Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Welcome to TC PM! Today we've got the details on Google's first AI agent; we look at a new surveillance tool that targets Android devices; and we hear from Cruise employees who say they were surprised by GM's pivot away from robotaxis. Let's do it.

TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: Google DeepMind

🫡 Agent Gemini, reporting for duty: Google today announced its first AI agent that can take control of a user's browser and perform tasks like navigating websites and filling out forms. The Gemini-powered agent is only available for a select group of users for now. Read more

🤷 Guessing game: At a press briefing today, the Pentagon said that it has no evidence that the mystery drones flying over New Jersey come from a foreign entity. The drones don't belong to the U.S. military, either, it said. Cool, cool. Read more

📰 Cruise's communication breakdown: GM announced yesterday that it would stop putting resources toward Cruise, the company's robotaxi unit. Many Cruise employees found out about the news from, well, the news, and feel blindsided by the move. Read more

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Afternoon must-reads

Image Credits: MirageC / Getty Images

👀 New surveillance tool just dropped: Security researchers say they've discovered a new surveillance tool, aptly named EagleMsgSpy, that is being used by Chinese law enforcement to collect information from Android devices in China. Read more

🤨 Well, OK, then: Windows Report noticed that Mozilla's upcoming Firefox browser release removes its "Do Not Track" setting, which tells websites you don't want to be tracked. Never fear, the omission is because it never worked anyway. Does that make it better? Read more

⚡️ More models: In addition to announcing its first AI agent, Google also unveiled a new model today, Gemini 2.0 Flash. (Seriously, who names these things?) The model can generate images and audio in addition to text. Read more

🚀 Money for a moonshot: Lumen Orbit is looking to build data centers in space, which is quite the ambitious goal. But clearly not too ambitious for VCs: The company had inbound interest from hundreds of VCs for its $11 million seed round. Read more

🎙️ Can the government ever be efficient? Today's Equity podcast features a conversation with Columbia Business School professor Michael Morris, who discusses his thoughts on DOGE and whether the government can be run like a business. Listen here

🤝 Apple teams up with Broadcom: Apple is partnering with semiconductor company Broadcom to develop its first server chip designed for AI applications. The company aims to complete its chip-design process within 12 months. Read more

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Around the web

🧑‍⚖️ Not today, Nvidia: The Supreme Court dismissed an appeal from Nvidia, which leaves the company liable for a lawsuit against it that says it misled shareholders on its reliance on crypto-mining revenue leading up to that market's crash. Read more

😩 Good luck with that: Y Combinator-backed Artisan launched an ad campaign in San Francisco this week describing why companies should stop hiring humans and instead hire AI. We got a first look at these ads at TechCrunch Disrupt, too. Cringe! And sigh. Read more