Technology

A weekly startups-and-markets newsletter, inspired by the daily TechCrunch+ column. Want it in your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here. Journalists and readers love scoops. But sometimes it’s important to state the obvious This week, I’m reminded that democracies are fragile but that technology can help. And also that crowdfunding isn’t always the best way to launch an innovative product. On a side note, this newsletter will be taking a break until January 6 next year, so wishing you all happy holidays. —Anna Why agentic tech? When I read that a new venture firm called ex/ante had raised $33 million to invest in agentic tech startups, I was intrigued. What is agentic tech, and why does it matter? Agentic tech refers to technologies that enable humans to interact with the world in more auto...

Issue Discovered After Crewed Suborbital Flight In a recent development, Virgin Galactic is working closely with regulatory bodies to investigate an issue related to an alignment pin that was discovered after the last crewed suborbital flight in January. The company has taken immediate action by notifying the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about the anomaly and is conducting a thorough review of the incident. What Happened During the Flight During post-flight reviews, Virgin Galactic discovered that an alignment pin had detached from VMS Eve, the aircraft responsible for carrying the suborbital space plane to altitude. The company's investigation has revealed that the alignment pin played a crucial role in ensuring the proper alignment of the spaceship (VMS Unity) with the airc...