Democratic senator Ron Wyden is asking the U.S. government to review how federal law enforcement agencies use hacking tools and spyware against Americans, citing a lack of transparency into how often or for what reasons these tools are deployed.
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On Tuesday, OpenAI released ChatGPT for Teens, an age-gated version of its chatbot designed for young users. The company first announced it was working on a system to automatically identify teens and restrict their usage of ChatGPT last September, following the death of 16-year-old Adam Raine, who, as alleged in a lawsuit filed by his parents, took his own life after ChatGPT acted as an enabler.
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It's also adding Gemini to its Discover Feed.
Google is making it easier for people to support their favorite publications by introducing a new "Preferred Sources" button webmasters can add to their websites. "When readers click this button, it adds the site as a Preferred Source on Google and immediately directs them back to where they left off on the publisher's page," Google explains. After clicking the button, you'll see the publication appear more frequently Google Search, including in Top Stories, AI Overviews and AI Mode.
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Fusion startup Inertia Enterprises said it has found a way to cut the time it takes to make its fuel pellets from several days to just minutes.
By slashing fuel filling time, Inertia says it has knocked down one of the 10 barriers it must overcome to deliver the first phase of its commercial power plant ambitions. The startup gave TechCrunch an exclusive first look at the process.
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The lowest prices for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 end in just a few days, this Friday, August 21 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Once that window closes, your chance to save up to $300 on your pass, or get an even larger discount on group pricing, will come to an end.
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Drivers may be more distracted on days when a big new album drops.
Taner Muhlis Karaguzel/Shutterstock
Traffic deaths in the United States jump by 15 percent in the immediate aftermath of a major music album's release, according to a new study published by Harvard Medical School researchers. The study looked at 233,809 fatal collisions between 2017 and 2022, comparing the incidence rate of car accidents on album release days against the 10 days immediately before and after each release.
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Black Pony Immersive has veterans from Arkane, Insomniac and Epic.
Black Pony Immersive
Hell yeah. At a time when the video game industry could use some good news, former Arkane Austin head Harvey Smith and longtime collaborator Ben Horne have formed Black Pony Immersive, a studio focused on building narrative-rich first-person action RPGs. In other words: immersive sims. This is the genre Smith is known for, as the designer of the original Deus Ex and co-head of the Dishonored series.
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The bulk of Google's updates this year are around photography and mostly in the software. As far as the hardware changes, the Pixel 11 Pro's 50-megapixel main sensor is a bit bigger than before, while the telephoto camera is also slightly tweaked with a larger half-inch sensor. The front camera is the same 42MP system as on the previous model.
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Also has raised another $150 million as the micromobility startup that spun out of Rivian last year expands its business beyond pedal-assist electric bikes and commercial cargo quads to autonomous delivery vehicles.
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Even if you forget your charger, you can keep your phone powered with just a USB cable.
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