Technology
Photoncycle aims to store energy cheaply using a clever hydrogen solution

The solar energy sector has been fighting interseasonal energy storage for years. The ability to harness surplus solar energy through the summer months for winter use stays an elusive goal, with existing solutions equivalent to batteries becoming insufficient due to prohibitive costs and limited lifespan. Meanwhile, hydrogen, despite its clean-burning properties, has been sidelined due to inefficiency and high costs.
Photoncycle — a startup emerging from the depths of an accelerator on the Oslo Science Park in Oslo, Norway — is working on a solution. Startup claims that with a vision as clear because the summer sun, solid hydrogen technology can store energy more efficiently ammonia synthesis reactor. The claim is that this technology provides more economical storage than every other battery or liquid hydrogen solution available on the market.
A diagram showing Photoncycle’s vision of a complete system installed in a home. Image credits: Photocycle
“Lithium-ion batteries use expensive metals. Our material is super cheap: storing 10,000 kilowatt hours costs about $1,500, so it’s almost nothing. In addition, our data storage solution is 20 times more dense than a lithium-ion battery and does not waste electricity,” explains founder and CEO Bjørn Brandtzaeg in an interview with TechCrunch. “This means we have a system where energy can be stored over time, allowing for seasonal storage. This is completely different from traditional batteries.”
Photoncycle uses water and electricity to produce hydrogen. This in itself will not be unusual in the event you follow fuel cell vehicle technology. However, the corporate’s approach includes an progressive twist: a reversible, high-temperature fuel cell. This advanced fuel cell can produce hydrogen and generate electricity in the identical device.
The core of Photoncycle’s innovation is hydrogen processing. They process hydrogen after which use technology to convert and store it in solid form. The company claims that this storage method will not be only secure due to the non-flammable and non-explosive nature of the solid, but in addition highly efficient. It enables the storage of hydrogen with a density roughly 50% greater than liquid hydrogen, which is a significant advance in hydrogen storage solutions. These innovations form the cornerstone of the Photoncycle system, facilitating the secure and dense storage of hydrogen, which the corporate says represents a huge breakthrough in energy technology.
Current clean energy solutions, equivalent to rooftop solar, are limited by inconsistent supplies due to the unpredictable nature of weather conditions. A sturdy reusable energy storage solution could overcome these schedules, ensuring a stable energy supply when these renewable sources encounter inevitable intermittent periods.
Great in theory, but not without its own challenges.
“The Netherlands is the country in Europe with the highest density of rooftop solar energy. We are currently seeing huge growth due to high energy prices; everyone wants rooftop solar,” Brandtzaeg says. However, he adds that this method can backfire for homeowners: “Last July within the Netherlands in the midst of the day it was 500 euros per megawatt hour to export electricity“
Placing energy storage along with an energy-producing house effectively allows homes to be disconnected from the grid. Photoncycle says it has tested and worked with the core components of its solution – the following step is to integrate it into the system. The company says that if successful, it could seriously threaten Powerwall, Tesla’s lithium-ion battery solution.

David Gerez, CTO at Photoncycle, and Ole Laugerud, Photoncycle chemist, in Photoncycle’s purpose-built laboratory, which has been operating for nearly two years. Image credits: Photocycle
“It’s a relatively complex system – that’s why so many PhDs from different fields are working on it. The reason why Elon Musk said hydrogen is stupid is because you lose a lot of energy when you convert electricity into hydrogen and vice versa,” says Brandtzaeg. He believes his company can turn this bug into a feature. “In residential buildings, where 70% of energy demand is for heating, it is possible to use excess heat to provide hot water. We will focus on markets where people currently use natural gas for heating, and then we will replace the gas boiler in the home, using existing water infrastructure.”
Brandtzaeg’s confidence within the operational framework of the concept is convincing. He pointed to a small model of their operating facility within the labs, scaled down to the scale of a automobile battery. Brandtzaeg believes this scaling needs to be seamless and cites it because the primary reason they felt confident in implementing the project.
When it comes to providing power, hydrogen takes a while to generate electricity, so for buffering, the corporate relies on an intermediate, more conventional battery to balance the load. The company definitely attracts the eye of investors: Photocycle has just raised $5.3 million (€5 million) to construct the primary few energy storage devices in Denmark, which Photoncycle has chosen as its test market.
“Based on the interest, we could have raised 10 times more than we did. However, after this increase, I am still the majority owner,” says Brandtzaeg. “I wanted to maintain control of the company for as long as possible and not raise more capital than necessary to bring this service to market.”
Technology
One of the last AI Google models is worse in terms of safety

The recently released Google AI model is worse in some security tests than its predecessor, in line with the company’s internal comparative test.
IN Technical report Google, published this week, reveals that his Flash Gemini 2.5 model is more likely that he generates a text that violates its security guidelines than Gemini 2.0 Flash. In two indicators “text security for text” and “image security to the text”, Flash Gemini 2.5 will withdraw 4.1% and 9.6% respectively.
Text safety for the text measures how often the model violates Google guidelines, making an allowance for the prompt, while image security to the text assesses how close the model adheres to those boundaries after displaying the monitors using the image. Both tests are automated, not supervised by man.
In an e-mail, Google spokesman confirmed that Gemini 2.5 Flash “performs worse in terms of text safety for text and image.”
These surprising comparative results appear when AI is passing in order that their models are more acceptable – in other words, less often refuse to answer controversial or sensitive. In the case of the latest Llam Meta models, he said that he fought models in order to not support “some views on others” and answers to more “debated” political hints. Opeli said at the starting of this yr that he would improve future models, in order to not adopt an editorial attitude and offers many prospects on controversial topics.
Sometimes these efforts were refundable. TechCrunch announced on Monday that the default CHATGPT OPENAI power supply model allowed juvenile to generate erotic conversations. Opeli blamed his behavior for a “mistake”.
According to Google Technical Report, Gemini 2.5 Flash, which is still in view, follows instructions more faithfully than Gemini 2.0 Flash, including instructions exceeding problematic lines. The company claims that regression might be partially attributed to false positives, but in addition admits that Gemini 2.5 Flash sometimes generates “content of violation” when it is clearly asked.
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“Of course, there is a tension between (after instructions) on sensitive topics and violations of security policy, which is reflected in our assessment,” we read in the report.
The results from Meepmap, reference, which can examine how models react to sensitive and controversial hints, also suggest that Flash Gemini 2.5 is much less willing to refuse to reply controversial questions than Flash Gemini 2.0. Testing the TechCrunch model through the AI OpenRoutter platform has shown that he unsuccessfully writes essays to support human artificial intelligence judges, weakening the protection of due protection in the US and the implementation of universal government supervisory programs.
Thomas Woodside, co -founder of the Secure AI Project, said that the limited details given by Google in their technical report show the need for greater transparency in testing models.
“There is a compromise between the instruction support and the observation of politics, because some users may ask for content that would violate the rules,” said Woodside Techcrunch. “In this case, the latest Flash model Google warns the instructions more, while breaking more. Google does not present many details about specific cases in which the rules have been violated, although they claim that they are not serious. Not knowing more, independent analysts are difficult to know if there is a problem.”
Google was already under fire for his models of security reporting practices.
The company took weeks to publish a technical report for the most talented model, Gemini 2.5 Pro. When the report was finally published, it initially omitted the key details of the security tests.
On Monday, Google published a more detailed report with additional security information.
(Tagstotransate) Gemini
Technology
Aurora launches a commercial self -propelled truck service in Texas

The autonomous startup of the Aurora Innovation vehicle technology claims that it has successfully launched a self -propelled truck service in Texas, which makes it the primary company that she implemented without drivers, heavy trucks for commercial use on public roads in the USA
The premiere appears when Aurora gets the term: In October, the corporate delayed the planned debut 2024 to April 2025. The debut also appears five months after the rival Kodiak Robotics provided its first autonomous trucks to clients commercial for operations without a driver in field environments.
Aurora claims that this week she began to freight between Dallas and Houston with Hirschbach Motor Lines and Uber Freight starters, and that she has finished 1200 miles without a driver to this point. The company plans to expand to El Paso and Phoenix until the top of 2025.
TechCrunch contacted for more detailed information concerning the premiere, for instance, the variety of vehicles implemented Aurora and whether the system needed to implement the Pullover maneuver or the required distant human assistance.
The commercial premiere of Aurora takes place in a difficult time. Self -propelled trucks have long been related to the necessity for his or her technology attributable to labor deficiencies in the chairman’s transport and the expected increase in freigh shipping. Trump’s tariffs modified this attitude, not less than in a short period. According to the April analytical company report from the commercial vehicle industry ACT researchThe freight is predicted to fall this yr in the USA with a decrease in volume and consumer expenditure.
Aurora will report its results in the primary quarter next week, i.e. when he shares how he expects the present trade war will affect his future activity. TechCrunch contacted to learn more about how tariffs affect Auror’s activities.
For now, Aurora will probably concentrate on further proving his safety case without a driver and cooperation with state and federal legislators to just accept favorable politicians to assist her develop.
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At the start of 2025, Aurora filed a lawsuit against federal regulatory bodies after the court refused to release the appliance for release from the protection requirement, which consists in placing warning triangles on the road, when the truck must stop on the highway – something that’s difficult to do when there isn’t a driver in the vehicle. To maintain compliance with this principle and proceed to totally implement without service drivers, Aurora probably has a man -driven automotive trail after they are working.
(Tagstranslate) Aurora Innovation
Technology
Sarah Tavel, the first woman of the Benchmark GP, goes to the Venture partner

Eight years after joining Benchmark as the company’s first partner, Sarah Tavel announced that she was going to a more limited role at Hapeure Venture.
In his latest position as a partner Venture Tavel will proceed to invest and serve existing company boards, but may have more time to examine “AI tools on the edge” and fascinated with the direction of artificial intelligence, she wrote.
Tavel joined Benchmark in 2017 after spending a half years as a partner in Greylock and three years as a product manager at Pinterest. Before Pinterest, Tavel was an investor in Bessemer Venture Partners, where she helped Source Pinterest and Github.
Since its foundation in 1995, the benchmark intentionally maintained a small team of six or fewer general partners. Unlike most VC corporations, wherein older partners normally receive most of the management and profits fees, the benchmark acts as an equal partnership, and all partners share fees and returns equally.
During his term as a general partner of Benchmark, Tavel invested in Hipcamp on the campsite, chains of cryptocurrency intelligence startups and the Supergreaty cosmetic platform, which was purchased by Whatnot in 2023. Tavel also supported the application for sharing photos of Paparazhi, which closed two years ago, and the AI 11x sales platform, about which TechCrunch wrote.
(Tagstotransate) benchmark
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