Rivian’s startup Mind Robotics hires former Ford EV chief Doug Field
Field also worked on Apple’s secretive car project and oversaw development of the Tesla Model 3.
Tech News
Flox Intelligence is building AI to keep wildlife away from trains, airports, and roads
Flox’s edge devices can identify animals and use species-specific sounds to drive them away from critical infrastructure.
Rivian spinoff Mind Robotics hires Doug Field as president
Rivian spinoff Mind Robotics announced the appointment of Doug Field as president in a major coup for the EV company’s secretive robotics startup. Field was a VP of special projects at Apple, where he was the de facto head of the company’s ultimately unsuccessful Project Titan effort to make an autonomous electric car. He had […]
Facebook is giving users more control over their algorithm
Facebook is the latest social media platform to give users greater control over the algorithm that determines what appears in their feeds. Meta announced the launch of its new AI-powered feature, “Your Algorithm,” on Tuesday, a feature it first launched on Instagram. The new tool allows Facebook users to influence the content they see in […]
Forget rockets — Longshot wants to fire cargo into space from a gun. See it at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026
Longshot is trying to build a gun big enough to make space data centers a reality.
I don’t miss the camera on the Ray-Ban Meta Audio glasses
The other day I whizzed past several people while running in the park, my playlist blasting at full volume. The next morning, I smiled at a barista while ordering a caramel apple-flavored matcha latte. Afterward, I sat on a park bench reading a book, called up a pal to chat about her recent trip to […]
The feds are looking into reports of Tesla’s robotaxis speeding through school zones
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it’s evaluating allegations that Tesla’s 1,000 or so robotaxis using its automated driving system are exceeding “posted speed limits in active school zones.” Waymo’s robotaxis have also faced similar inquiries, including for illegally passing school buses and hitting a child near a California elementary school. NHTSA: The Office […]
Laplace Intelligence red-teams robots and self-driving cars before they hit the real world
University of Michigan spinout Laplace Intelligence uses AI agents and interactive simulation to stress-test robots and self-driving vehicles before deployment. The profitable startup is competing at TechCrunch Disrupt’s Startup Battlefield.
The Xteink X4 Pro is a great, tiny e-reader, and it’s cheaper than ever
If you’re looking for an e-reader that can easily fit in your pocket (or snap onto your magnet-equipped phone), the tiny Xteink X4 Pro might be worth a look. It features a 4.26-inch, 800 x 480 E Ink display, making it significantly smaller and thinner than Amazon’s smallest six-inch Kindle. It’s also quite a bit […]
Pluto Security raises $42M as AI gives enterprise security teams a new headache
The problem with giving everyone in a company access to AI tools is that people will use them in unexpected ways. And that fact is steadily seeding fears that companies now have new, gaping security holes in their systems or, at least, will soon.