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Showing posts from June, 2026

Acti puts AI agents directly into your smartphone keyboard

Acti is betting the smartphone keyboard is the next home for AI assistants. The startup's new keyboard for iOS and Android works across apps and lets users create custom AI-powered shortcuts using natural language. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/YgjLZOq

Waymo and Uber quietly part ways in Phoenix

The companies confirmed to TechCrunch that their unusual partnership in Phoenix recently ended after nearly three years.. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/Oq0fcHu

Arena, the AI leaderboard everyone uses, is now a $100M business

The startup, which runs a popular free AI leaderboard, launched its commercial service just last September. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/J13atXQ

Omen AI’s plan to optimize data centers is all wet

Omen AI raised a $31 million Series A to monitor chip coolant and stop bacterial outbreaks in data centers. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/g6t5Yxq

California law targeting loud streaming ads takes effect on July 1

Streaming ads might be getting a lot quieter. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/o5kPxsT

Ford rehires ‘gray beard’ engineers after AI falls short

"Mistakenly we thought that by just introducing artificial intelligence ... that would produce a high-quality product.” from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/pRxKadD

Govee’s smart nugget ice maker makes every iced drink feel like a luxury

For some people, the ice in a beverage is almost as important as the drink itself. That’s the audience Govee had in mind when designing its latest ice maker, the GoveeLife Smart Nugget Ice Maker Pro. This $500 premium smart home gadget is aimed at those who crave what’s called “the good ice,” the soft, chewable […] from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/yqTslI0

Indian payments chief thinks AI will be heavily involved in next era of digital payment growth

Dilip Asbe said that newer UPI apps could be more competitive with a viable commercial model from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/3AQwv9g

SoftBank’s CEO isn’t the only one with questions about Elon Musk’s orbital data center hype

Not everyone is buying Elon Musk’s vision for orbital data centers. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/IzuY6tm

Novak Djokovic has a new job — advisor to private equity firm General Atlantic

General Atlantic has tapped tennis legend Novak Djokovic to serve as a global strategic advisor. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/Kk2u0Fb

Why everyone from OpenAI to SpaceX is building their own chips (and turning up the heat on Nvidia)

Nvidia has dominated the AI chip market for years, but the era of total dependence might be ending.   OpenAI just shared its plans to spice things up with Jalapeño, its custom inference chip built with Broadcom, joining Google, Apple, and SpaceX in a growing list of companies building their way out of single-supplier risk. The goal is less of a […] from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/qA4CUts

Xbox follows Apple with price increases 

The company says the increases are being driven by rising memory and console storage prices, with costs more than 2.5x higher than previous levels. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/NPWVOHR

Notion Mail shuts down amid agent takeover

The company said it is discontinuing its email inbox in favor of its AI agent offering as users are increasingly handing over the reins of their email to the agents. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/brVhqR5

Anthropic’s Claude is winning over paid consumers, a market owned by ChatGPT

Despite ChatGPT's commanding market lead, consumers who pay for AI have been increasingly choosing Anthropic's Claude, data shows. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/gobHx54

New website names and shames companies that still don’t offer passkeys to users

According to a new site, 24% of the most popular websites in the world don't offer support for passkeys, which are considered the most secure way to log in to apps and services. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/5Nd0nge

Companies are scrambling to stop employees from maxing out AI budgets with small tasks

The tokenmaxxing era was brief. We now appear to be entering the era of token rationing. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/iVNlEWK

Here’s why Slate changed the battery in its cheap EV truck

While there was probably a moment when Slate’s leadership had to green-light the switch from one battery type to another, the momentum toward that decision had been building for years. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/lms2ZIi

Superhuman acquires AI detection startup GPTZero

Superhuman, which also has an AI detection tool as part of Grammarly, has snapped up GPTZero. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/iUK6q5D

Klue says hackers stole credential from 2022 that led to customer data breaches

It's unclear why Klue had not revoked the credential after the limited pilot, which hackers then used to breach a system holding keys for accessing customers' data. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/q6fiPQI

Mark Zuckerberg wants Meta to launch its own prediction market

Mark Zuckerberg reportedly wants Meta to have its own prediction market app. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/HNnIpB6

Google DeepMind bets $75M on AI’s future in Hollywood with A24 deal

Google DeepMind and A24 are teaming up to build AI filmmaking tools. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/q9ZNSEj

Anthropic says Claude may want to see your ID

Claude's chatbot may ask to verify your age and identity "in certain circumstances," such as with a passport or driver's license, according to a privacy policy change. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/Y5TtA8g

Klue hack results in data breach at several cybersecurity firms

Huntress, HackerOne, Jamf, Recorded Future, and Tanium are among the cybersecurity companies that had data stolen following an earlier breach at market research firm Klue. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/ENjVJXQ

Ethan Thornton is trying to do everything all at once

Mach's approach differs sharply from some of its peers. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/1fyJxYG

Ubisoft co-founder Claude Guillemot dies in plane crash

Claude Guillemot, who founded Ubisoft with his four brothers, has died at the age of 69. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/lHhqUJe

Beyond Siri: Here are the practical AI features coming to your iPhone in iOS 27

Siri’s AI overhaul may have grabbed the headlines at WWDC, but some of Apple’s most useful AI features are arriving elsewhere in iOS 27. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/Ezl3yLC

Signal’s Meredith Whittaker wants you to remember that AI chatbots ‘are not your friends’

"These are not your friends. These are not conscious beings. These are not sentient interlocutors.”" from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/bVQW0NY

In the Weights is your new AI-centric vanity search

So ... what's your In the Weights score? from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/tWKa92c

Founders Fund’s outlier bet on humanely killed fish

Shinkei makes a refrigerator-sized robot called Poseidon to kill fish quickly and humanely. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/G6ZeAUO

He made your free video player run smoothly. Now he’s doing that for robots.

French serial entrepreneur and open-source legend Jean-Baptiste Kempf has been building Kyber, an infrastructure layer to control remote devices in real time. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/HWpNx5y

Encryption, spyware, and now Mythos: History shows why cyber export control doesn’t work

For the last 30 years, stopping the flow of cybersecurity-related software has proven to be ineffective. It's unclear why it would work now with Anthropic’s cybersecurity model Mythos. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/JO7oiQS

Go eyes robotaxis and acquisitions after Japan’s biggest IPO of 2026. Here’s why it matters

Go’s IPO — Japan’s biggest so far this year — has done more than provide a much-needed boost to the country’s languishing listing season. It has also supplied the taxi-hailing app with the capital required to address an existential issue: Japan’s shortage of drivers. Go, which went public Tuesday, plans to use the ¥88.6 billion […] from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/KTNH9PD

Aura’s impressive e-ink photo frame doesn’t even look digital

What’s the most cliche possible gift you can give a relative? A digital photo frame, displaying a rotating slideshow of family photos. Now Aura has completely refreshed this product space with its gorgeous Aura Ink frame, which uses e-ink to create a display that doesn’t even look digital. Digital frames have always been so popular […] from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/EO4iJuV

AI data centers just got a government-mandated fast lane to the grid

FERC told grid operators to give data centers a fast lane for interconnections, but it failed to address electricity supply shortages. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/sJHSlUZ

World model maker Odyssey nabs $1.45B valuation backed by Amazon and other big names

World models are the next big thing in AI beyond LLMs and, with this round, Odyssey has cemented itself as one of the startups to watch. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/gRepSQt

Android 17 launches with new multitasking tools as Google expands Gemini features

Google has released Android 17 and Wear OS 7, introducing new multitasking features, parental controls, security tools, and smartwatch upgrades. The launch is also accompanied by a Pixel Drop that brings Google’s latest AI models to its devices. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/BwFD2aC

Rivian cuts hundreds of workers after R2 deliveries start

The company said the cuts were part of a restructuring meant to help scale to profitability. Rivian recently pushed back its profitability goal to invest in autonomy. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/UBnmwOa

Malaysia’s AI agent-powered messaging app Respond.io raises $62.5M, eyes acquisitions

Respond.io, one of Malaysia startups to watch, uses AI agents to handle high volumes of customer inquiries and charges per convo, not per seat. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/ZxJm7Sn

Sundar Pichai faces boos, walkout at Stanford graduation ceremony over Google’s Israel, ICE ties

AI is once again at the heart of a college graduation protest — this time for the technology's use in Google's defense contracts. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/NVS6UrF

The US government’s Anthropic models ban was never about an AI jailbreak

The Trump administration's decision that forced Anthropic to pull its latest cybersecurity models could be reactionary, retaliatory, or both, but the message is clear: The AI industry isn't immune from U.S. government interference. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/50k63aq

Meta’s new ‘AI Mode’ on Facebook pulls from public info across its platforms

Meta announced Monday that it's rolling out a wave of new AI features on Facebook, the latest sign of the company's effort to catch up in the AI race and keep users more engaged on the platform. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/beXDgcA

Orbio raises $21 million to automate hiring and onboarding for frontline workers

Orbio announces $21 Million Series A in round led by Dawn Capital. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/e3lZQhi

Startup CEO Charlie Javice is reportedly angling for a Trump pardon

JPMorgan can't be pleased by any of this. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/JrdzbRt

UK may ban social media for children under 16

The U.K. seems to be following Australia's lead in banning a wide swath of social media for teens. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/zNufh5j

As Anthropic suspends access to new models, India debates its AI future

Tech leaders debate whether the Anthropic episode is a wake-up call for India’s AI ambitions. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/mJ2KAY4

Meta reportedly moves to unwind $2B Manus deal after Beijing’s demand

Meta starts dismantling its $2 billion Manus acquisition after Beijing ordered the deal reversed. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/PSgrYGH

KPMG pulls report on AI usage due to apparent hallucinations

Once again, AI proves to be an unreliable source of information about AI. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/uZV1XzJ

Amazon CEO reportedly raised Anthropic model concerns before government crackdown

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy may have been the source of security concerns that led Anthropic to cut off worldwide access to two models on Friday. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/sS8oVbc

Andrew Yang thinks the next big startup opportunity is lowering the cost of living

Andrew Yang made a list of everything Americans overpay for — housing, food, wireless — and thinks the next startup gold rush is giving that money back. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/zP3WmHX

Anthropic’s safety warnings may have just backfired — the government has pulled the plug on its most powerful AI

Anthropic isn't hiding its frustration. "We disagree that the finding of a narrow potential jailbreak should be cause for recalling a commercial model deployed to hundreds of millions of people," the company wrote in a blog post. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/IwpDd3l

Meta’s months-old AI unit is a soul-crushing gulag, say the engineers stuck inside it

A new report suggests the unit, which employs 6,500 people, is on the verge of revolt. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/tBwf5Rb

SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell just gave another hint at a Tesla merger

A SpaceX-Tesla merger seems inevitable. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/pyT2hL7

Bluesky launches group chats, as company shifts focus to community features

Bluesky's latest feature is group chats, arriving amid a shift in focus on building features for smaller communities. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/uLPy3he

Cybercriminals claim breach of Oracle PeopleSoft servers at 100-plus organizations

The ShinyHunters hacking gang claims to have compromised the Oracle PeopleSoft servers of more than 100 organizations, including many universities. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/aMbS4gy

Wing drone delivery might not be a novelty anymore

Wing is expanding into seven more U.S. cities through its partnership with Walmart. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/BfbmWDE

Anthropic’s Fable 5 can make weirdly fun video games with the click of a button

Anthropic's Claude Fable 5 is going to be a big hit with the web's vibe coders. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/GxRMtXo

Can tech companies learn to love cheaper AI models? 

If those same AI workloads can be handled by cheaper models without affecting quality, it would mean a massive shift in the economics of AI. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/3AMaUS0

CISA gives US federal agencies three days to fix a VPN bug under attack by a ransomware gang

Check Point said hackers broke into dozens of organizations by exploiting a VPN bug in several of its products used across the government. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/jyMHZhc

Apple’s Health app can now tell you if you’re in perimenopause

Cycle tracker will now notify women when their cycle patterns are suggestive of perimenopause. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/E5JXDxL

Apple introduces systemwide dictation

Apple's new dictation system could compete with Wispr Flow and others. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/8RKhg1d

Apple says it’s fixed the awful search function for emails, photos

Apple says a completely rebuilt Search function will competently find the emails, photos and other content you are searching for. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/TW2znEJ

Massachusetts votes to pass new privacy rights bill that bans sale of precise location data

The bill is expected to blanket ban companies and startups from selling people's precise location data across the state. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/mSFxZOP

Uber, Wayve and Waymo are headed towards a robotaxi showdown in London

Uber customers in the UK can now join an interest list to increase their chances of being matched with a Wayve robotaxi. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/yqUSHhd

Is this the dawn of the Tokenpocalypse?

We're likely to see more price increases as the big AI companies plan to go public. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/kvScHu7

Notion restores access to Anthropic after service disruption

Notion's head of product said he was "astonished" at “the amount of people RT-ing this." from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/fbmZO35

TechCrunch Mobility: Inside GM’s $900M EV battery gamble

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/fzT5obN

Hacked, leaked, and held for ransom: the worst breaches of 2026 so far

From a massive DOGE data breach and the hacking of critical energy and water systems to the hack of an FBI surveillance system, here are the most damaging security incidents and data breaches of 2026. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/a3shLnB

OpenAI unveils Lockdown Mode to protect sensitive data from prompt injection attacks

Even with Lockdown Mode, ChatGPT could be still vulnerable to prompt injections, but the goal is to reduce the likelihood that sensitive data gets shared in the process. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/xVtZaXo

Sriram Krishnan is leaving his role as White House AI advisor

Krishnan is reportedly starting a new institution to continue shaping Trump's AI policy. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/HFVlcJy

Startup Battlefield 200 applications officially close in 3 days

Applications for Startup Battlefield 200 officially close on June 8, 11:59 p.m. PT. Now’s not the time to wait any longer. Secure your shot at competing on the Disrupt Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 this October at San Francisco's Moscone West. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/ACbSQkp

Google will pay SpaceX $920M per month for compute

The companies announced the deal on Friday, just one week ahead of SpaceX's historic IPO. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/EFeNVUG

GM’s electric future depends on a new battery — and this building

GM wants to slash EV prices by deploying new battery tech up to a year earlier than planned. This building is key to making that happen. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/JfVHMxC

Startup Battlefield is returning to Australia — here’s what happened the last time we came to Sydney

On August 19, Startup Battlefield is returning to Sydney in partnership with Stripe, one of the world's most iconic technology companies. We're taking over Stripe Tour Sydney for a night that the Australian startup ecosystem won't forget. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/glBdMkH

Helion, the Sam Altman-backed fusion startup, raises $465M to build a power plant for Microsoft

Fusion startup Helion is racing to complete a power plant for Microsoft by 2028. A fresh infusion of cash should help with that. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/qbKy7GP

Alphabet’s record-breaking $85B raise for Google’s AI business is a helluva good signal

If Alphabet's record-breaking, $85 billion stock sale signals investor appetite for AI-related offerings, we can see that investors are ready to chow. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/V9Wz7p3

Google’s Dreambeans, its weirdest-named AI tool to date, will turn your life into a cartoon

Dreambeans is a curated list of AI-illustrated "stories" culled from the personal data in your Google account. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/YZDFHIj

Amazon faces class action lawsuit over Ring facial-recognition feature

The class action lawsuit, filed in Seattle by Virginia resident Charles Sigwalt, claims that Ring's Familiar Faces feature stores images of passersby without consent. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/MfgQvdR

Florida sues OpenAI, Sam Altman, in first-of-its-kind lawsuit over violent incidents

The lawsuit partially revolves around a shooting at Florida State University last year, and ChatGPT's alleged role in the incident. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/hac1Eex

A new app, The Mall, is building a universal feed for online shopping

The Mall lets shoppers build a personalized feed of brands, track sales and drops, and discover products across thousands of retailers. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/5viGogD

Strava declares war on scrapers ahead of IPO

Strava will charge a flat monthly fee from developers to access its API from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/KRJEcjH

Unastella, a South Korean rocket startup that launched from home, raises $24M

The Seoul-based rocket startup is developing its own launch vehicles and engines. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/oJ8nhg5