TECH NEWS

This Shoe Company’s Instagram Ad With a Frat Is Pissing People Off

A popular national footwear brand recently published a collaborative Instagram post with a fraternity, despite two former members being recently accused of disseminating nonconsensual intimate images of a fellow college student.

On September 25, HEYDUDE, a viral shoe brand that was acquired by Crocs in 2022, posted a photo on its Instagram account promoting shoes that appeared to be UF versions of the brand’s popular “Wally” loafer, a lightweight slip-on sneaker with a foam insert.

“@heydude called, @thetachiflorida answered,” the caption read, alongside photos of Theta Chi members clowning around and wearing orange-and-blue sneakers. The brand also posted a video on its TikTok account outside of the Florida fraternity house with the caption “wtf is any shoe besides a HEYDUDE?”

The post led to backlash in the comments section, with many questioning why the brand would choose to work with the fraternity. “#CancelHeyDude,” one person wrote. Another chimed in: “I...

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Affected by layoffs? Don’t miss this $75 deal for your TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 Expo+ Pass

If you’ve been laid off, you can get a TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 Expo+ Pass for just $75. The offer is limited to the first 100 qualifying people, or until Disrupt doors open on October 13 at 8 a.m. PT. Once all 100 passes are claimed, the offer is

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Google Japan Is Back With Another Wild New Keyboard Concept

Google is a massive multinational corporation with offices all around the world, each with their own culture and priorities. The Google Japan team has garnered some fame for its silly and outlandish product prototypes — particularly physical Gboard keyboards that are as whimsical as they are experimental. Their newest release, the

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AI21 trains its models on AI Hypercomputer

Editor’s note: AI21 Labs is a leading global AI lab with a long track record of building foundation models, most notably the Jamba family, and today focuses on specialized LLMs and agent optimization technology. By adopting Google Cloud AI Hypercomputer, AI21 cut high-priority job wait times from 72 hours

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Robot software startup FieldAI is set to raise $700M at a $10B valuation

FieldAI is raising $700M at a $10B valuation, five times its mark from just over a year ago, for software designed to run robots it does not build. Europe’s biggest robotics rounds this year funded machine makers, and the nearest European answer to FieldAI was reported at about a

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Affected by layoffs? Don’t miss this $75 deal for your TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 Expo+ Pass

Google Japan Is Back With Another Wild New Keyboard Concept

AI21 trains its models on AI Hypercomputer

Robot software startup FieldAI is set to raise $700M at a $10B valuation