company to pay $375 million for misleading users about child safety protections on Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp. The ruling is one of the largest penalties Meta has faced over its handling of minors on its platforms and arrives as the company simultaneously launches new AI-powered shopping features. The verdict adds fresh pressure on Meta to demonstrate meaningful safeguards for younger users across its family of apps.
Epic Games Cuts 1,000 Jobs as Fortnite Engagement and Revenue Slide
Epic Games announced it is cutting 1,000 jobs as the company cited declining engagement on its flagship game Fortnite. The game maker also raised the price of V-Bucks, the Fortnite in-game currency, in what appears to be an effort to offset revenue losses. The cuts represent a significant blow to one of gaming's most prominent studios.
Apple Maps to Introduce Ads This Summer in US and Canada
Apple announced that ads will be coming to Apple Maps this summer, launching first in the United States and Canada. The move is part of a broader suite of new Apple Business offerings set to arrive on April 14, signaling Apple's continued push into digital advertising. This marks a significant shift for Apple Maps, which has long been ad-free.
Zoox Robotaxis Begin Carrying Passengers in Austin and Miami
Amazon-owned autonomous vehicle company Zoox announced it is bringing its robotaxis to Austin and Miami, moving closer to offering paid rides to the public after nearly two years of testing in both cities. The expansion marks a key milestone for Zoox as it battles Waymo and other competitors in the growing robotaxi market. No firm commercial launch date has been given yet.
Agile Robots Partners with Google DeepMind to Integrate Foundation Models into Humanoid Bots
Agile Robots has become the latest robotics company to forge a partnership with Google DeepMind, agreeing to incorporate DeepMind's robotics foundation models into its robots. In exchange, Agile Robots will collect and share training data with the AI research lab. The deal reflects the accelerating race to build general-purpose robots powered by large AI models.
Hark's Former Apple Designer Bets on New AI Interface with Integrated Hardware and Models
A former Apple designer has founded Hark, a startup aiming to build AI models, hardware, and interfaces together as a single integrated system to create a "seamless end-to-end personal intelligence product." The approach directly challenges the current fragmented AI landscape where models, apps, and hardware are developed separately. Hark represents a growing wave of post-smartphone AI-native device companies.
iPhone Exploit Kit 'DarkSword' Leaked Publicly, Putting Millions at Risk
A hacking toolkit dubbed 'DarkSword' has been published to GitHub, giving cybercriminals ready-made exploits to target iPhones running older versions of iOS with spyware. Cybersecurity researchers warn the leak dramatically lowers the barrier for attacks against millions of unpatched devices. Apple has not yet publicly commented on the disclosure.
Apple Sets WWDC 2026 for June 8, Promises Major AI and Siri Upgrades
Apple has officially scheduled its Worldwide Developers Conference for the week of June 8, 2026, teasing 'AI advancements' as a key theme. The company is expected to unveil significant updates to Siri with advanced AI capabilities, signaling Apple's long-awaited push to close the gap with competitors in the AI space. The announcement also comes amid reports that Apple Maps may soon begin serving ads in search results.
Railway Raises $100M to Build AI-Native Cloud, Challenge AWS
Railway, a San Francisco cloud platform that has attracted two million developers without any marketing spend, has secured $100 million to build AI-native infrastructure it says will rival Amazon Web Services. The company positions itself as purpose-built for AI workloads, filling gaps that legacy cloud providers were not designed to address. The raise signals growing investor appetite for the next generation of cloud infrastructure underpinning the AI boom.
Zipline Raises Another $200M as Drone Delivery Expansion Accelerates
Drone delivery startup Zipline has secured an additional $200 million in funding, building on a January round that valued the company at $7.6 billion. The capital will fuel global expansion of its instant logistics network, which already operates in multiple countries delivering medical supplies and commercial goods. The raise cements Zipline as the dominant player in a sector seeing rapid growth as regulators in multiple countries clear pathways for commercial drone operations.
Nvidia GTC Bets $1 Trillion on AI Future, But Wall Street Remains Skeptical
CEO Jensen Huang delivered a two-and-a-half-hour keynote at Nvidia's GTC conference, projecting $1 trillion in infrastructure investment and unveiling new products including NemoClaw and robotics demonstrations. Despite the bold vision, Wall Street was not won over, with investor fears of an AI bubble persisting. Most in the industry, however, remain unconcerned about a bubble, viewing the buildout as a long-term structural shift.
Elon Musk Found to Have Misled Twitter Investors, Jury Rules
A San Francisco jury ruled that Elon Musk misled Twitter investors when he tweeted that the platform had too many bots as a pretext for attempting to back out of his $44 billion acquisition commitment. The verdict concludes that Musk's claims were damaging to investors who relied on accurate information about the deal. The ruling adds to Musk's legal woes and reopens scrutiny of his conduct during the chaotic 2022 takeover saga.
Blue Origin's 'Project Sunrise' Proposes 50,000-Satellite Space Data Center Network
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin has unveiled 'Project Sunrise,' an ambitious plan to build space-based data centers supported by a constellation of more than 50,000 satellites performing high-energy computing in orbit. The project would position Blue Origin as a direct competitor to terrestrial cloud giants like AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. The announcement underscores the growing race to bring AI computing infrastructure to space.
Microsoft Rolls Back Copilot AI Integration Across Windows Apps
Microsoft is pulling back some of its aggressive Copilot AI integration across Windows, reducing entry points in apps like Photos, Widgets, and Notepad. The move signals a recalibration after widespread user feedback that the AI features felt intrusive and bloated. The rollback is seen as an acknowledgment that the company may have moved too fast in embedding AI across its ecosystem.