An AI doctoral student in California had their SEVIS record — the digital proof of their valid student visa — terminated, putting their immigration status at risk. Speaking to TechCrunch, the student, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal, said they were notified via their college’s international student center that they’d been identified in a criminal records […]
Tech Crunch
20 new tech unicorns were minted in 2025 so far
Despite a still tight venture capital market, new unicorns are still being created every month. Using data from Crunchbase and PitchBook, TechCrunch tracked down the newly VC-backed startup minted unicorns so far this year (as of the end of January). These include healthcare companies like Hippocratic AI and satellite space companies like Loft Orbital. This […]
Put your brand at the center of the AI conversation — host a Side Event during TechCrunch Sessions: AI
This June, the most influential minds in artificial intelligence will converge at TC Sessions: AI — and your brand has a unique opportunity to be part of the action. From June 1–7, TechCrunch is curating a weeklong series of Side Events that orbit the main stage event on June 5 at UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall. […]
Final weeks to secure your spot in the AI spotlight at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
The countdown is real! Exhibit tables for TechCrunch Sessions: AI are almost gone, and the May 9 deadline is closing in fast. If you’ve been meaning to showcase your AI innovation, this is your last window to make it happen. No more “maybe next year.” No more waiting for the perfect moment. This is it! […]
Instagram is using AI to find teens lying about their age and restricting their accounts
Meta is using AI technology to search for kids who are lying about their age on Instagram in order to bypass safeguards, the company announced on Monday. When Meta finds an account that it suspects belongs to a teen, the platform will enroll them into a restricted Teen Account, even if the account lists an […]
Tesla reportedly delays launch of new low-cost model by months
Tesla is pushing back the promised launch of a more affordable EV by months, according to a report from Reuters. The new model, which is supposedly a very stripped-down Model Y, was supposed to debut in the first half of this year but now might not come until late 2025 or early 2026, states the […]
Airbnb will now show users the total cost of their stay right away
One of the chief complaints of Airbnb users over the years has been not being able to tell right away how much they would pay for their stay, including charges such as cleaning fees. Airbnb is now fixing that by showing the total cost for a given property, including all charges, automatically. Users across the […]
Palantir exec defends company’s immigration surveillance work
One of the founders of startup accelerator Y Combinator offered unsparing criticism this weekend of the controversial data analytics company Palantir, leading a company executive to offer an extensive defense of Palantir’s work. The back-and-forth came after federal filings showed that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — tasked with carrying out the Trump administration’s […]
OpenAI’s o3 AI model scores lower on a benchmark than the company initially implied
A discrepancy between first- and third-party benchmark results for OpenAI’s o3 AI model is raising questions about the company’s transparency and model testing practices. When OpenAI unveiled o3 in December, the company claimed the model could answer just over a fourth of questions on FrontierMath, a challenging set of math problems. That score blew the […]
Kids sure love video game movies
“A Minecraft Movie” isn’t just a hit — after three weekends in theaters, the film is estimated to have grossed $344 million domestically and $720 million worldwide. That makes it the biggest movie of an admittedly underwhelming year at the box office (so far), and the second biggest video game movie of all time. Coming […]