Volkswagen’s cheapest EV ever is the first to use Rivian software

Volkswagen’s ultra-cheap EV called the ID EVERY1 — a small four-door hatchback revealed Wednesday — will be the first to roll out with software and architecture from Rivian, according to a source familiar with the new model. The EV is expected to go into production in 2027 with a starti

GibberLink lets AI agents call each other in robo-language

A weekend hackathon project that lets AI agents talk on the phone with each other in a robotic language, one that’s incomprehensible to humans, has gone viral on social media over the past week. The project, called GibberLink, was created by two Meta software engineers during a hackathon co

Mach Industries, founded by 21-year-old Ethan Thornton, lands US Army contract, builds weapons factory

Sequoia-backed Mach Industries, the defense tech founded by 21-year-old Ethan Thornton, landed a contract with the U.S. Army and has plans for its first factory, Thornton told technewss. The factory will be 115,000 square feet in Huntington Beach, California, where Mach's headquarters is loca

Google Play update makes it easier to find Android apps with widgets

Google announced Monday a series of changes to its widgets system on Android that will make it easier for app developers to reach their users. Widgets, which offer at-a-glance views of an app’s most important information — like the day’s weather or upcoming meetings on your calend

Mark Cuban offers to fund government tech unit that was cut in the middle of the night

Billionaire investor Mark Cuban waded into the latest government tech shake-up on Saturday, offering support on the social network Bluesky for newly laid-off federal workers whose job it was to make government tech work better. His message, which quickly gained traction, urged the displaced engine

Sequoia’s Roelof Botha warns ‘chumps’ not to buy into SPVs

One of Sequoia’s most prominent investors, managing partner Roelof Botha, sees signs of another greed cycle brewing in venture capital, one where the least sophisticated investors will likely get the most hurt. He posted a warning on X on Thursday, writing, “We remain destined to repea

OpenAI unveils GPT-4.5 ‘Orion,’ its largest AI model yet

Updated 2:40 pm PT: Hours after GPT-4.5’s release, OpenAI removed a line from the AI model’s white paper that said “GPT-4.5 is not a frontier AI model.” GPT-4.5’s new white paper does not include that line. You can find a link to the old white paper here. The original

Apple introduces new child safety initiatives, including an age-checking system for apps

Apple on Thursday announced a range of new initiatives designed to help parents and developers create a safer experience for kids and teens using Apple devices. In addition to easier setup of child accounts, parents will now be able to share information about their kids’ ages, which can then

YC grad Deepnight nabs $5.5M for AI night vision software that disrupts a multi-billion-dollar industry

Deepnight co-founders Lucas Young and Thomas Li have been friends since childhood. Both were working as software engineers at Google when Young decided he wanted to crack the code, so to speak, on a problem that had plagued the U.S. military for decades: digital night vision tech. Most night visio

Trump signs executive order to expand DOGE’s spending review powers

In a newly issued executive order (EO), the Trump administration has instructed the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the Elon Musk-advised initiative to reduce federal spending, to create a “centralized technological system” in every agency to record contract and grant awards

Automattic-owned Beeper is releasing redesigned desktop and iOS apps

WordPress.com owner Automattic last year acquired the multi-service messaging app Beeper for $125 million and said it would merge it with Texts.com, an earlier acquisition in the same category. Now Beeper is releasing the first set of redesigned apps for iOS and desktop in beta after the merger. I

Web Summit attendees aren’t buying Scale AI CEO's push for America 'to win the AI war'

In a bold move last month, Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang took out a full-page ad in The Washington Post, telling President Trump that “America must win the AI war.” The statement sparked mixed reactions, as seen during Wang's appearance Sunday during the opening night of Web Summit Qatar. Whe

Apple exec Phil Schiller testifies that he raised concerns over App Store commissions on web-based sales

Apple Fellow Phil Schiller, the executive in charge of leading the App Store, testified in court on Monday that he had originally raised concerns about the 27% commission the iPhone maker planned to charge app developers on any purchases made outside the App Store. In addition to being a potential

Instagram upgrades DMs with music sharing, message scheduling, translation, and more

Instagram is upgrading its direct messages, also known as DMs, with a handful of new features that make its messaging system more competitive with alternatives, like Apple’s iMessage and other third-party apps. On Wednesday, Instagram users globally will gain access to tools to translate mess