Propelling deep space flight with a new fuel source, Momentus prepares for liftoff – TechCrunch

Mikhail Kokorich, the founder of Momentus, a new Y Combinator-backed propulsion technology developer for space flight, hadn’t always dreamed of going to the moon. A physicist who graduated from Russia’s top-ranked Novosibirsk University, Kokorich was a serial entrepreneur in who grew up in Siberia and made his name and his first fortunes in the years…

Trump’s China tariffs could drive up the price of the Apple Watch and Fitbit trackers – TechCrunch

A new $200 billion round of tariffs on Chinese goods could have some broader implications for U.S.-based hardware companies. New government rulings on the Trump-imposed tariffs single out a couple of key devices buy name, including the Apple Watch, Fitbit trackers and Sonos speakers. Products like smartphones have thus far been unimpacted by fees leading…

Data breach exposes trade secrets of carmakers GM, Ford, Tesla, Toyota – TechCrunch

Security researcher UpGuard Cyber Risk disclosed Friday that sensitive documents from more than 100 manufacturing companies, including GM, Fiat Chrysler, Ford, Tesla, Toyota, ThyssenKrupp, and VW were exposed on a publicly accessible server belonging to Level One Robotics. The exposure via Level One Robotics, which provides industrial automation services, came through rsync, a common file transfer protocol…

AnyVision AI startup locks in $28M for its body and facial recognition tech – TechCrunch

As image recognition advances continue to accelerate, startups with a mind towards security applications are seeing some major interest to turn surveillance systems more intelligent. AnyVision is working on face, body and object recognition tech and the underlying system infrastructure to help companies deploy smart cameras for various purposes. The tech works when deployed on most…

Self-driving car startup Voyage brings on ex-Tesla, Cruise and Uber exec as CTO – TechCrunch

Voyage, the autonomous driving startup that currently operates self-driving cars in retirement communities, has brought on its first CTO, Drew Gray. Gray most recently worked at Uber as its director of engineering, leading the deep learning and perception team in San Francisco, according to his LinkedIn. This comes shortly after the company poached Uber’s head…