Sarah Perez

Consumer News Editor, TechCrunch

Sarah has worked as a reporter for TechCrunch since August 2011. She joined the company after having previously spent over three years at ReadWriteWeb. Prior to her work as a reporter, Sarah worked in I.T. across a number of industries, including banking, retail and software.

Sarah Perez

After educating the D.C. market, YC aims to leverage its influence, particularly in areas like competition policy.

DC’s political class doesn’t know Y Combinator exists — yet

With dozens of antitrust cases and close to a hundred on the consumer protection side, the agency is now turning to innovative tactics to help it fight fraud, particularly in…

FTC Chair Lina Khan shares how the agency is looking at AI

Some of the new Apple Intelligence features that Apple debuted at WWDC 2024 don’t even feel like AI, they just feel like smarter tools. 

Apple’s AI, Apple Intelligence, is boring and practical — that’s why it works

These messaging features, announced at WWDC 2024, will have a significant impact on how people communicate every day.

At last, Apple’s Messages app will support RCS and scheduling texts

Unlike Light’s older phones, the Light III sports a larger OLED display and an NFC chip to make way for future payment tools, as well as a camera.

Light introduces its latest minimalist phone, now with an OLED screen but still no addictive apps

Particle announced it has partnered with news organization Reuters to collaborate on new business models and experiments in monetization.

AI news reader Particle adds publishing partners and $10.9M in new funding

Elon Musk’s posts seem to misunderstand the relationship Apple announced with OpenAI at WWDC 2024.

Elon Musk threatens to ban Apple devices from his companies over Apple’s ChatGPT integrations

Apple’s SDKs (software development kits) have been updated with a variety of new APIs and frameworks.

Apple brings its GenAI ‘Apple Intelligence’ to developers, will let Siri control apps

Apple Intelligence will have an understanding of who you’re talking with in a messaging conversation.

Apple debuts AI-generated … Bitmoji

The new OS, announced at WWDC 2024, will allow users to mirror their iPhone screen directly on their Mac and even control it.

With macOS Sequoia, you can mirror your iPhone on your Mac

Apple says the new design will lead to less time searching for photos.

Apple revamps its Photos app for iOS 18

In iOS 18, Apple will now support long-requested functionality, like the ability to set app icons and widgets wherever you want.

iOS 18 will finally let you customize your icons and unlock them from the grid

As WWDC 2024 nears, all sorts of rumors and leaks have emerged about what iOS 18 and its AI-powered apps and features have in store.

What to expect from Apple’s AI-powered iOS 18 at WWDC 2024

Apple’s annual list of what it considers the best and most innovative software available on its platform is turning its attention to the little guy.

Apple’s Design Awards highlight indies and startups

Google says apps offering AI features will have to prevent the generation of restricted content.

Google Play cracks down on AI apps after circulation of apps for making deepfake nudes

Google has developed a new AI tool to help marine biologists better understand coral reef ecosystems and their health, which can aid in conversation efforts. The tool, SurfPerch, created with…

Google looks to AI to help save the coral reefs

Bridgy Fed is one of the efforts aimed at connecting the fediverse with the web, Bluesky and, perhaps later, other networks like Nostr.

Bluesky and Mastodon users can now talk to each other with Bridgy Fed

Google’s newest startup program, announced on Wednesday, aims to bring AI technology to the public sector. The newly launched “Google for Startups AI Academy: American Infrastructure” will offer participants hands-on…

Google’s new startup program focuses on bringing AI to public infrastructure

The malicious attack appears to have involved malware transmitted through TikTok’s DMs.

TikTok acknowledges exploit targeting high-profile accounts

It’s unusual for three major AI providers to all be down at the same time, which could signal a broader infrastructure issues or internet-scale problem.

AI apocalypse? ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity all went down at the same time

Instagram Threads is rolling out the ability for users to signal which sort of posts they wanted to see more or less of by swiping.

You can now customize your For You feed on Threads using swipes

The change would see Instagram becoming more like the free version of YouTube, which requires users to view ads before and in the middle of watching videos.

Instagram confirms test of ‘unskippable’ ads

Google is embarrassed about its AI Overviews, too. After a deluge of dunks and memes over the past week, which cracked on the poor quality and outright misinformation that arose…

Google admits its AI Overviews need work, but we’re all helping it beta test

Yes, we’re calling it “ThreadsDeck” now. At least that’s the tag many are using to describe the new user interface for Instagram’s X competitor, Threads, which resembles the column-based format…

‘ThreadsDeck’ arrived just in time for the Trump verdict

Instagram is testing a way for creators to experiment with reels without committing to having them displayed on their profiles, giving the social network a possible edge over TikTok and…

Instagram tests ‘trial reels’ that don’t display to a creator’s followers

Though Spotify never shared official numbers, it’s likely that Car Thing underperformed or was just not worth continued investment in today’s tighter economic market.

Spotify offers Car Thing refunds as it faces lawsuit over bricking the streaming device

Can AI help you tell your story? That’s the idea behind a startup called Autobiographer, which leverages AI technology to engage users in meaningful conversations about the events in their…

Autobiographer’s app uses AI to help you tell your life story

With the release of iOS 18 later this year, Apple may again borrow ideas third-party apps. This time it’s Arc that could be among those affected.

Is Apple planning to ‘sherlock’ Arc?

Instead of opening the user’s actual browser or a WebView, Custom Tabs let users remain in their app while browsing.

Google Chrome becomes a ‘picture-in-picture’ app

YouTube’s free Playables don’t directly challenge the app store model or break Apple’s rules. However, they do compete with the App Store’s free games.

YouTube’s free games catalog ‘Playables’ rolls out to all users