Photograph: Pete Cottell The milk frother surpassed expectations as well. The unit has only one boiler, which means you can’t froth your milk while you pull a shot, but the ability to do all of this in your kitchen makes up for the extra minute it takes for the steam …
Read More »Doctors complain of IT ‘in the stone age’
The United Kingdom’s NHS — the world’s largest public health service — is working on creaking IT infrastructure. In any sector, that’s a ticking time bomb. But when you consider that the NHS holds medical records for nearly 67 million people, a breach of that system could become a meltdown. …
Read More »LatticeFlow’s LLM framework takes a first stab at benchmarking Big AI’s compliance with EU AI Act
While most countries’ lawmakers are still discussing how to put guardrails around artificial intelligence the European Union is ahead of the pack, having passed a risk-based framework for regulating AI apps earlier this year. The law came into force in August, although full details of the pan-EU AI governance regime …
Read More »X rival Mastodon has started selling toys
If you like open-source, decentralized social networks that put the power in the hands of the people instead of billionaires, you can now support that cause…by buying toys. On Tuesday, Mastodon, a decentralized alternative to X, began selling its own merchandise in the form of cute, plushie mastodons – the …
Read More »Nordic entrepreneur-led VC firm Node.vc closes €71 million first fund
From Switzerland’s Founderful to Italians Founders Fund and the Dutch Operator Fund, a new crop of European VC firms claim to operate as “entrepreneurs backing entrepreneurs.” Although it might still be early to call it a trend, Swedish fund Node.vc has now joined this group, with €71 million in funding …
Read More »Support automation firm Capacity grows with new cash and acquisitions
David Karandish has been busy. Capacity, his support automation company, was planning a $5 million “bridge round” to help the company reach the break-even point. But TVC Capital, Toloka.vc, and the venture’s other backers had something grander in mind. So they threw in an additional $21 million for what became …
Read More »The woman who filmed Waymo’s honking robotaxis got an apology promo—then spent all day using it
Sophia Tung set up a livestream this past summer, showing self-driving Waymo cars honking from the San Francisco parking lot near her apartment at all hours of the night. As a kind of apology for the nuisance, Waymo threw an ice cream party in Tung’s building and gave Tung, a …
Read More »Storio is helping other businesses unlock more value from solar energy
Meet Storio, a French startup that’s focused on providing smart energy storage for commercial and industrial customers. Founded in 2023, the startup raised a €5 million seed round earlier this year (around $5.5 million at current exchange rates) and has signed its first client. Storio believes solar panels have a …
Read More »Two more weeks to go: Connect with Meta, Dropbox, J.P. Morgan, and HP at Disrupt
In just over two weeks, TechCrunch will gather some of the startup world’s leading companies at Disrupt in San Francisco. But our partners provide more than just financial support. Their presence at Disrupt gives startups at any stage the tools, knowledge, and community they need to be a success. We …
Read More »How Tesla’s plans for ‘unsupervised FSD’ and robotaxis could run into red tape
During Tesla’s much-hyped robotaxi reveal event last week, CEO Elon Musk said he expects Tesla to release an “unsupervised” version of FSD, the automaker’s advanced driver assistance system, in Texas and California in 2025 on certain Model 3 and Model Y vehicles. He also said Tesla would begin production on …
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