Iceland’s startup scene is all about making the most of the country’s resources

With fewer than 400,000 inhabitants, Iceland receives more than its fair share of tourists — and of venture capital. Both are good reasons to pay attention to what’s going on and coming out of this unique island nation. “We need more pillars to our economy,” Áslaug Arna Sigurbjörnsdóttir, Iceland’s Minister …...Read More

Kobo's new e-readers are a sidegrade most can skip (with one exception)

Kobo put out a handful of new e-readers a few weeks back: color versions of the excellent Libra 2 and Clara, as well as an updated monochrome version of the latter. But after testing them all out, I can say that for most users, there’s no reason to switch. First, …...Read More

Unity co-founder David Helgason's next act: Gaming the climate crisis

Some retired CEOs go to space. Others move to Hawaii. But Unity co-founder David Helgason chose a different path after 12 years at the helm of the game engine company, which went public in 2020 at a $13.7 billion valuation. Having stepped out as CEO in 2014, Helgason still sits …...Read More

Fisker collapsed under the weight of its founder's promises

Welcome back to TechCrunch’s Week in Review — TechCrunch’s newsletter recapping the week’s biggest news. Want it in your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here. Over the past eight years, famed vehicle designer Henrik Fisker suggested his EV startup would deliver on a lot of promises, but none came true. …...Read More

WTF is AI?

So what is AI, anyway? The best way to think of artificial intelligence is as software that approximates human thinking. It’s not the same, nor is it better or worse, but even a rough copy of the way a person thinks can be useful for getting things done. Just don’t …...Read More

President Biden vetoes crypto custody bill

President Joe Biden has vetoed H.J.Res. 109, a congressional resolution that would have overturned the Securities and Exchange Commission’s current approach to banks and crypto. Specifically, the resolution targeted the SEC’s Staff Accounting Bulletin 121, which presents rules around how banks can handle customers’ crypto assets — in effect, they …...Read More

Industries may be ready for humanoid robots, but are the robots ready for them?

You could easily walk the entire Automate floor without spotting a single humanoid. There was a grand total of three, by my count — or, rather, three units of the same nonworking prototype. Neura was showing off its long-promised 4NE-1 robot, amid more traditional form factors. There was a little …...Read More

VCs are selling shares of hot AI companies like Anthropic and xAI to small investors in a wild SPV market

VCs are clamoring to invest in hot AI companies, willing to pay exorbitant share prices for coveted spots on their cap tables. Even so, most aren’t able to get into such deals at all. Yet, small, unknown investors, including family offices and high-net-worth individuals, have found their own way to …...Read More

How (Re)vive grew 10x last year by helping retailers recycle and sell returned items

The fashion industry has a huge problem: Despite many returned items being unworn or undamaged, a lot, if not the majority, end up in the trash. An estimated 9.5 billion pounds of returns ended up in landfills in 2022 alone, according to data from return logistics software company Optoro. New …...Read More

You can no longer use Tumblr’s tipping feature

Tumblr officially shut down “Tips,” an opt-in feature where creators could receive one-time payments from their followers. As of today, the tipping icon has automatically disappeared from all posts and blogs with the feature enabled. Creators that use the feature should note that June 15 is the last day they …...Read More