Devin Coldewey
Writer & Photographer
The Latest from Devin Coldewey
Space startups are licking their lips after NASA converts $11B Mars mission into a free-for-all
Considering how heavily both primes and space startups have been investing in interplanetary capability, this announcement arguably amounts to a historic windfall.
Betaworks bets on AI agents in latest ‘Camp’ cohort
Betaworks is embracing the AI trend not with yet another LLM, but instead a clutch of agent-type models automating everyday tasks that nevertheless aren’t so simple to define. The investor’
Astranis unveils Omega ‘MicroGEO’ satellites for beaming dedicated broadband down from high orbit
Astranis has taken the wraps off a new generation of communications satellites that will serve broadband to customers on Earth from geostationary orbit, but faster and smaller than any comsat up there
Space diversity initiative builds steam with new leadership and K-12 focused National Space Day
A growing effort to attract more women and people of color into the space industry has shared some of its first results and a new occasion to rally around: National Space Day, May 3, when thousands of
Net neutrality won’t survive a Trump presidency
Net neutrality’s long trip toward (then away from, then toward again, then away, and now once more toward) federal protections against broadband meddling may be entering its final chapter, eithe
‘A Brief History of the Future’ offers a hopeful antidote to cynical tech takes
Cynicism is a quality taken almost for granted in tech journalism, and certainly we are as guilty as the next publication. But both the risk and the promise of technology are real, and a new documenta
Anthropic researchers wear down AI ethics with repeated questions
How do you get an AI to answer a question it’s not supposed to? There are many such “jailbreak” techniques, and Anthropic researchers just found a new one, in which a large language
Why Trump’s digital media company is different from other money-losing startups
Former president Donald Trump’s digital media company is losing money, and lots of it. But why is that any different from other “startups,” which often struggle to post a profit for
ChatGPT no longer requires an account — but there’s a catch
OpenAI is making its flagship conversational AI accessible to everyone, even people who haven’t bothered making an account. It won’t be quite the same experience, however — and of course
Amazon doubles down on Anthropic, completing its planned $4B investment
Amazon invested a further $2.75 billion in growing AI power Anthropic on Wednesday, following through on the option it left open last September. The $1.25 billion it invested at the time must be produ
Why it’s impossible to review AIs, and why TechCrunch is doing it anyway
Every week seems to bring with it a new AI model, and the technology has unfortunately outpaced anyone’s ability to evaluate it comprehensively. Here’s why it’s pretty much impossibl
Truth Social SPAC could pay Trump’s astronomical legal bills — if board approves it
Donald Trump’s beleaguered SPAC deal is finally going through, and just in time to pay nearly half a billion dollars owed over several legal actions — if the board agrees to let him sell. Let&
Candela’s electric ferries multiply as the startup lines up $25M in new funding
Electric boat maker Candela is approaching cruising speed with $25 million in new funding and the first commercial deployment of its new P-12 ferry in New Zealand. The company has global ambitions for
After raising $1.3B, Inflection is eaten alive by its biggest investor, Microsoft
In June 2023, Inflection announced it had raised $1.3 billion to build what it called “more personal AI.” The lead investor was Microsoft. Today, less than a year later, Microsoft announce
Why Elon Musk’s AI company ‘open-sourcing’ Grok matters — and why it doesn’t
Elon Musk’s xAI released its Grok large language model as “open source” over the weekend. The billionaire clearly hopes to set his company at odds with rival OpenAI, which, despite i
This Week in AI: Midjourney bets it can beat the copyright police
Keeping up with an industry as fast-moving as AI is a tall order. So until an AI can do it for you, here’s a handy roundup of recent stories in the world of machine learning, along with notable re
‘AI-powered’ ad ignites creator controversy on Instagram
A new ad from Under Armour featuring boxer Anthony Joshua has come under fire from creatives on Instagram after its director claimed it as the “first Ai-powered sports commercial” — but
Microbiome startups respond as industry is accused of ‘questionable practices’
The biotech sector has embraced the microbiome in recent years, a green field market powered by cheap genome sequencing and venture dollars, promising bespoke treatments for everything from gut troubl
Google DeepMind trains a video game-playing AI to be your co-op companion
AI models that play games go back decades, but they generally specialize in one game and always play to win. Google DeepMind researchers have a different goal with their latest creation: a model that
AI2 Incubator scores $200M in compute to feed needy AI startups
AI2 Incubator, spun out of the Allen Institute for AI in 2022, has secured a windfall $200 million in compute that startups going through its program can take advantage of to accelerate early developm