Erin Brockovich takes aim at data center secrecy

Erin Brockovich takes aim at data center secrecy

Environmental activist Erin Brockovich has a new mission: Bringing more transparency to data center construction and the impact those data centers have on nearby communities. Brockovich — who was famously played by Julia Roberts in a film dramatizing her legal case against Pacific Gas & Electric — recently launched a website with a map of…

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Today is the last day to apply to speak at Disrupt 2026

Today is the last day to apply to speak at Disrupt 2026

TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 returns October 13–15 to Moscone West in San Francisco — and applications to speak are open for just a few more hours. We’re inviting founders, investors, operators, and technology experts to apply for a chance to take the stage at one of the most influential tech events of the year. More than 10,000 startup and VC…

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U.S. says troops were targeted with location data, as senator warns ad industry is a ‘national security threat’

U.S. says troops were targeted with location data, as senator warns ad industry is a ‘national security threat’

The U.S. Department of Defense has confirmed that adversaries have targeted and surveilled serving military personnel on the battlefield using commercial location data, the latest demonstration of how information collected from phones and computers can be abused to track and target individuals.  In a letter shared by Sen. Ron Wyden with TechCrunch, U.S. Central Command…

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Google engineer charged with insider trading after making .2M on Polymarket

Google engineer charged with insider trading after making $1.2M on Polymarket

The U.S. Justice Department charged Google software engineer Michele Spagnuolo with insider trading, alleging the employee made $1.2 million trading on Polymarket based on confidential business information. Spagnuolo, who used the name “AlphaRaccoon” on Polymarket, has worked at Google for over 12 years, according to information on LinkedIn. “As alleged, Spagnuolo violated the duties he…

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Dutch government blocks US company from acquisition, citing ‘risk to public interest’

Dutch government blocks US company from acquisition, citing ‘risk to public interest’

The Dutch government has blocked American IT giant Kyndryl from acquiring Solvinity, a Dutch cloud provider that hosts the Netherlands’ online identity platform. The government in The Hague said the deal poses a possible “risk to the public interest.” Dutch minister for the digital economy Willemijn Aerdts said in a machine-translated letter published Monday that…

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Pentagon releases UFO files on new website

Pentagon releases UFO files on new website

The Trump administration on Friday launched a new website that will house a collection of “new, never-before-seen” files about UFOs, according to the Pentagon. (And yes, we’re apparently okay with calling them UFOs again, as the URL to the new website is war.gov/ufo.) In a public announcement by the Defense Department — which, under Trump,…

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