Devin Coldewey
Writer & Photographer
The Latest from Devin Coldewey
Unity U-turns on controversial runtime fee and begs forgiveness
Unity has done a 180 on a controversial new pricing scheme that users of its cross-platform game engine almost unanimously disparaged.
Anthropic’s Dario Amodei on AI’s limits: ‘I’m not sure there are any’
As Anthropic takes on OpenAI and other challengers in the growing artificial intelligence industry, there is also an existential question looming: Can large language models and the systems they enable
Parallel Health takes a biotech-forward approach to skincare with custom phage therapy
Parallel Health turns the microbiome of the skin from creepy fact to potentially transformative skin care with custom phage therapy.
Project Gutenberg puts 5,000 audiobooks online for free using synthetic speech
Open book repository Project Gutenberg has turned thousands of its titles into audiobooks practically overnight using synthetic speech, available now for download or streaming on multiple services. Th
Unity reportedly backtracking on new fees after developers revolt
Unity, the popular cross-platform game and media development engine, is on the defensive after receiving intense backlash over a controversial new fee structure, which developers using the platform de
California hits Google for $93M over deceptive location data options
A lawsuit filed against Google by California’s Attorney General over the company’s deceptive and misleading options for managing location data has resulted in a $93 million settlement —
Apple is killing the iPhone’s silent switch
The ring/silent switch has been on the iPhone since the very first one was announced in 2007 by Steve Jobs, but now the writing is on the wall for the device’s last significant moving part. With
‘Exadelic’ takes a shot at being Silicon Valley’s ‘Ready Player One’
We don’t often review books at TechCrunch, let alone fiction, but sometimes a work comes along that is just so carefully tuned to the ecosystem we cover that it justifies a quick post. And so he
This week in AI: The generative AI boom drives demand for custom chips
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 res
Scala Biodesign makes it easy to re-engineer proteins one molecule at a time – or 50
There’s a gold rush on in biotech as AI and other tools are used to find new drugs and treatments. With $5.5 million in new funding, Scala Biodesign is focusing these methods on a related proble
X, formerly Twitter, challenges California’s new transparency law as unconstitutional
X, formerly known as Twitter, has filed a lawsuit alleging that a new California law requiring social networks to declare certain moderation practices is a violation of the company’s Constitutio
Musk says he limited Ukraine’s Starlink to prevent attack on Russia
Elon Musk has confirmed that he in essence scuttled a Ukrainian military strike on Russia by refusing to allow Starlink to be used in the process. The billionaire claims the decision was made to avoid
Artists sign open letter saying generative AI is good, actually
Artists are among the many groups who will feel the effects of AI over the next few years, but it’s not doom and gloom for everyone. A group of artists have organized an open letter to Congress,
FCC finally gets its 5th commissioner in Anna Gomez
The FCC is whole again with the Senate’s confirmation of Anna Gomez as the agency’s fifth commissioner, empowering it to take more and faster action regarding all matters regulatory in com
OpenAI angles to put ChatGPT in classrooms with special tutor prompts
OpenAI wants its conversational AI agent ChatGPT everywhere, and that includes classrooms — despite the immense potential for misuse and confusion there. Taking the bull by the horns, the company ha
Starfield review: Guns and ships galore, but a vacuum of wonder
The long-awaited “Skyrim in space,” Starfield, is out today after many years in development over at Bethesda. It’s ambitious and lavishly produced, but despite its size it lacks the
Betaworks goes all-in on augmentative AI in latest camp cohort: ‘We’re rabidly interested’
Betaworks is no stranger to investing in artificial intelligence and machine learning, but the latest cohort of their Camp “thematic accelerator” indicates a confidence in the field beyond
Survey finds relatively few Americans actually use (or fear) ChatGPT
From its prominence in the tech world, you might think that everyone on the planet is using ChatGPT or some other AI tool for everything from automating their job to planning their garden. But recent
VFX artists show that Hollywood can use AI to create, not exploit
Hollywood may be embroiled in ongoing labor disputes that involve AI, but the technology infiltrated film and TV long, long ago. At SIGGRAPH in LA, algorithmic and generative tools were on display in
You can finally buy Lego’s Braille Bricks
Building with Lego bricks has stayed a formative and important practice for kids around the world, partly because it’s so easily enjoyed by anyone, regardless of location, language, or ability.