Posts

Showing posts from September, 2025

Anonymous question app Sendit deceived children and illegally collected their data, FTC alleges

On Sendit, teens can send each other anonymous questions via integrations with Instagram or Snapchat.

OpenAI is launching the Sora app, its own TikTok competitor, alongside the Sora 2 model

The social app Sora will let users generate videos of themselves and their friends, which they can share in a TikTok-like feed.

DeepSeek releases ‘sparse attention’ model that cuts API costs in half

Researchers at DeepSeek released a new experimental model designed to have dramatically lower inference costs when used in long-context operations.

OpenAI takes on Google, Amazon with new agentic shopping system

This type of frictionless experience has the potential to spark a new movement in how people shop online – one that moves away from search engines like Google and e-commerce platforms like Amazon towards conversational agents with curated recommendations, comparisons, and easy checkout experiences. 

This French VC went from posting on YouTube to raising a $12M fund for Y Combinator startups

Venture capital is filled with investors who claim they’ve got inside access to the next big thing. Meanwhile, Gabriel Jarrosson, a French engineer-turned-YouTuber-turned-investor, has built his VC firm around a single filter: if it isn’t a Y Combinator company, he won’t invest in it. That discipline pushed Jarrosson from filming scrappy venture explainers in Paris […]

Paid, the AI agent ‘results-based billing’ startup from Manny Medina, raises huge $21M seed

Paid offers an interesting contribution to the AI agentic world: a platform for so-called "results-based" billing.

The AI services transformation may be harder than VCs think

Early warning signs suggest this whole services-industry metamorphosis may be more complicated than VCs anticipate.

Oura CEO talks potential IPO and ‘nonnegotiable’ data privacy

In a recent interview with The New York Times, Oura Health CEO Tom Hale didn’t discuss reports that the company is raising new funding that would value the health-tracking ring maker at nearly $11 billion, but he did talk about whether he has ambitions to take Oura public.

DJI loses lawsuit over classification as Chinese military company

A federal judge has rejected drone maker DJI’s efforts to get off a Department of Defense list of Chinese military companies.

Do EA buyout talks hint at bigger industry troubles?

Why is Electronic Arts, one of the biggest names in the video game business, reportedly in talks to go private?

Lootlock protects kids from overspending on gaming and will be presenting at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025

The gaming industry notoriously targets kids for in-app purchases. Lootlock gives parents granular control over kids game spending.

Wiz chief technologist Ami Luttwak on how AI is transforming cyberattacks 

Ami Luttwak, CTO of Wiz, breaks down how AI is changing cybersecurity, why startups shouldn't write a single line of code before thinking about security, and opportunities for upstarts in the industry.

Beware coworkers who produce AI-generated ‘workslop’

Researchers at consulting firm BetterUp Labs, in collaboration with Stanford Social Media Lab, have coined a new term to describe low-quality, AI-generated work

‘The Social Network’ sequel will focus on Haugen leaks, with Jeremy Strong as Mark Zuckerberg

Fifteen years after "The Social Network," director Aaron Sorkin is making a sequel film about Facebook called "The Social Reckoning."

YouTube Music tests AI hosts that share trivia and commentary

YouTube Music's new AI hosts are currently being tested through YouTube Labs, the platform's new hub for AI experiments.

Startup founders say Trump’s $100K H-1B fee is a ‘talent tariff’ that will hurt innovation

The price hike for H1B visas could have detrimental impact on the startup industry, experts say.

Spotify denies recent accusation that it changed its terms for artists

Spotify sets the record straight about the distribution rights of artists, podcasters, creators, and authors on the platform.

YouTube now lets you hide recommendation pop-ups at the end of videos

The decision to let users hide end screens is a welcome addition to the platform, especially since they can end up covering the last bit of a video and make it hard to see what's happening in some cases.

Google’s AI Mode arrives in Spanish globally

Google's AI Mode is now available to Spanish-speaking users worldwide.

Scott Wiener on his fight to make Big Tech disclose AI’s dangers

The California lawmaker is on his second attempt to pass a first-in-the-nation AI safety bill. This time, it might work.

Disney is raising the price of Disney+, Hulu subscriptions next month

The timing of the price increases isn’t ideal, as Disney+ subscribers canceled their subscriptions in droves last week, protesting Disney’s decision to temporarily pull Jimmy Kimmel from its airwaves.

The Oakland Ballers let an AI manage the team. What could go wrong?

“Baseball is the perfect place to do an initial experiment like this, because it is so data-driven, and decisions are made very analytically," Ballers owner Paul Freedman said.

Inside the mind of Elad Gil: Early-stage investing and next-gen innovation at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025

Elad Gil shares his approach to early-stage investing, frontier tech, and spotting breakout potential at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 (Oct 27–29, Moscone West, SF). Register before Sept 26 to save up to $668.

Automaker giant Stellantis says customers’ personal data stolen during breach

One report says, citing the hackers who took credit for the breach, that 18 million customer records were stolen from Stellantis' customer database.

Commonwealth Fusion Systems books a $1B+ power deal for its future fusion reactor

The fusion startup has inked a deal with Italian energy company Eni. The move is likely intended to set a price for fusion power.

Powered by India’s small businesses, UK fintech Tide becomes a TPG-backed unicorn

Tide serves over 1.6 million micro and small enterprises globally, with more than half of them based in India.

VCs are still hiring MBAs, but firms are starting to need other experience more

The MBA-to-VC pipeline remains a very real thing. But that path is a little shakier than it once was, according to PitchBook reporting and new academic research.

Silicon Valley bets big on ‘environments’ to train AI agents

A wave of startups are creating RL environments to help AI labs train agents. It might be Silicon Valley’s next craze in the making.

Hundreds of flights delayed at Heathrow and other airports after apparent cyberattack

Travelers at major European airports including Heathrow, Brussels, and Berlin faced significant delays this weekend following what Collins Aerospace described as a “cyber-related incident.”

6 days left: Last chance for Regular Bird savings for TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 passes

Time’s ticking! Register by September 26 at 11:59 p.m. PT to lock in Regular-Bird pricing and save up to $668 on your pass to TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, happening in San Francisco's Moscone West on October 27-29.

White House offers more details about potential TikTok deal

The White House press secretary said Americans will hold six of seven board seats in the restructured TikTok, and the video app’s algorithm will be U.S.-controlled.

Amazon, Google, Microsoft reportedly warn H-1B employees to stay in the US

Large tech companies have responded to President Donald Trump’s dramatic changes to H-1B visa applications by telling employees with those visas to remain in the United States for now.

Best Apple Watch apps for boosting your productivity

Although the Apple Watch comes with simple built-in productivity apps like Reminders and Calendar, it’s worth exploring some third-party apps that are designed to boost productivity by offering additional functionality. 

Meta’s AR ambitions meet reality, and California gets serious about AI safety…again

This week on Equity, Anthony Ha, Kirsten Korosec, and Max Zeff unpack the biggest moves in AI, robotics, and regulation. Listen to the full episode to hear about: Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday.Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You […]

How AI startups are fueling Google’s booming cloud business

Google Cloud is one of the company's fastest-growing business lines, and continues to rack up new customers.

Here’s the tech powering ICE’s deportation crackdown 

From phone spyware and facial recognition to phone unlocking technology and databases and more, this tech powers Trump's deportation machine.

China tells its tech companies they can’t buy AI chips from Nivida 

After strongly discouraging tech companies from buying Nivdia's AI chips in August, the country is now banning the practice outright.

The iPhone Air’s real breakthrough is its battery

Apple's slimmest iPhone uses a "revolutionary" battery design that allows the cell to fill more space within the device, boosting overall energy storage.

CodeRabbit raises $60M, valuing the 2-year-old AI code review startup at $550M 

The round, which brought the two-year-old startup’s total funding to $88 million, was led by Scale Venture Partners.

Google rolls out new Windows desktop app with Spotlight-like search tool

The app will allow people to use an Alt + Space shortcut to instantly search for information from their computer files, installed apps, Google Drive files, and the web.

Do startups still need Silicon Valley? Founders and funders debate at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025.

Does Silicon Valley still give founders an edge? At TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 (Oct 27–29, SF), Anh-Tho Chuong (Lago), David Hall (Revolution), and Tawni Nazario-Cranz (SignalFire) debate whether location still drives startup success.

Snap unveils Snap OS 2.0 with native browser, WebXR support, and more

The launch comes as the company rolled out its fifth-generation Snap Spectacles for developers last year and plans to launch a consumer version sometime in 2026.

Harvard Law to AI: MarqVision lands $48M to combat brand abuse

How a Harvard Law grad turned YC founder raised $48M to fight brand abuse in the AI era

OpenAI board chair Bret Taylor says we’re in an AI bubble (but that’s okay)

Like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Bret Taylor thinks we're in an AI bubble — but he doesn't sound too worried about it.

Users turn to chatbots for spiritual guidance

At least one website claims to allow users to chat with God.

Via raises $492.9M in IPO, and German automakers go on the offensive

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation.

‘Selling coffee beans to Starbucks’ – how the AI boom could leave AI’s biggest companies behind

The competitive landscape of AI is changing in ways that undermine the advantages of the biggest AI labs.

Tesla board chair calls debate over Elon Musk’s $1T pay package ‘a little bit weird’

Tesla's board chair is defending a proposed 10-year, $1 trillion compensation package for CEO Elon Musk.

California lawmakers pass AI safety bill SB 53 — but Newsom could still veto

The state's landmark safety bill sets new transparency requirements for large AI companies.

Pilot union urges FAA to reject Rainmaker’s drone cloud-seeding plan

Rainmaker wants to use flares to seed clouds – the airline pilots' union says it won't be safe.

Why the Oracle-OpenAI deal caught Wall Street by surprise

The $300B deal is a reminder that despite Oracle’s legacy status, it shouldn’t be overlooked when it comes to AI infrastructure. But key questions around power and how OpenAI will pay for this remain.

Google is a ‘bad actor’ says People CEO, accusing the company of stealing content

People CEO Neil Vogel says Google's AI crawler can't be blocked because it would block the web crawler too. This lets the search giant steal its content for AI.

Tesla’s robotaxi plans for Nevada move forward with testing permit

Tesla can now test its autonomous vehicle technology on public streets in Nevada, but it still has steps to take if it wants to offer paid rides like in Austin, Texas.

VC leaders from 01 Advisors take the Builders Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 to share the scaling playbook

Adam Bain, Dick Costolo, and David Fischer — the operators behind Twitter and Meta’s growth — reunite at Disrupt 2025.

Sony rolls out new ‘PlayStation Family’ parental controls app

While Sony has long offered parental controls, the new app brings all of these tools into one dedicated place for easier access.

Ramp says it has hit $1B in annualized revenue

Ramp answered any lingering questions as to why investors valued the company at $22.5 billion just 45 days after they valued it at $16 billion.

Signal introduces free and paid backup plans for your chats

Signal introduces backups with both free and paid plans.

Salesloft says Drift customer data thefts linked to March GitHub account hack

The breach, now known to have begun in March, raises questions about why it took six months for Salesloft to detect the breach.

Meta suppressed children’s safety research, four whistleblowers claim

Four whistleblowers share documents with Congress alleging that the company may have suppressed research on children's safety.

Uber and Momenta to test autonomous vehicles in Germany in 2026

Momenta is one of 20 global AV partners that Uber has scooped up across its ridehail, delivery, and freight businesses. Uber says those partnerships have already generated an annualized rate of 1.5 million mobility and delivery.

Are bad incentives to blame for AI hallucinations?

How can a chatbot be so wrong — and sound so confident in its wrongness?

Hyundai’s eVTOL startup Supernal pauses work following CEO and CTO departures

The shakeup comes as the startup was still struggling to get its test vehicle off the ground -- literally. The first flight was only in March.

Microsoft says Azure affected after cables cut in the Red Sea

It's not clear who cut the cables or why.

What is Mistral AI? Everything to know about the OpenAI competitor

Mistral AI, the French company behind AI assistant Le Chat and several foundational models, is officially regarded as one of France’s most promising tech startups and is arguably the only European company that could compete with OpenAI. It is reportedly in the process of raising another round that would value it at $14 billion, up […]

Why is an Amazon-backed AI startup making Orson Welles fan fiction?

This is a bad idea.

A timeline of the US semiconductor market in 2025

From leadership changes at legacy semiconductor companies to wishy washy policy around chip exports, a lot has happened already.

iPhone 17, the ‘thinnest iPhone ever,’ and everything else we’re expecting out of Apple’s hardware event

From a new slim iPhone Air model to redesigned AirPods, here's what to expect from this year's Apple event.

FirstClub bucks India’s speed obsession, quickly triples valuation to $120M with premium approach

FirstClub has raised $23 million in a Series A round co-led by Accel and RTP Global to expand its premium quick commerce platform.

SpaceX gets a green light to more than double its Florida launches

SpaceX is one step closer to nearly tripling the number of Falcon 9 launches from Florida.

Amazon launches Lens Live, an AI-powered shopping tool for use in the real world

Lens Live will not replace Amazon's existing visual search tool, Amazon Lens, which lets you take a picture, upload an image, or scan a barcode to discover products. Instead, it brings a real-time component to Amazon Lens.

Tesla’s fourth ‘Master Plan’ reads like LLM-generated nonsense

Even Elon Musk agrees it was too generic.

India’s Offgrid raises $15M to make lithium optional for battery storage

India's Offgrid Energy Labs has developed proprietary zinc battery tech as a safer, more cost-effective alternative to lithium for energy storage.

LayerX uses AI to cut enterprise back-office workload, scores $100M in Series B

This Japanese AI startup just raised $100M to cut businesses’ admin burden.

Space investing goes mainstream as VCs ditch the rocket science requirements

Seven Seven Six's Katelin Holloway represents non-technical VCs pouring billions into space startups, betting operational chops will trump aerospace degrees as the industry shifts from rockets to lunar mining and orbital manufacturing.

Behind the scenes and front-row access: Volunteer at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 while you still can

With just over a month until TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 hits San Francisco, we’re calling on students, aspiring founders, marketers, and event pros to help the TechCrunch events team pull off one of the largest and most anticipated startup events of the year.

Lovable’s CEO isn’t too worried about the vibe-coding competition

Lovable specializes in helping people build apps and websites, especially people with no coding experience. It's one of the standouts in the popular AI category known as vibe-coding, which lets users guide AI models as they produce code, websites, or whole applications.