business
SpaceX will try a triple booster landing with Falcon Heavy launch
SpaceX’s historic first Falcon Heavy flight will be immediately followed by a historic first landing attempt, too. The commercial space company headed by Elon Musk confirmed over the weekend that…
What Silicon Valley tech VCs get wrong about consumer investing
When I began fundraising for CircleUp six years ago, I encountered many investors whose eyes would glaze over when I mentioned “consumer.” These investors would fidget uncomfortably or drop their…
Mobile delivers high exit multiples despite broader market slowdown
In the world of mobile apps, numbers come in two sizes: big and bigger. More than one billion people use Facebook’s mobile app every day. But what about the financial…
Nuro’s self-driving vehicle is a grocery-getter and errand-runner
Not every self-driving car has to be able to move passengers from point A to point B. Take, for example, Nuro: The startup just revealed their unique autonomous vehicle platform,…
Elon Musk has now sold 15K flamethrowers, earning $7.5M for boring
The Boring Company is getting decently well-capitalized on the back of sales of its flamethrower (yes, flamethrower). The no-doubt overpriced piece of knack, which can be made yourself at home…
Boeing HorizonX invests in Berkeley aerospace battery tech startup
Boeing’s HorizonX is the aerospace company’s vehicle for making investments in promising next-generation startups and technology, and it just placed its latest bet: funding in Cuberg, a Berkeley-based battery tech…
Nvidia and GE subsidiary Baker Hughes want to bring the power of artificial intelligence to bear on the oil and gas industry – and do so throughout the space, covering…
Elon Musk’s flamethrower has already made well over $3.5 million
Hats… and now flamethrowers. Elon Musk’s Boring Company has so far been more of a ‘lifestyle’ brand (and a weird one at that) than a company that, you know, digs…
SpaceX sets historic first Falcon Heavy launch for February 6
SpaceX has set February 6 as the target for its Falcon Heavy launch, the first ever test flight of the new, high-capacity rocket that the company is building to allow…
botkeeper has an automated bookkeeping bot for your accounting needs
There are probably few things that small businesses hate more than accounting. It’s tedious, time consuming and totally vital to ensure that businesses can remain in business and don’t run…
Apple’s augmented reality tool kit can now detect walls and 2D images in beta
Apple is rolling out an upgrade to its augmented reality toolbox, ARKit, to developers in a beta version today. ARKit 1.5 adds a few marquee features including one big one:…
Elon Musk’s Boring Co. pitches plan to build a tunnel under Culver City to LA
The Boring Company, Elon Musk’s most unassumingly named tech venture, has presented a plan to build a 6.5 mile tunnel between Hawthorne (where SpaceX HQ is located) and West Los…
Elon Musk’s new Tesla compensation plan only pays if he delivers
Elon Musk’s new Tesla compensation package is the CEO equivalent of putting your money where your mouth is: He’ll only be paid out if he manages to raise the value…
Twitter COO Anthony Noto resigns to become SoFi CEO
Twitter COO Anthony Noto has left the company, Twitter announced Tuesday. Noto’s leaving because he accepted a CEO role elsewhere, according to the release. Just last week, the WSJ reported…
Uber CEO hopes to have self-driving cars in service in 18 months
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi was speaking to Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait today at the new outlet’s event #TheYearAhead event, and he shared some more information about Uber’s plans around autonomy,…
SpaceX can’t test launch Falcon Heavy while government is shut down
SpaceX is impacted by the ongoing U.S. government shutdown — which is bad news both for its pending Falcon Heavy test flight, as well as for its other missions, which…
SoftBank’s $1.2 billion primary direct investment deal has officially closed, according to Uber itself, which confirmed the deal closure and provided the following statement to TechCrunch via a spokesperson: We’re…
Expanding into new markets, Namely adds former Box exec, Graham Younger, as president
Graham Younger, a former executive vice president of Box and longtime enterprise software executive, is joining the human resources services provider Namely as its new president. The New York-based company,…
Ferrari is going to going to build an EV that will aim to have no peer – including from the likes of Tesla. Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said that…
Elon Musk says Model 3 owners will “be able to do pretty much anything” via voice
The Tesla Model 3 might be off to a slower production start than the company would’ve liked, but there are big improvements coming for the vehicle once Tesla gets on…
Codeless development platforms are at once a blessing and a curse. If they’re complete enough to be powerful they are too difficult for beginners and if they’re simple enough for…
Argo AI self-driving test car hit in Pittsburgh as truck runs red light
One of the test cars Argo AI operates in its Pittsburgh fleet was involved in an accident on Wednesday, with two people sent to hospital (in stable condition) with injuries…
This is my third time joining a new firm and second time starting one of my own. One would think that I would remember the challenges of building up a…
Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi launches $1 billion corporate venture capital fund
The world’s largest automaker, Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi, has launched a $1 billion corporate venture capital fund to focus on investments in “new mobility” including electrification, autonomous systems, network connectivity and artificial intelligence.…
Intel sets the stage for new ‘Level 2+’ automated driving
Mobileye’s REM (road experiment management, in full) is going to help develop Level 4 and 5 vehicles eventually, yes, but Intel’s Dan Galves, Mobileye’s Chief Communications Officer, tells me that…
Baidu and AMI launch Southeast Asia joint venture and $200M fund
Baidu teamed up with Asia Mobility Industries to launch a new Singapore-based mobility venture fund, called “Apollo Southeast Asia.” This will also help establish a foothold for Baidu to pursue…
Samsung is one of the tentpoles that holds up CES. Every year the company has one of the largest offerings at the show and 2018 will not be different. Samsung’s…
Toyota’s mobility business shifts into high gear at CES
Toyota took advantage of CES 2018 to signal a major shift in its business, becoming what company president Akio Toyoda termed a “mobility service company” during his keynote presentation. Toyota…
Toyota launches dedicated mobility services concept vehicle
Toyota has launched a new concept car that incorporates fully autonomous technology in a platform designed specifically for ride sharing and ride-hailing. The new ‘e-Palette’ concept car resembles a small…
Toyota teams up with Uber, Amazon, Pizza Hut and more on mobility services
Toyota has partnered with a number of companies to form the “e-Palette Alliance,” which is a group intended to help guide its transformation as a mobility services company, and determine…
