In Brief Google parent Alphabet has agreed to buy Intersect Power, a data center and clean energy developer, for $4.75 billion in cash plus the assumption of the company’s debt.The acquisition, which was announced Monday, will help Alphabet expand its power generation capacity alongside new data centers without having to rely on local utilities that are struggling to keep up with the demand of AI companies. Securing access to energy that powers data centers has become a critical part of training AI models. ...

The war for the future of Warner Brothers continues, as Paramount Skydance announced Monday an amended all-cash offer for the legacy movie studio. The offer includes an “irrevocable personal guarantee” from a major backer, Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, to provide tens of billions in equity financing for the deal. It’s the latest move by Ellison’s son, David Ellison—the CEO of Paramount Skydance—to pry the potential acquisition loose from his competition, the streaming giant Netflix.  “Larry Ellison has ...

In Brief Uber and Lyft will start testing Baidu’s Apollo Go robotaxis in London in 2026, joining Waymo and local startup Wayve as companies that will have autonomous vehicles in the city next year.Lyft CEO David Risher said in a post on X and LinkedIn that Lyft will start testing once it receives local regulatory approval. His company “plans to scale to hundreds” of Baidu’s electric RT6 SUVs from there, though he did not lay out a timeline for commercial launch. Uber announced it plans to test the vehicles ...

Waymo suspended its robotaxi service in San Francisco on Saturday evening after a massive blackout appeared to leave many of its vehicles stalled on city streets.Numerous photos and videos posted to social media captured Waymo robotaxis stalled at roads and intersections as human drivers either passed them by or were stuck behind them. Waymo said on Saturday that it had temporarily suspended service in the city due to the blackout. Spokesperson Suzanne Philion provided a similar statement to TechCrunch on ...

In Brief Rocket Lab has won an $816 million contract — its largest to date — with the U.S. Space Development Agency as the company continues to diversify beyond its “rocket company” label.The company said Friday that its subsidiary, Rocket Lab USA, was awarded a prime contract by the Space Development Agency (SDA) to design and manufacture 18 satellites. The satellites will be equipped with advanced missile warning, tracking, and defense sensors for the agency’s Tracking Layer Tranche 3 program. This contr ...

Former Patagonia CEO Rose Marcario is resigning from her position on Rivian’s board of directors, according to a Friday afternoon stock exchange filing.Rivian wrote in the filing that Marcario’s last day will be on January 1, and that she is leaving “to focus on other commitments.” Rivian’s board will shrink from eight members to seven upon her resignation. Marcario has served on Rivian’s board since January 2021, a role she took after 12 years as an executive (and eventual CEO) of Patagonia. Before her a ...

The Delaware Supreme Court has reinstated Elon Musk’s $56 billion Tesla pay package from 2018, overturning last year’s ruling by the state’s Chancery Court, according to an opinion published Friday.The state supreme court’s decision draws to a close a years-long battle that left such a bad taste in Musk’s mouth that he moved its incorporation out of Delaware to Texas, which prompted other companies to follow suit. Tesla will now likely revoke a $29 billion pay package it offered Musk earlier this year, whi ...

On Wednesday, Cisco revealed that a group of Chinese government-backed hackers is exploiting a vulnerability to target its enterprise customers who use some of the company’s most popular products.Cisco has not said how many of its customers have already been hacked, or may be running vulnerable systems. Now, security researchers say there are hundreds of Cisco customers who could potentially be hacked. Piotr Kijewski, the chief executive of the nonprofit Shadowserver Foundation that scans and monitors the ...

When you tune in to a podcast, you’re probably not opening the Netflix app – at least for now. That might change, if Netflix gets its way. The streamer signed deals with iHeartMedia and Barstool Sports this week, in addition to a recent deal with Spotify, to gain exclusive video rights to select shows. The company is also rumored to be in talks with SiriusXM. Podcasters see this as an offensive move with YouTube as the primary target. And the data provides a convincing argument. YouTube shared this week th ...

After shifting its gaming strategy to focus more on games played on the TV, Netflix announced it’s acquiring Ready Player Me, an avatar-creation platform based in Estonia. The streamer said Friday it plans to use the startup’s development tools and infrastructure to build avatars that will allow Netflix subscribers to carry their personas and fandom across different games.Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Ready Player Me had raised $72 million in venture backing from investors, including a16z, Endeavor, ...