Is beats earbud replacement available same day?
When your earbuds stop working or get damaged, it’s natural to wonder if a beats earbud replacement can be obtained immediately. The availability of same-day replacements depends on the type of part you need, your location, and whether you choose…
Sources: AI training startup Mercor eyes $10B+ valuation on $450 million run rate
Mercor, a startup that connects companies like OpenAI and Meta with domain experts needed to train and refine their foundational AI models, is in discussions with investors for a Series C round, according to a marketing document viewed by TechCrunch…
Geothermal is too expensive, but Dig Energy’s impossibly small drill rig might fix that
On a farm near Manchester, New Hampshire, I was recently treated to a gusher of dirty water, not exactly the sort of thing that most startups will show a reporter. But for Dig Energy, the mud is a feature, not…
Intel’s chief executive of products departs among other leadership changes
Semiconductor giant Intel continues to shake up its senior leadership since Lip-Bu Tan took the helm as CEO in March. Intel announced Monday that Michelle Johnston Holthaus will depart the company after more than three decades. Johnston Holthhaus was most…
Amazon Music’s new AI feature generates personalized playlists every Monday
Ever since Spotify launched an AI DJ, Amazon Music has been developing its own AI-powered features, including AI-generated playlists and AI-assisted search, to compete more effectively with the music giant. Now, Amazon Music is launching a new feature called “Weekly…
Microsoft says Azure affected after cables cut in the Red Sea
Microsoft said Saturday that clients of its Azure cloud platform might experience increased latency after multiple undersea cables were cut in the Red Sea, as reported in Bloomberg. In a status update, the company said traffic going through the Middle…
EU fines Google $3.5B over adtech ‘abuse’
The European Commission announced this week that it’s fining Google €2.95 billion (just under $3.5 billion). The commission found that Google had violated European Union antitrust rules by favoring its own advertising services. Specifically, the commission said Google “abused” its…
Why is an Amazon-backed AI startup making Orson Welles fan fiction?
On Friday, a startup called Fable announced an ambitious, if head-scratching, plan to recreate the lost 43 minutes of Orson Welles’ classic film “The Magnificent Ambersons.” Why is a startup that bills itself as the “Netflix of AI,” and that…
Screw the money — Anthropic’s $1.5B copyright settlement sucks for writers
Around half a million writers will be eligible for a payday of at least $3,000, thanks to a historic $1.5 billion settlement in a class action lawsuit that a group of authors brought against Anthropic. This landmark settlement marks the…
Bret Taylor’s Sierra raises $350M at a $10B valuation
Investors are clearly bullish about former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor’s AI agent startup Sierra. Sierra, which helps enterprises build customer service AI agents, announced it raised a $350 million funding round on Thursday. The round, led by earlier investor Greenoaks…
Facebook is trying to make ‘pokes’ happen again
Technically, the poke never really left Facebook. The classic feature from Facebook’s early days lets users get a friend’s attention with a virtual nudge of sorts. While the poke fell out of use ages ago, the company has more recently…
Mistral, the French AI giant, is reportedly on the cusp of securing a $14B valuation
French AI startup Mistral AI is finalizing a €2 billion investment at a post-money valuation of $14 billion, reports Bloomberg, positioning the company as one of Europe’s most valuable tech startups. The two-year-old OpenAI rival, founded by former DeepMind and…
xAI’s CFO is the latest executive to leave the Elon Musk’s AI firm
Mike Liberatore, xAI’s chief financial officer, has left the company, according to reporting from The Wall Street Journal. This marks the latest in a string of high-profile executive departures. The former Airbnb executive joined the company in April and left…
Waymo expands to Denver and Seattle with its Zeekr-made vans
Waymo announced Tuesday that it’s going to bring both of its vehicles — the Jaguar I-Pace SUV and the Zeekr van — to Denver and Seattle starting this week, the latest move in a continued expansion across the United States….
Judges side with Trump EPA over canceled Inflation Reduction Act grants to nonprofits
The battle over $20 billion worth of climate-related funding authorized by Congress continues as an appellate court ruled on Tuesday in favor of the Environmental Protection Agency, which had terminated Biden-era grants made to nonprofits. The legal tussle stems from…
BMW, I am so breaking up with you
I want to be clear from the outset. I’ve never been a car enthusiast. My driving history includes a hand-me-down Volvo with a hole in the floorboards and a series of aggressively practical vehicles, including a VW Golf and a…
Volunteer at Disrupt 2025 while you still can
Volunteers are needed, and time is ticking! With just over a month until TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 hits San Francisco, we’re calling on students, aspiring founders, marketers, and event pros to step behind the curtain and help the TechCrunch events team…
Murder at Burning Man turns Silicon Valley’s desert playground into a crime scene
A homicide investigation has rocked the final days of Burning Man after a man was found dead “lying in a pool of blood” Saturday night at the Nevada desert festival, according to the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office. According to the…
Director Jim Jarmusch ‘disappointed and disconcerted’ by Mubi’s funding from Sequoia
Veteran indie filmmaker Jim Jarmusch premiered his new movie “Father Mother Sister Brother” today at the Venice Film Festival, where journalists asked him about Mubi, the streaming platform that co-produced the film — specifically, about Mubi’s recent $100 million funding…
Nvidia says two mystery customers accounted for 39% of Q2 revenue
Nearly 40% of Nvidia’s second quarter revenue came from just two customers, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. On Wednesday, the chipmaker reported record revenue of $46.7 billion during the quarter that ended on July 27…
Taco Bell is having second thoughts about relying on AI at the drive-through
Taco Bell’s chief digital officer says the company is having an “active conversation” about when to use and not to use AI. The company has apparently rolled out voice AI-powered ordering at more than 500 drive-throughs, leading to unflattering viral…
Cracks are forming in Meta’s partnership with Scale AI
It’s only been since June that Meta invested $14.3 billion in the data-labeling vendor Scale AI, bringing on CEO Alexandr Wang and several of the startup’s top executives to run Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL). But the relationship between the two…
TikTok now lets users send voice notes and images in DMs
TikTok is giving users new ways to interact with others via direct messages (DMs), the company told TechCrunch on Friday. Users will now be able to send voice notes and share up to nine images or videos in one-to-one and…
Trump administration’s deal is structured to prevent Intel from selling foundry unit
The Trump administration seems intent on controlling Intel’s ability to make key business decisions around its floundering foundry business unit. According to reporting from the Financial Times, at a Deutsche Bank conference on Thursday, Intel’s CFO David Zinsner shared new…
Mississippi’s age assurance law puts decentralized social networks to the test
An overly broad age assurance law in Mississippi is leading to arguments about which platforms — Bluesky, Mastodon, or others — offer the best solution for avoiding crackdowns on internet freedoms. The company that makes the Bluesky social app announced…
Maisa AI gets $25M to fix enterprise AI’s 95% failure rate
A staggering 95% of generative AI pilots at companies are failing, according to a recent report published by MIT’s NANDA initiative. But rather than giving up on the technology altogether, the most advanced organizations are experimenting with agentic AI systems…
Google and Grok are catching up to ChatGPT, says a16z’s latest AI report
ChatGPT rivals like Google’s Gemini, xAI’s Grok, and, to a lesser extent, Meta AI, are closing the gap to ChatGPT, OpenAI’s popular AI chatbot, according to a new report focused on the consumer AI landscape from venture firm Andressen Horowitz….
SpaceX notches major wins during 10th Starship test
SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket lifted off on its 10th test flight Tuesday evening, hitting two long-sought milestones and putting an end to a string of failures. The 403-foot vehicle lifted off from Starbase, SpaceX’s launch facility and recently incorporated city,…
A Radiohead song from 1997 is on the Hot 100 charts, thanks to TikTok
Thanks to an unexpected surge in popularity on TikTok, Radiohead now has its fourth-ever song on the Billboard Hot 100: the morosely gorgeous track “Let Down” from the 1997 album OK Computer. “Let Down” never broke through to mainstream attention…
Tesla could have avoided that $242.5M Autopilot verdict, filings show
Months before a jury awarded a $242.5 million verdict against Tesla over its culpability in a 2019 fatal crash, the automaker had a chance to settle for $60 million. Instead, Tesla rejected that offer, according to new legal filings that…
Bounce launches a service for moving accounts between Bluesky and Mastodon
Bounce, a new technology that adds a critical component to the open social web, launches to the public on Monday. The cross-protocol migration tool offers a service that allows users of open social networks like Bluesky and Mastodon to move…
Pintarnya raises $16.7M to power jobs and financial services in Indonesia
Pintarnya, an Indonesian employment platform that goes beyond job matching by offering financial services along with full-time and side-gig opportunities, said it has raised a $16.7 million Series A round. The funding was led by Square Peg with participation from…
TechCrunch Mobility: Waymo’s Big Apple score and Nvidia backs Nuro
Hey, all, and happy Friday! Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, your hub for news, analysis, and scoops around the future of transportation. To get this in your inbox, sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! I was…
OpenAI warns against SPVs and other ‘unauthorized’ investments
In a new blog post, OpenAI warns against “unauthorized opportunities to gain exposure to OpenAI through a variety of means,” including special purpose vehicles, known as SPVs. “We urge you to be careful if you are contacted by a firm…
The Trump administration’s big Intel investment comes from already awarded grants
Intel officially announced an agreement with President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday afternoon, following Trump’s statement that the government would be taking a 10% stake in the struggling chipmaker. While Intel says the government is making an “$8.9 billion investment…
Meta partners with Midjourney on AI image and video models
Meta is partnering with Midjourney to license the startup’s AI image and video generation technology, Meta Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang announced Friday in a post on Threads. Wang says Meta’s research teams will collaborate with Midjourney to bring its…
TikTok denies India comeback after reports of website going live
TikTok has not been unbanned in India, TechCrunch confirmed Friday, despite brief website access that sparked media reports of a possible comeback after more than five years. A TikTok spokesperson told TechCrunch that the Chinese-owned social media platform’s ban by…
OpenAI announces New Delhi office as it expands footprint in India
OpenAI has announced plans to open its first office in India, just days after launching a ChatGPT plan tailored for Indian users, as it looks to tap into the country’s rapidly growing AI market. On Friday, the company said it…
StrictlyVC at Disrupt 2025: Inside the LP Track
StrictlyVC is back at TechCrunch Disrupt in October, bringing together the insiders who shape the venture capital landscape. This time there will be a sharper focus on the market’s biggest challenge: liquidity. In an era of extended exit timelines, slowed…
Even Rogers and Max Haot join the Space Stage at Disrupt 2025
The next era of the space economy isn’t just about rockets and satellites — it’s about infrastructure, autonomy, and entirely new models for building and defending off-Earth assets. At TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 this October 27–29 in San Francisco’s Moscone West,…
Pixel 10, new Gemini features, the Pixel Watch, and everything else announced at the Made by Google 2025 event
The Made by Google 2025 event is finally happening, notably before Apple’s hardware event is expected to take place in September. On Wednesday, the tech giant debuted its Pixel 10 series, a new foldable, the Pixel Watch 4, the second…
Deel scores a lawsuit win, but not against Rippling
A Florida judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit filed against embattled HR and payroll provider Deel. And while Deel described this as a “Rippling-aligned” and “Rippling-supported” lawsuit, this is not the infamous lawsuit filed by its rival earlier this year…
Appeals court says NLRB structure unconstitutional, in a win for SpaceX
A federal appeals court handed SpaceX a win on Tuesday, in a ruling that prevents the National Labor Relations Board from prosecuting unfair labor practices against the company. The ruling by the Fifth District Court of Appeals, which suggests the…
Texas attorney general accuses Meta, Character.AI of misleading kids with mental health claims
Texas attorney general Ken Paxton has launched an investigation into both Meta AI Studio and Character.AI for “potentially engaging in deceptive trade practices and misleadingly marketing themselves as mental health tools,” according to a press release issued Monday. “In today’s…
GPT-5 is supposed to be nicer now
OpenAI announced late Friday that it’s updating its latest model to be “warmer and friendlier.” The company recently launched the much-anticipated GPT-5 in a process that CEO Sam Altman admitted was “a little more bumpy than we’d hoped for,” with…
Duolingo CEO says controversial AI memo was misunderstood
While Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn was loudly criticized this year after declaring that Duolingo would become an “AI-first company,” he suggested in a new interview the real issue was that he “did not give enough context.” “Internally, this was…
Judge says FTC investigation into Media Matters ‘should alarm all Americans’
A federal judge has granted a preliminary injunction blocking the Federal Trade Commission’s investigation into left-leaning advocacy group Media Matters. Back in 2023, Media Matters published research showing ads from major companies had appeared alongside antisemitic and other offensive content…
Anthropic says some Claude models can now end ‘harmful or abusive’ conversations
Anthropic has announced new capabilities that will allow some of its newest, largest models to end conversations in what the company describes as “rare, extreme cases of persistently harmful or abusive user interactions.” Strikingly, Anthropic says it’s doing this not…
Winklevoss twins’ crypto company Gemini files for IPO
Another crypto company is headed for the public markets. This time, it’s Gemini Space Station Inc., the New York-based crypto exchange and custodian bank founded by billionaire twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. The outfit, which plans to list on the…
Kyte, which billed itself as the ‘best competitor to Hertz,’ shuts down
Rental car startup Kyte has shut down nearly one year after slashing staff and exiting most of its cities in the United States. The company sold its customer list to Turo in July, and then turned right around and entered…
US government is reportedly in discussions to take stake in Intel
The Trump administration continues to meddle with semiconductor giant Intel. The U.S. government is reportedly in discussions to take a stake in Intel, according to reporting from Bloomberg. This deal would be structured to help the company expand its U.S….
Norway spy chief blames Russian hackers for hijacking dam
Russian hackers briefly hijacked a dam in Norway in early April and spilled millions of gallons of water before the attack was stopped, Norway’s spy chief revealed Thursday. The hackers opened a floodgate at the Bremanger dam in western Norway…
Co-founder of Elon Musk’s xAI departs the company
Igor Babuschkin, a co-founder of Elon Musk’s xAI startup, announced his departure from the company on Wednesday in a post on X. Babuschkin led engineering teams at xAI and helped build the startup into one of Silicon Valley’s leading AI…
India’s Rapido begins testing food delivery to take on Swiggy, Zomato
Rapido, a popular ride-hailing platform in India, has quietly begun beta testing its food delivery service in Bengaluru, marking its first serious move to challenge market leaders Swiggy and Zomato in one of the world’s fastest-growing delivery markets. The 10-year-old…
ChatGPT’s model picker is back, and it’s complicated
When OpenAI launched GPT-5 last week, the company said the model would simplify the ChatGPT experience. OpenAI hoped GPT-5 would act as a sort of “one size fits all” AI model with a router that would automatically decide how to…
AI companion apps on track to pull in $120M in 2025
Demand for AI “companion” applications outside of bigger names, like ChatGPT and Grok, is growing. Of the 337 active and revenue-generating AI companion apps available worldwide, 128 were released in 2025 so far, according to new data provided to TechCrunch…
TDK backs Ultraviolette with $21M to take India-made electric motorcycles global
Two months ago, Indian electric motorcycle startup Ultraviolette expanded into 10 European countries. Now, fueled with $21 million in an all-equity round led by the corporate venture arm of Japanese electronics giant TDK Corporation, Ultraviolette is putting its expansion plans…
Ocean’s new app brings inbox triage, tasks and invites to Gmail users
A new personal productivity app called Ocean is launching to help you triage your overloaded inbox, take action on your emails by turning them into tasks, and share your availability for meetings with others, all in one app. Today, Gmail…
Security flaws in a carmaker’s web portal let one hacker remotely unlock cars from anywhere
A security researcher said flaws in a carmaker’s online dealership portal exposed the private information and vehicle data of its customers, and could have allowed hackers to remotely break into any of its customers’ vehicles. Eaton Zveare, who works as…
Stanford sticks with legacy admissions
Stanford University has confirmed its admissions policies for fall 2026 will continue considering legacy status, a decision that could influence access to one of Silicon Valley’s most important talent pipelines. Stanford is also ending its test-optional policy, requiring SAT or…
RIP, Microsoft Lens, a simple little app that’s getting replaced by AI
Sometimes it’s nice to have a simple app that does one thing well without a lot of fuss. Microsoft Lens was that type of app: a mobile document scanner that turned paper documents, business cards, receipts, and anything else into…
Sam Altman addresses ‘bumpy’ GPT-5 rollout, bringing 4o back, and the ‘chart crime’
During a Reddit ask-me-anything session on Friday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and key members of the GPT-5 team were peppered with questions about the new model and requests to bring back its previous model, GPT-4o. They also asked Altman about…
Impersonators are targeting companies with fake TechCrunch outreach
Hi, thanks as always for reading TechCrunch. We want to talk with you quickly about something important. We’ve discovered that scammers are impersonating TechCrunch reporters and event leads and reaching out to companies, pretending to be our staff when they…
Book your exhibit table before your competitor does at Disrupt 2025
TechCrunch Disrupt isn’t just a tech conference — it’s a launchpad. For 20 years, startups have come to TechCrunch Disrupt to meet their first investors, land their biggest partnerships, and spark the idea that takes them to the next level….
xAI’s legal chief steps down after whirlwind year
Robert Keele said this week that he has stepped down as xAI’s head of legal after just over a year, saying he wants to spend more time with his children. In his announcement, Keele also acknowledged “daylight between our worldviews”…
SpaceX is building a water pipeline to Starbase — but access comes with some conditions
The newest piece of infrastructure coming to Starbase, Texas, isn’t a launch mount or a booster. It’s a water pipeline, and who can hook up a tap (and on what terms) will shape the definition of “company town.” The new…
Two teens charged in attack on former DOGE official Edward “Big Balls” Coristine
Two 15-year-olds have been charged with unarmed carjacking after allegedly attacking Edward “Big Balls” Coristine, the teenage software engineer and former Neuralink intern who became a prominent figure in the Trump administration’s cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). According to…
Google takes on ChatGPT’s Study Mode with new ‘Guided Learning’ tool in Gemini
As the new school year approaches, Google announced on Wednesday that it’s launching a new tool called Guided Learning within Gemini. The tool sort of functions like an AI tutor, as it’s designed to help users build a deep understanding…
Clay confirms it closed $100M round at $3.1B valuation
Sales automation startup Clay has raised a $100 million Series C at a $3.1 billion valuation in a round led by CapitalG, confirming TechCrunch’s report from June. The financing follows a $1.25 billion Series B round from six months ago…
Substack rival Ghost connects to the open social web with its latest public release
After months of beta testing, newsletter platform Ghost has shipped a new version of its software, Ghost 6, that allows its publishers to share their long-form content natively with the broader open social web. That means in addition to publishing…
Jeh Aerospace nets $11M to scale the commercial aircraft supply chain in India
Indian startup Jeh Aerospace founders Vishal Sanghavi and Venkatesh Mudragalla have had a front row seat to the commercial aircraft sector and its growing production bottleneck. The two former Tata Group executives spent close to two decades in different positions…
Rivian sues to sell its EVs directly in Ohio
Rivian has filed a lawsuit in Ohio to be able to sell its electric vehicles directly to consumers in the state — the latest swing in a perpetual fight between up-and-coming American automakers and the entrenched and powerful dealership lobby….
Apple might be building its own AI ‘answer engine’
Apple has formed a new team to build a ChatGPT-like app, according to according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. This team — reportedly called Answers, Knowledge, and Information — is working to build an “answer engine” that can respond to questions…
SAP is acquiring SmartRecruiters | TechCrunch
SAP announced Friday that it has reached an agreement to acquire recruiting software company SmartRecruiters. In a press release, the European software giant said that SmartRecruiters “powerful, user-friendly interfaces and seamless workflows” will complement SAP’s existing HR tools. Muhammad Alam,…
Tim Cook reportedly tells employees Apple ‘must’ win in AI
Apple CEO Tim Cook held an hourlong all-hands meeting in which he told employees that the company needs to win in AI, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The meeting came after an earnings call in which Cook told investors and…
Anthropic cuts off OpenAI’s access to its Claude models
Anthropic has revoked OpenAI’s access to its Claude family of AI models, according to a report in Wired. Sources told Wired that OpenAI was connecting Claude to internal tools that allowed the company to compare Claude’s performance to its own…
Venture firm CRV raises $750M, downsizing after returning capital to investors
CRV has secured $750 million toward the 55-year-old venture firm’s twentieth flagship fund, it announced on Friday. The new fund is smaller than the $1 billion early-stage fund CRV closed in the fall of 2022. At that time, the firm…
Google bets on STAN, an Indian social gaming platform
Google has backed STAN, an Indian social gaming platform that connects gamers with creators, communities, and publishers. Google’s investment comes as part of an $8.5 million equity funding round, which also saw investment from Japanese gaming giants Bandai Namco Entertainment,…
Handwave lends a hand to retailers with its European alternative to Amazon’s palm payments
Paying with a handwave once sounded like science fiction, but contactless palm recognition service Amazon One has already been used more than 8 million times, according to the company. That’s Amazon, though, which explains why it has been deployed in…
Google loses appeal over app store overhaul in Epic Games case
Google lost its appeal of a judge’s court order requiring the tech giant to revamp its app store in an antitrust case filed by Fortnite maker Epic Games, Reuters reported on Thursday. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Google’s…
GitHub Copilot crosses 20 million all-time users
GitHub Copilot, an AI coding tool offered by Microsoft-owned GitHub, has now reached more than 20 million users, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said on the company’s earnings call Wednesday. A GitHub spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch that this number represents “all-time…
Ramp hits $22.5B valuation just 45 days after reaching $16B
Eric Glyman, co-founder and CEO of expense management startup Ramp, announced on Wednesday a fresh $500 million raise at a whopping $22.5 billion post-money valuation. This new round, led by Iconiq Growth with participation from Founders Fund and D1 Capital…
Space Force bets on commercial entrants in $4B satcom contest
American warfighters need jam-proof communications, and the Space Force is planning to spend hundreds of millions to ensure they have them. As part of that effort, the service established the Protected Tactical Satcom program to build out secure battlefield communications…
Cash App users can now pool money for group payments — even with non-users
Cash App launched a new peer-to-peer payment feature on Tuesday called “Pools” that allows users to pool money with friends or family members to pay for expenses like grocery bills, restaurant checks, vacations, and group gifts. Initially available to select…
AI data analyst startup Julius nabs $10M seed round
Julius AI, a startup that describes itself as an AI data analyst, announced it has raised a $10 million seed round led by Bessemer Venture Partners. Horizon VC, 8VC, Y Combinator, and the AI Grant accelerator participated in the round,…
Google Chrome adds AI-powered store summaries to help US shoppers
Google on Monday announced an update to its Chrome web browser that will introduce AI-generated store reviews to U.S. shoppers with the aim of helping to determine the best places to make a purchase. The feature, which will be available…
‘Wizard of Oz’ blown up by AI for giant Sphere screen
The massive Las Vegas venue known as Sphere will be screening its first classic movie, “The Wizard of Oz,” starting on August 28. And as detailed in a segment on CBS Sunday Morning, this isn’t just a matter of taking…
DOGE has built an AI tool to slash federal regulations
The Department of Government Efficiency hopes to use a new AI tool to eliminate half of the federal government’s regulatory mandates, according to The Washington Post. Citing a PowerPoint presentation dated July 1, The Post reports that the DOGE AI…
U.K. starts enforcing online age check rules
A U.K. law requiring that pornography websites verify the age of their users took effect Friday. The BBC reports that around 6,000 porn sites have said they will start verifying users’ ages to comply with the Online Safety Act, although…
Dating safety app Tea breached, exposing 72,000 user images
Tea, an app that allows women to post anonymous comments about men they’ve supposedly dated, announced Friday that it has suffered a data breach, with hackers gaining access to 72,000 images. That number includes 13,000 selfies and photo IDs submitted…
Tesla wants to bring robotaxis to San Francisco. Here’s what’s standing in the way.
Tesla is launching an even-more-limited version of its early robotaxi service in San Francisco this weekend, according to Business Insider, after an initial rollout began last month in Austin, Texas. The company plans to send invites to Tesla owners to…
Sam Altman warns there’s no legal confidentiality when using ChatGPT as a therapist
ChatGPT users may want to think twice before turning to their AI app for therapy or other kinds of emotional support. According to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, the AI industry hasn’t yet figured out how to protect user privacy when…
Amid increased momentum for defense, the NATO Innovation Fund refreshes its investment team
Two years after securing $1 billion in commitments from over 20 countries, the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF) is entering a new chapter, marked by the arrival of two new partners and the departure of its penultimate founding team partner. In…
Apple iOS 26 public beta arrives
Apple released the first public beta of its new mobile operating system, iOS 26, featuring its “Liquid Glass” user interface and improved AI features. The release allows early adopters to get their hands on Apple’s latest software before its wider…
A new AI coding challenge just published its first results – and they aren’t pretty
A new AI coding challenge has revealed its first winner — and set a new bar for AI-powered software engineers. On Wednesday at 5pm PST, the nonprofit Laude Institute announced the first winner of the K Prize, a multi-round AI…
Open source X rival Mastodon begins raising funds with new in-app donation feature
Open source X and Threads competitor Mastodon will begin experimenting with a new way to raise funds: in-app donations. The organization on Wednesday announced it’s launching a campaign that introduces banners inside its Android and iOS apps, prompting users to…
PayPal taps wallets from China and India to make cross-border payments easier for 2 billion people
PayPal announced Wednesday it has partnered with global wallet companies to create a platform called PayPal World that is designed to make cross-border commerce easier. The platform will allow users to pay others using their local wallets and payment systems….
Etsy faces user boycott over ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ branded products
The Florida GOP isn’t the only one profiting from the detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz” by selling merchandise. A subset of Etsy buyers and sellers began a boycott of the online marketplace this month over its decision to allow…
Instead of selling to Meta, AI chip startup FuriosaAI signed a huge customer
South Korean AI chip startup FuriosaAI announced a partnership on Tuesday to supply its AI chip, RNGD, to enterprises using LG AI Research‘s recently unveiled EXAONE platform. RNGD is optimized for running large language models (LLMs) and just last week,…
Chrome for iOS makes it easier to switch between work and personal Google accounts
Google announced Monday that it’s introducing a new feature that lets iOS users easily switch between work and personal Google accounts in Chrome. Previously, iOS users had to completely sign out of a Google account and then log in with…
Former Tesla president discloses the secret to scaling a company
Few companies have grown as quickly as Tesla, especially just before and after the company launched the Model 3, its first affordable EV. “We scaled Tesla in 30 months from $2 billion in revenue to $20 billion in revenue,” Jon…
Why Cartken pivoted its focus from last-mile delivery to industrial robots
Autonomous robotics startup Cartken, known for its four-wheeled robots that deliver food on college campuses and through Tokyo’s bustling streets, has found a new area of focus: industrials. Cartken co-founder and CEO Christian Bersch told TechCrunch that applying its delivery…
Microsoft says it will no longer use engineers in China for Department of Defense work
Following a Pro Publica report that Microsoft was using engineers in China to help maintain cloud computing systems for the U.S. Department of Defense, the company said it’s made changes to ensure this will no longer happen. The existing system…
The perfect pitch: This NEA partner says every founder should answer these 5 questions
Most founders eventually have to pitch venture firms in hopes of raising capital. Tiffany Luck, a partner at NEA, took the stage at TechCrunch’s All Stage event in Boston to answer how to craft the perfect one. “I like to…
Benchmark in talks to lead Series A for Greptile, valuing AI-code reviewer at $180M, sources say
Greptile, an AI-powered code review startup, is in the process of raising a Series A. Sources familiar with the deal tell TechCrunch it’s for $30 million at a $180 million valuation led by Benchmark partner Eric Vishria. But one person…
Starbase injury rates outpace rivals as SpaceX chases its Mars moonshot
SpaceX employees are more likely to be injured while working at Starbase than any of its other manufacturing facilities, according to company worker safety records reviewed by TechCrunch. Starbase, a sprawling launch-and-manufacturing site that recently incorporated as its own Texas…
Perplexity sees India as a shortcut in its race against OpenAI
While OpenAI has cemented its lead in the U.S., Perplexity is taking a different route — quietly expanding into India to compete in the next phase of AI adoption. The search-focused AI startup is rapidly adding millions of users in…
OpenAI launches a general purpose agent in ChatGPT
OpenAI is launching a new general purpose AI agent in ChatGPT which the company says can complete a wide variety of computer-based tasks on behalf of users. OpenAI says the agent can automatically navigate a user’s calendar, generate editable presentations…
Jack Dorsey pumps $10 million into a nonprofit focused on open-source social media
Twitter co-founder and Block CEO Jack Dorsey isn’t just vibe-coding new social apps, like Bitchat and Sun Day, he has invested $10 million in an effort to fund experimental open source projects and other tools that could ultimately transform the…
xAI is hiring an engineer to make anime girls
Elon Musk’s xAI just released its AI companions, which include the goth waifu Ani and the homicidal red panda Bad Rudy. If you want to get in on that, you’re in luck: The company is hiring for the role of…
Of course, Grok’s AI companions want to have sex and burn down schools
Elon Musk is a man who named a government agency after a memecoin, designed a robotaxi test network in the shape of a phallus, and once went to court for tweeting weed jokes in relation to Tesla stock. So it’s…
Lucid Motors will roll out hands-free highway driving this month
Lucid Motors is set to roll out a software update on July 30 that will enable hands-free highway driving on its Air sedans, a major step forward for the company’s advanced driver assistance system. The rollout will put Lucid Motors…
Nvidia is set to resume China chip sales after months of regulatory whiplash
Nvidia announced Monday that it’s filing applications to restart sales of its H20 artificial intelligence chips to China, capping a spasmodic few months that saw the Trump administration impose restrictions, then quickly reverse course after a high-profile dinner meeting. The…
Prime Day event drove over $24B in U.S. e-commerce sales, gen AI traffic was up 3,300%
Amazon’s Prime Day, which leads to an overall boost to U.S. e-commerce thanks to competitive sales, saw a significant increase in retail traffic driven by generative AI products, including chatbots and browsers. According to a post-Prime Day analysis by Adobe…
Meta acquires voice startup Play AI
Meta has acquired Play AI, a startup that uses AI to generate human-sounding voices. A Meta spokesperson has confirmed the acquisition, according to Bloomberg, which also reports that an internal memo stated that the “entire PlayAI team” will be joining…
Elon Musk’s SpaceX might invest $2 billion in Musk’s xAI
One Elon Musk business might be making a big investment in another. According to a Wall Street Journal report that cites investors close to SpaceX, the company has agreed to invest $2 billion in Musk’s AI startup xAI. The investment…
A United Nations research institute created an AI refugee avatar
A research institute connected to the United Nations has created two AI-powered avatars designed to teach people about refugee issues. 404 Media wrote about an experiment conducted by a class at the United Nations University Center for Policy Research that…
3 days left to save before TC All Stage 2025 lights up Boston
In only 3 days, founders, investors, and operators will flood into the SoWa Power Station in Boston for TechCrunch All Stage 2025 — and if you haven’t grabbed your pass yet, this is your final window to lock in the…
OpenAI delays the release of its open model, again
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said Friday the company is delaying the release of its open model, which was already pushed back a month earlier in this summer. OpenAI had planned to release the model next week, however Altman said the…
Bitcoin surpasses $118K, its second all-time high, in less than 24 hours
Bitcoin achieved a new all-time high of $118,900 on Friday after exceeding its previous record, $113,822, on Thursday. At the time of this writing, Bitcoin’s price stands at around $117,400. This is a significant milestone for Bitcoin, as it highlights…
Grok 4 seems to consult Elon Musk to answer controversial questions
During xAI’s launch of Grok 4 on Wednesday night, Elon Musk said — while livestreaming the event on his social media platform, X — that his AI company’s ultimate goal was to develop a “maximally truth-seeking AI.” But where exactly…
As X loses its CEO, daily usage is down and competition is growing
With the departure of X CEO Linda Yaccarino, which was announced Wednesday, the company that defined text-first social networking faces renewed competition. Year-over-year, the Elon Musk-owned social network has seen its daily active user base decline by roughly 10% as…
Why Cluely’s Roy Lee isn’t sweating cheating detectors
Cluely, an AI startup that uses a hidden in-browser window to analyze online conversations, has shot to fame with the controversial claim that its ‘undetectability’ feature lets users “cheat on everything.” The company’s co-founder, Roy Lee, was suspended from Columbia…
Blok is using AI personas to simulate real-world app usage
AI-powered coding tools like Cursor, Replit, Claude Code, and Lovable are helping developers write many lines of code every day to ship products faster. However, app makers still have to rely on either shipping full beta versions of their apps…
Rivian spinoff Also raises another $200M to build e-bikes and more
Also Inc., the micromobility startup spun out of Rivian earlier this year, has raised $200 million from Greenoaks Capital, according to a new report from Bloomberg News. The funding round brings Also’s post-money valuation to $1 billion. The startup raised…
ByteDance reportedly plans to release US-specific version of CapCut
TikTok owner ByteDance is planning to move U.S. users to a new version of CapCut, its video editing app, according to a report from Business Insider. Launching a U.S.-specific app could be part of the company’s broader plan to comply…
Meta reportedly recruits Apple’s head of AI models
Apple’s head of AI models, Ruoming Pang, is leaving the company to work at Meta, Bloomberg reported on Monday. This marks the latest high-ranking AI executive Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has scooped up to lead his new AI superintelligence unit….
Threads is nearing X’s daily app users, new data shows
Instagram Threads is close to catching up to top competitor X in terms of mobile app users, according to new data from market intelligence provider Similarweb. In June 2025, Threads’ mobile app for iOS and Android saw 115.1 million daily…
‘Improved’ Grok criticizes Democrats and Hollywood’s ‘Jewish executives’
On Friday morning, Elon Musk declared, “We have improved @Grok significantly. You should notice a difference when you ask Grok questions.” While Musk didn’t say exactly what improvements to look for, he’d previously declared that xAI (which built Grok) would…
Researchers seek to influence peer review with hidden AI prompts
Academics may be leaning on a novel strategy to influence peer review of their research papers — adding hidden prompts designed to coax AI tools to deliver positive feedback. Nikkei Asia reports that when examining English-language preprint papers available on…
Drive Capital’s second act – how the Columbus venture firm found success after a split
The venture capital world has always had a hot-and-cold relationship with the Midwest. Investors rush in during boom times, then retreat to the coasts when markets turn sour. For Columbus, Ohio-based Drive Capital, this cycle of attention and disinterest played…
Microsoft is closing its local operations in Pakistan
Microsoft is closing its operations in Pakistan, marking the end of a 25-year presence in the South Asian nation. The Redmond-based company on Friday told TechCrunch that it is changing its operational model in Pakistan and will now serve its…
Ready-made stem cell therapies for pets could be coming
Earlier this week, San Diego startup Gallant announced $18 million in funding to bring the first FDA-approved ready-to-use stem cell therapy to veterinary medicine. If it passes regulatory muster, it could create a whole new way to treat our fur…
EU says it will continue rolling out AI legislation on schedule
The European Union on Friday said it will stick to its timeline for implementing its landmark AI legislation, in response to a concerted effort by more than a hundred tech companies to delay the bloc’s AI rules, Reuters reported. Tech…
Slate Auto drops ‘under $20,000’ pricing after Trump administration ends federal EV tax credit
Slate Auto, the electric vehicle startup backed by Jeff Bezos, has stopped promoting that its upcoming pickup truck will start “under $20,000” following passage of President Trump’s tax cut bill. The bill, which is expected to be signed into law by Trump on July…
Pinwheel introduces a smartwatch for kids that includes an AI chatbot
As a parent, it can be daunting to hand over a smart device to their tween when a myriad of online dangers exist. Pinwheel, a kid-friendly tech company, is introducing a new solution for parents who want to stay connected…
OpenAI condemns Robinhood’s ‘OpenAI tokens’
OpenAI wants to make clear that Robinhood’s sale of “OpenAI tokens” will not give everyday consumers equity — or stock — in OpenAI, the company said in a post from its official newsroom account on X. OpenAI says it does…
US chipmakers could see bigger tax credits if Trump’s spending bill passes
The semiconductor industry could see a big tax benefit if the Trump administration is able to pass the current version of its spending bill. The latest draft of the Trump administration’s “Big, Beautiful Bill,” which already passed in the Senate,…
Jon McNeill brings the operator’s playbook to TC All Stage
Founders are often told to chase product-market fit before anything else, but what if scaling too soon, too fast, is what’s really holding them back? At TechCrunch All Stage 2025 on July 15 in Boston, Jon McNeill, CEO and co-founder…
Trump’s prospective TikTok buyer reportedly includes Oracle, Blackstone, a16z
After pushing the TikTok sale date back yet again, President Donald Trump said in an interview on Sunday that he had found a potential buyer for the ByteDance-owned platform. Though the president said he will not reveal the identities of…
Everything you need to know about the AI chatbot
ChatGPT, OpenAI’s text-generating AI chatbot, has taken the world by storm since its launch in November 2022. What started as a tool to supercharge productivity through writing essays and code with short text prompts has evolved into a behemoth with…
How to prepare now for your later-stage raise, live at Disrupt 2025
TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 hits Moscone West in San Francisco this October 27–29, and if you’re building with big funding goals in mind, the session on preparing for your later-stage raise needs to be on your radar. Join three powerhouse voices…
OpenAI reportedly ‘recalibrating’ compensation in response to Meta hires
With Meta successfully poaching a number of its senior researchers, an OpenAI executive reportedly reassured team members Saturday that company leadership has not “been standing idly by.” “I feel a visceral feeling right now, as if someone has broken into…
Meta reportedly hires four more researchers from OpenAI
Looks like Meta isn’t done poaching talent from OpenAI. Earlier this week, TechCrunch reported that Meta had hired influential OpenAI researcher Trapit Bansal, and according to The Wall Street Journal, it also hired three other researchers from the company. Now…
Authors call on publishers to limit their use of AI
An open letter from authors including Lauren Groff, Lev Grossman, R.F. Kuang, Dennis Lehane, and Geoffrey Maguire calls on book publishers to pledge to limit their use of AI tools, for example by committing to only hire human audiobook narrators….
FBI, cybersecurity firms say a prolific hacking crew is now targeting airlines and the transportation sector
The FBI and cybersecurity firms are warning that the prolific hacking group known as Scattered Spider is now targeting airlines and the transportation sector. In a brief statement on Friday shared with TechCrunch, the FBI said it had “recently observed”…
Rob Biederman join the stage at All Stage 2025
If you’re a founder looking to grow your startup, chances are you’re wrestling with more than just product or capital. Talent, scale, and smart execution are the real battlegrounds. That’s exactly what TechCrunch All Stage 2025 is built to address…
SCOTUS porn ruling opens door to sweeping internet age verification
The United States Supreme Court ruled Friday to uphold a Texas law requiring websites with “sexual material harmful to minors” to verify the ages of all visitors. The Free Speech Coalition (FSC), a trade association for the adult industry, had…
This AI-powered startup studio plans to launch 100,000 companies a year — really
Henrik Werdelin has spent the last 15 years helping entrepreneurs build big brands like Barkbox through his startup studio Prehype. Now, with his new, New York-based venture Audos, he’s betting that AI can help him scale that process from “tens”…
Suno snaps up WavTool for its AI music editing tools amid ongoing dispute with music labels
Suno, the AI music company currently in a legal battle with music labels, announced on Thursday the acquisition of WavTool, a browser-based AI digital audio workstation (DAW). This acquisition aims to improve Suno’s editing capabilities for songwriters and producers. WavTool,…
Indian drone startup Raphe mPhibr raises $100M as military UAV demand soars
Indian drone startup Raphe mPhibr has raised $100 million in an all-equity Series B round led by General Catalyst, as the startup aims to boost its R&D and local production capabilities amid growing demand for drones in battlefields and for…
Bill Gates-backed AirLoom begins building its first power plant
Wind power has run into some headwinds, and not the kind that spin its turbines. Recently, President Trump has decided to wage war against the technology, an unwelcome bit of friction that coincides with rising costs in recent years. Onshore…
How Synthflow AI is cutting through the noise in a loud AI voice category
The conversational AI market has exploded since ChatGPT was released in November 2022 and is predicted to grow into a nearly $50 billion global industry by 2031, according to MarketsAndMarkets. Synthflow AI is just one of many companies building in…
A federal judge sides with Anthropic in lawsuit over training AI on books without authors’ permission
Federal judge William Alsup ruled that it was legal for Anthropic to train its AI models on published books without the authors’ permission. This marks the first time that the courts have given credence to AI companies’ claim that fair…
Court filings reveal OpenAI and io’s early work on an AI device
Legal filings submitted earlier this month from lawyers representing OpenAI and Jony Ive’s io reveal new details about the companies’ efforts to build a mass-market AI hardware device. The filings are part of a trademark dispute lawsuit filed this month…
Senators urge FTC to investigate Spotify’s higher-priced bundled subscription
Two U.S. senators have requested that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigate Spotify due to allegations that the company bundled its music streaming and audiobook services into a more expensive subscription without obtaining user consent, while also reducing royalty payments…
OpenAI pulls promotional materials around Jony Ive deal due to court order
OpenAI has pulled a much-discussed video promoting the friendship between CEO Sam Altman and legendary Apple designer Jony Ive (plus, incidentally, OpenAI’s $6.5 billion deal to acquire Ive and Altman’s device startup io) from its website and YouTube page. Does…
LinkedIn CEO says AI writing assistant is not as popular as expected
While LinkedIn users seem to have embraced AI, there’s one area that’s seen less uptake than expected, according to CEO Ryan Roslansky: AI-generated suggestions for polishing your LinkedIn posts. “It’s not as popular as I thought it would be, quite…
European leaders worry they’re too reliant on U.S. tech
European governments may be reconsidering their use of American technology and services, according to a new report in The New York Times. The flashpoint seems to come after President Donald Trump sanctioned Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor at the International…
2 days left to save up to $210 on your TC All Stage pass
Time is almost up! Regular bird pricing for TechCrunch All Stage ends this Sunday, June 22, at 11:59 p.m. PT. That means you have just 2 days left to lock in savings of up to $210 on your ticket to…
Rippling spy says men have been following him, and his wife is afraid
If becoming a spy sounds like an exciting way to live like a le Carré character, let this newest affidavit from confessed Rippling spy Keith O’Brien serve as a warning. On Friday, an Irish judge granted O’Brien a restraining order…
Flexport’s Ryan Petersen joins the Builders Stage at Disrupt 2025
TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 is happening October 27–29 at Moscone West in San Francisco, and we’re bringing the big conversations to the Builders Stage. One of the biggest? What it takes to keep building when the rules won’t stop shifting. When…
The Robinhood founder who might just revolutionize energy (if he succeeds)
When Baiju Bhatt stepped away from his role as Chief Creative Officer at Robinhood last year, only those close to him could have predicted his next move: launching a space company built around tech that the aerospace industry has largely…
The Disrupt 2025 Builders Stage agenda now live and taking shape
Startups don’t build themselves. The Builders Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, taking place October 27–29 at San Francisco’s Moscone West, is where investors, operators, and founders come to talk tactics — the nitty-gritty of getting something off the ground and…
No, Andreessen Horowitz didn’t post that crypto scam tweet
For some tense minutes on Wednesday, X users were surprised to see one of those crypto “airdrop” posts on Andreessen Horowitz’s blue check-marked account. A second tweet said that $5 million had already been given away. That account has 851,000…
Hackers steal and destroy millions from Iran’s largest crypto exchange
Iran’s largest crypto exchange, Nobitex, said Wednesday that it was hacked and funds have been drained from its hot wallet. In a statement on its website translated by TechCrunch, Nobitex said it detected unauthorized access to its infrastructure and hot…
Police shut down Cluely’s party, the ‘cheat at everything’ startup
The latest San Francisco startup culture drama happened on Monday night. And it centered around “the most legendary party that never happened,” Cluely founder and CEO Roy Lee tells TechCrunch. Cluely had hoped to throw an after-party for a Y…
Own, a new social media app, aims to tokenize the creator economy
With the TikTok deadline to sell its U.S. operations now just two days away, a new decentralized social media app launched its beta to the public on Tuesday. Own is the latest alternative to TikTok to emerge, featuring a swipeable…
The cracks in the OpenAI-Microsoft relationship are reportedly widening
OpenAI and Microsoft may be reaching an inflection point in their relationship, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The report, citing anonymous sources, says OpenAI executives have considered publicly accusing Microsoft of anticompetitive behavior throughout their partnership….
Car sharing giant Zoomcar says hacker accessed personal data of 8.4 million users
Indian car-sharing marketplace Zoomcar has revealed that a hacker accessed the personal data of at least 8.4 million customers, including their names, phone numbers, and car registration numbers. The Bengaluru-headquartered company identified the incident involving unauthorized access to its information…
The U.S. Navy is more aggressively telling startups, ‘We want you’
While Silicon Valley executives like those from Palantir, Meta, and OpenAI are grabbing headlines for trading their Brunello Cucinelli vests for Army Reserve uniforms, a quieter transformation has been underway in the U.S. Navy. How? Well, the Navy’s Chief Technology…
How to delete your 23andMe data
DNA testing service 23andMe has undergone serious upheaval in recent months, creating concerns for the 15 million customers who entrusted the company with their personal biological information. After filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March, the company became the…
Google reportedly plans to cut ties with Scale AI
Meta’s big investment in Scale AI may be giving some of the startup’s customers pause. Reuters reports that Google had planned to pay Scale $200 million this year but is now having conversations with its competitors and planning to cut…
Anne Wojcicki’s nonprofit reaches deal to acquire 23andMe
Beleaguered genetic testing company 23andMe announced Friday that it has reached an agreement to sell itself to a nonprofit led by the company’s co-founder and former CEO Anne Wojcicki. Following a massive cyberattack in 2023 and a related lawsuit settlement,…
New York passes a bill to prevent AI-fueled disasters
New York state lawmakers passed a bill on Thursday that aims to prevent frontier AI models from OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic from contributing to disaster scenarios, including the death or injury of more than 100 people, or more than $1…
11 startups from YC Demo Day that investors are talking about
At Y Combinator’s Spring 2025 Demo Day on Wednesday, nearly every presenting startup had something to do with AI — they’re either developing AI agents or creating tools to facilitate their development. Indeed, several founders seem to be taking a…
After a string of successes, early-stage fund Felicis raises fresh $900M
Felicis founder Aydin Senkut is celebrating his 20th year as an institutional early-stage investor by announcing the firm’s biggest fund yet: a $900 million Fund X. This follows the $825 million Fund IX raised in 2023 and the $600 million…
Legal tech platform Definely raises $30M Series B to make contract reviewing more efficient
Nnamdi Emelifeonwu was always curious about what work life was like for his colleague Feargus MacDaeid, one of the few registered blind lawyers in the U.K. Both practiced law at the global firm Freshfields. When asking about what would make…
Apple is salvaging Image Playground with a boost from ChatGPT
When Apple unveiled Image Playground last year, the company touted it as a quick and easy way to generate personalized, original images with the help of Apple Intelligence. Upon launch, the app was met with skepticism, as some users were…
23andMe says 15% of customers asked to delete their genetic data since bankruptcy
23andMe’s interim chief executive Joseph Selsavage told lawmakers on Tuesday that 1.9 million people, or about 15% of its customer base, have requested their genetic data be deleted from the company’s servers since it filed for bankruptcy protection in March….
OpenAI’s open model is delayed
The release of OpenAI’s first open model in years will be delayed until later this summer, CEO Sam Altman announced in a post on X on Tuesday. Altman said the open model would be released sometime after June. “[W]e are…
Surprise! We’re extending the Startup Battlefield 200 deadline — 7 days left to apply
You asked. We listened. Due to overwhelming demand, we’re extending the deadline to apply for Startup Battlefield 200 at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025. You now have 7 more days to make your move. This is your shot at Disrupt’s most competitive,…
Still no AI-powered, ‘more personalized’ Siri from Apple at WWDC 25
At this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 25), Apple announced a slew of updates to its operating systems, services, and software, including a new look it dubbed “Liquid Glass” and a rebranded naming convention. Apple was notably quiet on one…
Google fixes bug that could reveal users’ private phone numbers
A security researcher has discovered a bug that could be exploited to reveal the private recovery phone number of almost any Google account without alerting its owner, potentially exposing users to privacy and security risks. Google confirmed to TechCrunch that…
iOS 19: All the rumored changes Apple could be bringing to its new operating system
As Apple prepares to unveil iOS 19 at WWDC 2025 on Monday, several rumors have surfaced, including a potential new name for the operating system, a dedicated gaming app, and a virtual health coach. This could be a big update,…
iOS 19: All the rumored changes Apple could be bringing to its new operating system
As Apple prepares to unveil iOS 19 at WWDC 2025 on Monday, several rumors have surfaced, including a potential new name for the operating system, a dedicated gaming app, and a virtual health coach. This could be a big update,…
Lawyers could face ‘severe’ penalties for fake AI-generated citations, UK court warns
The High Court of England and Wales says lawyers need to take stronger steps to prevent the misuse of artificial intelligence in their work. In a ruling tying together two recent cases, Judge Victoria Sharp wrote that generative AI tools…
After its data was wiped, KiranaPro’s co-founder cannot rule out an external hack
Indian grocery delivery startup KiranaPro’s recent data loss story has more holes than Swiss cheese, as the startup remains unclear whether the incident was an internal breach or an external hack. Last week, the Bengaluru-based startup discovered that it could…
Meet the Finalists: VivaTech’s 5 Most Visionary Startups of 2025
Narrowing down the 30 most visionary startups of the year to just five finalists was no easy feat. VivaTech’s Innovation of the Year attracted an extraordinary pool of applicants—startups tackling massive global challenges with bold, technically sophisticated, and scalable solutions….
Court denies Apple’s request to pause ruling on App Store payment fees
A U.S. court denied Apple a stay on a ruling that requires the company to stop charging developers for payments made outside the App Store through links in apps. This means in the U.S., Apple will no longer be able…
Cursor’s Anysphere nabs $9.9B valuation, soars past $500M ARR
Anysphere, the maker of AI coding assistant Cursor, has raised $900 million at a $9.9 billion valuation, Bloomberg reported. The round was led by returning investor Thrive Capital, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Accel, and DST Global. The massive round…
Anthropic unveils custom AI models for U.S. national security customers
Anthropic says that it has released a new set of AI models tailored for U.S. national security customers. The new models, a custom set of “Claude Gov” models, were “built based on direct feedback from our government customers to address…
iOS 19: All the rumored changes Apple could be bringing to its new operating system
As Apple prepares to unveil iOS 19 at WWDC 2025 on Monday, several rumors have surfaced, including a potential new name for the operating system, an entirely new design inspired by the Vision Pro, and more. Here’s a roundup…
Rosebud lands $6M to scale its interactive AI journaling app
Journaling app Rosebud has raised $6 million in seed funding as it seeks to further flesh out its app as an AI mentor for self-reflection and personal growth. Rosebud uses AI to analyze your journal entries, identify patterns over time,…
Windsurf says Anthropic is limiting its direct access to Claude AI models
Windsurf, the popular vibe coding startup that’s reportedly being acquired by OpenAI, said Anthropic significantly reduced its first-party access to its Claude 3.7 Sonnet and Claude 3.5 Sonnet AI models. Windsurf CEO Varun Mohan said in a post on X…
Adobe launches beta version of its Photoshop app on Android
Android users can now download Photoshop for mobile. Adobe announced on Tuesday that it’s releasing the beta version of its Android Photoshop app, four months after the company launched its iPhone app. The app offers a similar set of editing…
Valla raises $2.7M to make legal recourse more accessible to employees
After a while, Danae Shell got tired of hearing the same story over and over again. “Something bad would happen to someone at work, and the story always ended the same way,” she told TechCrunch. “They just left, because doing…
Samsung may incorporate Perplexity’s AI tech in its phones
Samsung is closing in on an investment in AI search startup Perplexity that would also see the Korean tech giant incorporating the AI company’s tech into its devices, Bloomberg reported, citing anonymous sources. As one of the biggest investors in…
Elon Musk tries to stick to spaceships
Elon Musk’s interview with CBS Sunday Morning seemed to get off to an awkward start, as reporter David Pogue asked the SpaceX CEO about his thoughts on his ally Donald Trump’s policies, including growing restrictions on international students. “I think…
NAACP calls on Memphis officials to halt operations at xAI’s ‘dirty data center’
The NAACP is calling on local officials to halt operations at Colossus, the “supercomputer” facility operated by Elon Musk’s xAI in South Memphis. As reported in NBC News, leaders from the civil rights group sent a letter Thursday to the…