TechCrunch Mobility: Uber enters its assetmaxxing era

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, your hub for the future of transportation and now, more than ever, how AI is playing a part. 

Palantir posts mini-manifesto denouncing inclusivity and ‘regressive’ cultures

Palantir’s ideological bent has come under more scrutiny as it’s worked with ICE and positioned itself as a defender of “the West.”

Robots beat human records at Beijing half-marathon

The winning time is a massive improvement over last year’s race, when the fastest robot finished in two hours and 40 minutes.

Blue Origin’s New Glenn put a customer satellite in the wrong orbit during its third launch

The first major failure of Blue Origin’s new heavy-launch system could create delays to its ambition to help NASA and the Trump administration return to the Moon.

The 12-month window

A lot of AI startups exist partly because the foundation models haven’t expanded into their category yet. As many jokingly acknowledge, that won’t last forever.

OpenAI’s existential questions

On the latest episode of Equity, we discuss OpenAI’s latest acquisitions and whether they address “two big existential problems” for the company.

There’s New Evidence for How Loneliness Affects Memory in Old Age

A longitudinal study found that loneliness is more closely linked to lapses in immediate and delayed recall than to the overall speed of cognitive decline.

The Weird, Twisting Tale of How China Spied on Alysa Liu and Her Dad

Years before the figure skater became an Olympic superstar, a Chinese operative tried to stalk her father and monitored other US residents deemed dissidents against China. And that’s just the beginning.

Tech CEOs Think AI Will Let Them Be Everywhere at Once

Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey have different visions for how to use AI for management purposes, but both imagine a system of heightened control.

We Love the Bose QuietComfort Ultra 2, Especially at $50 Off

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra 2 have the best active noise cancellation on the market, and they very rarely get cheaper.