In a fitting move for a company focused on bringing extinct species back to life, Dallas-based Colossal Biosciences has raised $200 million in Series C funding, becoming Texas’ first “decacorn,” a term for private companies valued at over $10 billion. […]
Samsung and Apple are both preparing to launch new, thinner smartphones in 2025, but it sounds like Samsung’s Galaxy S25 “Slim” won’t match what’s rumored for the “iPhone 17 Air” per a new leak that reveals how thin the device is.
Duffy, a former Republican congressman, lobbyist, and Fox News personality, made the comments during his confirmation hearing Wednesday in front of the Senate Commerce Committee. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) asked whether he could maintain objectivity in investigating Tesla, which is headed by Trump donor and supporter Elon Musk.
“Yes, I commit to this committee and to you that I will let NHTSA do their investigation,” he said. “I think I also mentioned to you that a lot of the players in these spaces, I haven’t met any of them.”
Duffy’s comments follow months of reporting about Musk’s unprecedented influence over Trump’s transition, in which the Tesla CEO has sat in on meetings with potential nominees, vetted new hires, and volunteered to co-lead a committee to oversee massive spending cuts. Trump is also reportedly weighing policy decisions that would favor Musk’s business, such as eliminating a crash reporting rule for partial and fully autonomous vehicles.
During the Biden administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched several investigations into the safety of Tesla’s automated driving technology. One the largest probes resulted in a December 2023 recall of more than 2 million Tesla vehicles to install better safeguards for the company’s Autopilot driver assist feature. NHTSA launched another investigation into the adequacy of the recall.
Duffy didn’t say anything more about stepping into a role that could put him at odds with Musk. But he did comment on the needs for national legislation to better regulate the safe rollout of autonomous vehicles. He said:
This is not just a wonderful technology that has a potential of making our roads safer, but this is a national security issue. We can’t fall behind China or other countries as it comes to AV technology. Right now, we have a patchwork of laws from state to state. I believe there has to be a federal law by which all of these innovators can abide by it, no matter if they’re in Texas or in California or somewhere else. And again, I’ll always make sure that safety is key. But after safety, we want to give a wide runway for these companies and innovators to create products that are going to bring us this new technology that, again, can revolutionize the way we get items, how we travel, whether you’re taking an Uber or ... It can be remarkable and exciting.
As transportation secretary, Duffy has a bully pulpit to advocate for a national law for self-driving cars. And its been reported that Trump is in favor of passing such a bill once taking office.
But Congress has taken up several proposals over the past decade, with little to show for it. And its unclear whether major differences will be settled by the time the next opportunity arises.
The federal government has largely taken a back seat to in regulating autonomous vehicles, leaving states to develop their own rulebooks for safe deployment — which Duffy said was not ideal. Legislation that would dramatically increase the number of AVs on the road has been stalled in Congress for over seven years, with lawmakers at odds over a range of issues, including safety, liability, and the right number of exemptions from federal motor vehicle safety standards.
Donald Trump will take the presidential oath of office on Friday in front of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., once again. The event takes place at noon ET and is expected to attract considerable attention from both supporters and opponents. How to stream Trump’s inauguration You can watch the inauguration live with cable or […]
François Chollet, an influential AI researcher, is launching a new startup that aims to build frontier AI systems with novel designs. The startup, Ndea, will consist of an AI research and science lab. It’s looking to “develop and operationalize” AGI. AGI, which stands for “artificial general intelligence,” typically refers to AI that can perform any […]
Sean Duffy, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to head the U.S. Department of Transportation, thinks owners of electric vehicles should pay to use roads. “How to do that, I think, is a little more challenging,” Duffy said at his confirmation hearing Wednesday before the Senate Commerce Committee. The former Republican lawmaker is correct that it would […]
Hiya, folks, welcome to TechCrunch’s regular AI newsletter. If you want this in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. This week was something of a swan song for the Biden administration. On Monday, the White House announced sweeping new restrictions on exporting AI chips — restrictions that tech giants, including Nvidia, loudly criticized. (Nvidia’s business […]
Thirteen looks to be a lucky number for WeatherTech, as the U.S. automotive and home accessories company is returning to the Super Bowl for the 13th time, including two years of airing multiple in-game spots. The new campaign, which will air in the second quarter, comes from its longtime agency partner, Pinnacle Advertising, which has...
Apple and Goldman Sachs have had a fraught Apple Card relationship, which has widely been reported to be ending soon. Now, Goldman’s CEO has confirmed the possibility of a premature conclusion to the Apple partnership during a recent earnings call.
The Folio Society's latest George R.R. Martin release offers a reminder that season three of House of the Dragon will likely arrive before The Winds of Winter.
Microsoft will soon let you get in-person repairs for Xbox Series X / S consoles at uBreakiFix stores, the company announced today.
Microsoft already offers in-person Xbox repairs at Microsoft retail stores, but uBreakiFix will be the “the first Xbox Authorized Service Provider,” according to the announcement. You’ll be able to get Xbox repairs at uBreakiFix’s “nearly 700 participating store locations across the US” starting January 20th, Microsoft says. (The company notes that you should check with your local uBreakiFix store to make sure they are participating in the Xbox repairability program.)
In the announcement, Microsoft says that it’s expanding its repairability program for the white Xbox Series S, the white Xbox Series X digital edition, and special edition Xbox Series X “Galaxy Black” model. We’ve asked Microsoft if the black Xbox Series X with a disc drive and the black Xbox Series S qualify for uBreakiFix repairs as well.
If you’re looking to repair your Xbox yourself, sourcing parts for that recently got a bit easier after iFixit started offering genuine Xbox parts and step-by-step repair guides in December. iFixit offers parts and guides for repairing Surface devices, too.
In its announcement today, Microsoft also says that packaging for the white Xbox Series S, the white Xbox Series X digital edition, and Xbox Series X “Galaxy Black” model “are now fully paper and fiber-based, eliminating all single-use plastics.”
This week is quickly becoming a sea change moment for Sonos as the company looks to undo the damage done to its reputation since last May. It all began on Monday with the departure of CEO Patrick Spence, who was replaced by board member Tom Conrad. Then came news that chief product officer Maxime Bouvat-Merlin would also be leaving the company — another indication that Sonos is serious about correcting course and taking accountability for its new app woes.
In a third shakeup within the company’s leadership ranks, I can report that chief commercial officer Deirdre Findlay is also stepping down. Sonos’ not-yet-updated corporate governance page says Findlay “oversees all marketing, revenue, and customer experience organizations at Sonos. She is responsible for integrated brand strategy, geographic expansion strategies, and all go to market execution.”
By now, there’s no arguing that Sonos’ go-to-market strategy for its rebuilt mobile app was deeply flawed and rushed. Before he lost his job, Spence eventually conceded that the company should’ve taken a far more cautious approach and offered the new software as a beta release while keeping the previous, more stable version in place. Instead, Sonos pushed a buggy experience on all customers and has spent the months since dealing with the resulting fallout.
As it relates to marketing, some Sonos employees have expressed their dismay to me over just how much money the company dumped into advertising last year even amid the app controversy. Those big spends included an expansive New York City subway campaign for the Sonos Ace headphones and a holiday elves campaign that cost a staggering amount. The Ace headphones, which I maintain are a very good product, were quickly forgotten when the gravity of Sonos’ app problems came into focus, so the marketing had little effect. None of that sat well internally — especially after layoffs in the summer.
But that was then. In the span of 48 hours, interim CEO Tom Conrad and the board have demonstrated a clear objective to get Sonos back on the right path. I’m told that the moves have immediately boosted morale inside the company, with employees sensing that the new regime is serious about getting back to doing what Sonos does best.
After the devastation of the Los Angeles fires, officials are ready to rebuild. But defending against future fires requires thinking about more than buildings.
