Devin Coldewey is a Seattle-based technology journalist specializing in the societal impacts of emerging technologies. As a 16-year veteran at TechCrunch with additional bylines in The Economist and NBC News, he brings a unique perspective shaped by:
Coldewey's 2025 coverage prioritizes:
Devin Coldewey has carved a unique niche as a journalist bridging technical innovation with societal impact. Beginning his career in 2007 with TechCrunch during the smartphone revolution, he documented early mobile app ecosystems and startup culture. His work evolved through three distinct phases:
"True innovation isn't just about what technology can do, but what society chooses to do with it."
This 2024 investigation exposed the legal and ethical battleground of AI training data acquisition. Coldewey meticulously traced how Perplexity's scraping practices allegedly violated copyright protections, interviewing legal experts from Stanford's Center for Internet and Society and engineers from competing AI firms. The piece became essential reading for intellectual property lawyers, prompting three congressional hearings on AI data governance.
In this 2024 TechCrunch Disrupt interview, Coldewey pushed beyond PR talking points to explore the practical challenges of lunar infrastructure. His questioning revealed previously undisclosed details about public-private partnerships for oxygen extraction systems, contextualizing them through historical parallels to early internet governance.
This 2024 analysis piece combined on-the-ground reporting from automated warehouses with economic modeling from MIT researchers. Coldewey demonstrated how "glitch economics" - the hidden costs of maintaining autonomous systems - often negate projected savings, reshaping how investors evaluate automation startups.
Coldewey prioritizes stories exploring technology's ripple effects rather than product launches. A successful pitch might examine how rural 5G deployment affects migratory bird patterns, mirroring his approach in Space Agenda 2025 where he connected lunar infrastructure to Earth's climate monitoring systems.
His work consistently maps current innovations to 5-10 year policy horizons. When pitching AI stories, emphasize regulatory frameworks being developed today that will shape deployment, as seen in his Perplexity lawsuit coverage that anticipated GDPR amendments.
Coldewey frequently uses historical parallels to explain emerging technologies. A compelling pitch might compare blockchain governance challenges to early 20th century radio spectrum allocation debates.
Stories that reveal unexpected industry convergences resonate strongly. His analysis of how medical imaging AI influenced satellite terrain mapping demonstrates this approach.
With increasing focus on space policy, pitches should address how technologies enable or complicate international agreements. Reference his moon exploration piece that examined mineral rights through UN treaty frameworks.
At PressContact, we aim to help you discover the most relevant journalists for your PR efforts. If you're looking to pitch to more journalists who write on Tech, here are some other real estate journalist profiles you may find relevant:
