Darrell Etherington
Managing Editor, U.S.
The Latest from Darrell Etherington
Firefly Aerospace reaches orbit for the first time
There’s another space-proven private launch company in the club — Firefly Aerospace. The company’s small payload Alpha rocket reached orbit successfully early on Saturday morning after taking of
Tesla’s robot strategy is inextricably tied to its Autopilot strategy, for better or for worse
Tesla unveiled its first prototype of its Optimus humanoid robot on Friday — an actual robot this time, by the strictest definition, instead of a flesh and blood human clad in a weird suit. The ro
Free the female-presenting nipple and other TC news
Is Tumblr porn making a comeback? No, it’s not — and Amanda Silberling joins me on this week’s TechCrunch podcast to explain why, and why people thought it might be. Devin Coldewey also
NASA’s DART anti-asteroid satellite successfully smashes into space rock
NASA has completed a key step of its “Double Asteroid Redirection Test” (DART), smashing a satellite roughly the size of a vending machine into a small moon that’s about half-a-mile
Rockstar Games confirms GTA 6 footage leak
Rockstar Games has confirmed that it recently “suffered a network intrusion” that resulted in the massive leak of 90 videos of early development versions of Grand Theft Auto 6. The company
This Mac app makes it easy to create your own AI images with Stable Diffusion
Everyone wants to get in on the AI image generation action, but if you’ve been intimidated by the existing options out there based on Stable Diffusion, including the Midjourney Discord bot, you’re
Massive GTA 6 gameplay video leak depicts male and female playable characters
Rockstar’s next installment in its Grand Theft Auto series could be one of the most anticipated video games in existence, and a new purported leak could offer us our best look yet at GTA 6. The
Sonos introduces new $429 Sub Mini subwoofer
Sonos has a new Sub in its lineup, and this one isn’t quite as prohibitively expensive: The $429 Sub Mini comes in at almost half the price of the more expensive existing $749 Sub — and is als
Blue Origin launch aborted after mid-flight anomaly
Blue Origin launched its 23rd New Shepard rocket mission this morning, featuring science payloads designed for experimentation. The mission needed early, however, after it was aborted during the first
Twitter. Whistle. Blown. (and other TC news)
This week on The TechCrunch Podcast we’re talking to Zack Whittaker about TechCrunch’s new spyware lookup tool and a whistleblower complaint against Twitter alleging massive security issues. Tim D
Is Adam Neumann a new man? and other TC news
This week on The TechCrunch Podcast Anita Ramaswamy is back to talk about Adam Neumann’s latest Andreessen Horowitz-backed startup, and Amanda Silberling joins us to talk about teens flocking away f
The phishing catch of the day is Twillio (and other TC news)
This week on the TechCrunch Podcast Natasha Mascarenhas is back to talk about VC-backed aperitif company Haus being forced to sell. Then we’re joined by Carly page to talk about a recent phishing ca
Founders, whales and the sea change in the entrepreneurial energy
Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. This is our Wednesday show, where we niche down to a single to
Ford raises F-150 Lightning prices across the board
Ford is raising the price of the F-150 Lightning, with increases ranging from $6,000 to $8,500, depending on the model and trim level. The entry-level “Pro” badged F-150 Lightning will now
Bolt Mobility bolted (and left cities with a mess) and other TC news
This week on The TechCrunch Podcast we’re talking to Natasha Mascarenhas about YC’s decision to shrink their startup cohort and the recent layoffs at On Deck. Then we’re joined by Rebecca Bellan
Instagram is being Myspaced by TikTok and other TC news
This week on The TechCrunch Podcast, Becca Szkutak comes on to talk about the fraught state of extension rounds for many early-stage startups, and Devin Coldewey talks about upcoming changes to Instag
Here’s what Swarm has been up to in the 10 months since being acquired by SpaceX
It’s been nearly a year since satellite Internet-of-Things connectivity provider Swarm was acquired by SpaceX, and Swarm co-founder and CEO Sara Spangelo (now senior director of Satellite Engine
Russia leaving the International Space Station in 2024 and will focus on building its own
Russia has announced that it will officially end its international collaboration with NASA around operation of the International Space Station (ISS) as of 2024, according to AP News. Roscosmos, the Ru
Tesla’s solar roofs have stayed mostly in the dark, and other TC news
This week on The TechCrunch Podcast, TC climate writer Harri Weber comes on to talk about Tesla’s underperforming solar roofing business and new TC reporter Kyle Wiggins does a deep dive into Butler
SpaceX’s Starship booster engines explode in test gone wrong
SpaceX’s Starship program encountered a setback after a test ended in a fiery explosion at its Boca Chica development facility in Texas on Monday night. The test was being conducted using a prot