Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. To get this in your inbox, sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! There is a bit of a theme emerging in transportation — and really every industry: AI is creating jobs for some … Read more
Will Ferrell has done the Will Ferrell thing for so long — playing embarrassingly self-absorbed doofuses, both fictional and based on real people — that it’s easy to forget that when it counts, he can still serve as the glue on “Saturday Night Live.” For his sixth time hosting the show since leaving the cast … Read more
Kaden Tennyson is a high school senior who works at an ice cream shop to make a few bucks to help pay for Uber drives and a veterinarian bill for his injured dog. He’s also a shotputter and discus thrower at Riverside Notre Dame. He was suffering from a strained tendon in his right ankle … Read more
It’s a Friday night happy hour at Distrito Catorce bar in Boyle Heights, and the regulars note that the crowd listening to Spanish-language jams has a few more unfamiliar faces than usual. The reason quickly becomes clear, as Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman arrives for a hora feliz con Nithya, sipping a Tajin-rimmed drink … Read more
The release of the new Audemars Piguet and Swatch pocket watch was not exactly fine-tuned. Loading audio narration… Throngs of enthusiasts and resellers, who hoped to turn a profit, swarmed Swatch locations around the world this weekend for a chance to snag a piece of the Royal Pop collection. Hype around the release — a … Read more
HARRISBURG, Pa. — The artificial intelligence boom is leading to fights in some states over growing utility profits, as governors, attorneys general and others protesting rising electricity bills say cash-strapped residents are stuck in a broken system. Officials and lawmakers in at least six states — Arizona, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania — are … Read more
WASHINGTON — Thousands of people streamed onto the National Mall for a daylong prayer rally Sunday headlined by President Trump and billed as a “rededication of our country as One Nation under God.” Against the backdrop of the Washington Monument, worship music blared from a stage that made clear the event’s Christian focus. Arched stained-glass windows, set … Read more
Commencement season has come around again — and this year, a couple speakers have discovered that it’s tough to get graduating students excited about a future shaped by artificial intelligence. Last week, Gloria Caulfield, an executive at real estate firm Tavistock Development Company, gave a speech at the University of Central Florida acknowledging that we’re … Read more
CANNES, France — The movies of Na Hong-jin aren’t hard to love — they’re as obsession-worthy as the stylish rigor with which they are made. His 2008 debut, “The Chaser,” found new febrility in the post-Fincher serial killer thriller. “The Wailing” somehow added ghosts, demon-possessed children and inky black crows to the mix with a near-crazed sense … Read more
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is investigating a confirmed measles case in a resident who recently traveled internationally, the agency said in a release Saturday. This is the fifth measles case identified by the county this year as outbreaks increase across the U.S. and globally. The infected resident arrived at the Los … Read more
Former UFC champion and Olympic medalist Ronda Rousey (13-2) needed just 17 seconds to defeat Gina Carano (7-2) with her signature armbar on Saturday at Intuit Dome, bringing her mixed martial arts career to a close. In her return to MMA, Rousey quickly took Carano down to the mat at the start of the round. … Read more
In San Francisco, the AI boom is creating fame, fortune — and existential dread. Loading audio narration… As rapid technological development widens the gap between the haves and the have-nots, a sort of machine-age ennui has set across San Francisco, says Deedy Das, a partner at venture capital firm Menlo Ventures. Das said in a … Read more
WAIALUA, Hawaii — The reddish-brown mud that smothered Bok Kongphan’s Hawaii farm has hardened in the tropical sun. Irrigation tubes lie in a tangle where his lemongrass, cucumber and okra once flourished. His niece, Jeni Balanay, lost her crops too —bitter melon, tomato and a mustardy green called choy sum. The leaves of her recently planted banana, … Read more
For Ross Stripling, baseball was something of an accidental career. He walked onto the team at Texas A&M, majoring in business finance, planning to stick around campus long enough to earn a master’s degree. After his junior year, he turned down a six-figure bonus offered by the Colorado Rockies. After his senior year, he accepted … Read more
TECATE, Mexico — White sage burning, Norma Meza Calles gathers guests at a Mexican wellness resort into a semicircle facing Kuuchamaa Mountain and asks everyone to close their eyes and feel its presence. “This is sacred to us like a church for you all. The mountain is our healer, our psychologist,” said Meza Calles, a Kumeyaay Nation … Read more