US battery startups have found a lifeline in defense

U.S. battery startups hit a rough patch when the One Big Beautiful Bill eliminated battery and EV incentives, undercutting a chunk of future demand. But recently, they’ve found a lifeline in the defense world, helping to power everything from drones and torpedoes to infantry radios and fighter jets. The Trump administration, despite its open disdain…

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Uber faces fine of nearly $1B over automated driver suspensions

The Dutch Data Protection Authority is fining Uber €825 million (around $966 million) — the second largest penalty issued so far under Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation, according to Reuters. The Dutch regulator was investigating complaints that Uber had deactivated driver accounts through an automated process without sufficient warning or human oversight. In a statement,…

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Will the DOJ’s investigation into a16z spook other VCs?

Following a Bloomberg report that the Department of Justice is investigating venture firm Andreessen Horowitz for holding board seats with rival AI companies, VCs told TechCrunch that they were baffled. On the latest episode of the Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Sean O’Kane, and I were similarly puzzled by the news. Yes, VC conflicts-of-interest are worth…

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Historian Jill Lepore says Silicon Valley misreads science fiction and undermines democracy

Historian Jill Lepore says Silicon Valley misreads science fiction and undermines democracy

In her upcoming book “The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State,” Jill Lepore warns that tech companies are increasingly replacing the functions of democratic government. This shift, she said, marks “a return to tyranny and mystification in the form of rule by algorithms, corporations, machines.” On the latest episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, I…

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Malaysia is reportedly shutting down Balaji Srinivasan’s Network School

Malaysia is reportedly shutting down Balaji Srinivasan’s Network School

The Malaysian government has ordered the shutdown of a startup-centric community called the Network School, according to The Wall Street Journal. Billing itself as “a frontier community for techno-optimists,” the Network School reportedly grew out of entrepreneur and investor Balaji Srinivasan’s conviction that the United States is in irreversible decline; Srinivasan has said his goal…

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