​The U.S. is shutting out more foreign-made drones and robots. China’s scale means the global competition may simply move elsewhere.  

​George Arison is done letting Wall Street’s “Grindr discount” go unchallenged — in a wide-ranging Q&A, the CEO walks us through how AI, a controversial $350-plus EDGE tier, and a bet on healthcare and long-distance matchmaking are turning Grindr into the “gayborhood in your pocket” he’s been promising since 2022.  

​The Liux Big microcar is made in Spain. The startup thinks it can compete in a crowded market with its tiny electric car built around sustainability.  

​Elon Musk says a secretive new SpaceX foundry will let him cast his own turbine blades and get gas power online 18 months faster than anyone else — but it’s a bet on a fuel source that’s already triggering lawsuits and health studies everywhere his (and others’) turbines have gone in.  

​Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, your hub for the future of transportation and now, more than ever, the role AI is playing in it.  

​Caterpillar has spent decades putting autonomous machines to work at remote mining sites. It’s now bringing that experience to AI deployment.  

​This latest lawsuit is particularly broad and homes in on accusations of illegal piracy.  

​Investors, founders, and operators from across Europe arrived for the annual Nordic TechBBQ conference to talk about how humans can have agency over AI.  

​Vijay Pande — who left a16z’s roughly $4 billion biotech practice last year to start the much smaller, AI-native VZVC — talks about why biology is finally shifting from a “discovery” science to an “engineering” one, why clinical trials are still brutally expensive, and why he thinks open, shared datasets (not walled-off ones) are what will actually let AI transform…

​Several Hollywood celebs are ditching the massive eight-figure checks and exotic movie sets for a rising format: microdramas.