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Showing posts from October, 2025

As the browser wars heat up, here are the hottest alternatives to Chrome and Safari in 2025

We’ve compiled an overview of some of the top alternative browsers available today aiming to challenge Chrome and Safari.

A16z-backed Codi launches AI agent office manager

Codi launches what it hails as the first fully automated office manager.

Top OpenAI, Google Brain researchers set off a $300M VC frenzy for their startup Periodic Labs 

When Liam Fedus announced he was quitting OpenAI, VCs swarmed. One even wrote a love letter. Here's how Felicis' Peter Deng won the deal.

Trump DOE confirms it’s canceling over $700M in manufacturing grants

The Department of Energy said it was canceling grants to build new factories in places like Alabama and Kentucky. Three startups are affected.

Scale AI alum raises $9M for AI serving critical industries in MENA

Bilal Abu-Ghazaleh had just moved to London few days before our call, splitting his time between there and Dubai. After nearly a decade in the U.S., including a stint at Scale AI, he’s bringing that experience to his next venture: 1001 AI , a company creating AI infrastructure for critical industries across the Middle East […]

The man betting everything on AI and Bill Belichick

UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts is making big bets on AI and Bill Belichick, and he sounds like a Silicon Valley CEO while doing it.

Kohler unveils a camera for your toilet

Home goods company Kohler recently unveiled a new device called the Dekoda — a $599 camera that can be attached to your toilet bowl and take pictures of what’s inside.

OpenAI’s ‘embarrassing’ math

No, GPT-5 did not solve a bunch of previously unsolved math problems.

Spyware maker NSO Group blocked from WhatsApp

A federal judge has granted Meta-owned WhatsApp’s request for a permanent injunction blocking Israeli cyberintelligence company NSO Group from targeting the messaging app’s users. At the same time, the judge dramatically reduced the fine that NSO Group must pay to Meta.

YouTubers aren’t relying on ad revenue anymore — here’s how some are diversifying

YouTubers are no longer just creators, and in some cases, their side businesses are growing faster than their channels.

Your AI tools run on fracked gas and bulldozed Texas land

If you're wondering why AI companies are pursuing this path, they'll tell you it's not just about electricity – it's about beating China.

Trump DOE decides to keep at least one Biden-era energy program

The loan guarantee will backstop $1.6 billion for AEP, one of the nation's largest utilities, as it seeks to modernize a portion of its transmissions lines.

Facebook’s AI can now suggest edits to the photos still on your phone

Facebook is rolling out a new Meta AI photo suggestion feature across the U.S. and Canada that lets its AI recommend edits to images stored on users’ camera rolls—even if they haven’t been shared. The feature is currently opt in only.

Rent a Cyber Friend will pay you to talk to strangers online and will show off its platform at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025

"Loneliness is the biggest disease in the world right now," founder Francesco Vitali said. "So we built a platform where human time has value again, and a place where being human is important."

Electric aircraft startup Beta Technologies seeks to raise $825M in IPO

If the company attracts investors at the top of its announced range, it will have a valuation of about $7.2 billion.

Spotify spotted working on a ‘SongDNA’ feature that showcases the people behind your favorite music

Spotify is developing a new “SongDNA” feature that lets users explore music through the people behind it — from writers and producers to vocalists and engineers.

Apple adds 650 megawatts of renewables in Europe with more coming in China

Apple is adding renewable power to offset customer charging and support its operations, including third-party manufacturing in China.

Inaudible sound might be the next frontier in wildfire defense

Sonic Fire Tech has developed a device that can extinguish flames using acoustic energy below the range of human hearing. The startup is building a demo capable of protecting a home.

Impulse Space details plan to deliver up to 6 tons a year to the Moon

Impulse Space sees a growing demand for mid-sized deliveries to the moon.

Mozilla’s Firefox adds Perplexity’s AI answer engine as a new search option

The integration offers conversational, cited answers instead of traditional links and follows positive feedback from earlier tests in select markets. Perplexity will expand to mobile soon.

India’s Airbound bags $8.65M to build rocket-like drones for one-cent deliveries

Lachy Groom backs Airbound in $8.65M seed round as it launches pilot in Bengaluru.

Goldman Sachs is acquiring Industry Ventures for up to $965M as alternative VC exits surge

Goldman Sachs has agreed to acquire Industry Ventures, a 25-year-old, San Francisco-based investment firm with $7 billion in assets under management, CNBC was first to report on Monday. The deal underscores the growing importance of secondary markets and buyouts as traditional venture exits remain sluggish. The investment bank is paying $665 million in cash and […]

Oura is winning young women and losing gym rats, and it’s fine with that

Oura's chief commercial officer doesn't seem particularly worried about capturing every demographic. Instead, she's focused on keeping Oura’s core users happy while organically attracting new segments. And young women are becoming part of that core market.

Final Flash Sale: Save up to $624 on your TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 pass — Ends Oct 17

The final countdown to Disrupt 2025! Save up to $624 on your pass before prices rise Friday, October 17 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Join 10,000+ founders, investors, and operators for 200+ sessions, 250+ leaders, 300+ showcasing startups, and Startup Battlefield 200. Register now to save — plus 30% off group passes.

Anduril’s new EagleEye MR helmet sees Palmer Luckey return to his VR roots

Anduril Industries on Monday unveiled “EagleEye,” a helmeted computing system that seeks to turn soldiers into AI-augmented warfighters.

Strava eyes IPO as Gen Z trades dating apps for running clubs

Strava, the 16-year-old fitness tracking app, is gearing up to go public, the Financial Times reports. CEO Michael Martin told the FT that the San Francisco company plans to list “at some point,” eyeing capital for more acquisitions. The company, backed by Sequoia Capital, TCV, and Jackson Square Ventures, was last valued at $2.2 billion […]

Nvidia’s AI empire: A look at its top startup investments

Over the last two years, Nvidia has used its ballooning fortunes to invest in over 100 AI startups. Here are the giant semiconductor's largest investments.

Dating app Cerca will show how Gen Z really dates at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025

Cerca is a dating app that sets users up with mutual friends.

Thinking Machines Lab co-founder Andrew Tulloch heads to Meta

AI researcher Andrew Tulloch reportedly announced his departure to employees in a message on Friday.

Apple says goodbye to the Clips app

Apple appears to be winding down support of Clips, with the company removing Clips from the App Store and saying it will no longer be making any updates.

Kalshi hits $5B valuation days after rival Polymarket gets $2B NYSE backing at $8 Billion

Prediction markets startup Klashi raised $300 million, while Polymarket nabbed up to $2 billion.

The billion-dollar infrastructure deals powering the AI boom

Here's everything we know about the biggest AI infrastructure projects, including major spending from Meta, Oracle, Microsoft, Google, and OpenAI.

Andreessen Horowitz denies report of India office, calls it ‘fake news’

a16z’s Anish Acharya calls India office reports “entirely fake news!”

Reflection raises $2B to be America’s open frontier AI lab, challenging DeepSeek

Reflection, once focused on autonomous coding agents, has raised $2B at an $8B valuation to expand into both an opensource alternative to closed frontier labs like OpenAI and Anthropic, and a Western equivalent to Chinese AI firms like DeepSeek.

Discord data breach affects at least 70,000 users

The platform said in a press release that hackers breached a third-party vendor that Discord uses for age-related appeals.

Sora copycats flooded Apple’s App Store, and some still remain

Imposter Sora apps saw hundreds of thousands of downloads before Apple pulled them from the App Store.

Novoloop’s upcycled plastic takes a step closer to production

Novoloop has signed a deal with a contract manufacturer to produce its Lifecycled TPU material.

Even after Stargate, Oracle, Nvidia and AMD, OpenAI has more big deals coming soon, Sam Altman says

By some estimates, OpenAI has this year inked $1 trillion dollars worth of infrastructure deals. Altman says to expect even more.

Here’s what it’s really like to appear on billionaire VC Tim Draper’s ‘Meet the Drapers’ pitch show

The show is one of many on Draper's newly launched television channel, DraperTV, which offers programming around business and entrepreneurship, available via streaming services like Roku.

OpenAI’s Nick Turley on transforming ChatGPT into an operating system

In an interview, OpenAI's Head of ChatGPT discusses the company's push into developing an AI operating system full of third-party apps.

Google launches its AI vibe-coding app Opal in 15 more countries

The app, which lets you create mini web apps using text prompts, is now available in Canada, India, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, Brazil, Singapore, Colombia, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panamá, Honduras, Argentina and Pakistan.

Tesla reveals slightly cheaper ‘standard’ versions of the Model 3 and Model Y

The long-awaited cheaper Model 3 and Model Y are finally here, but they start at $36,990 and $39,990, respectively -- just a few thousand dollars less than Tesla's current offerings.

Taylor Swift fans accuse singer of using AI in her Google scavenger hunt videos

Swifties love a puzzle, but some were rubbed the wrong way by a promotional scavenger hunt which appeared to use AI-generated videos.

MrBeast says AI could threaten creators’ livelihoods, calling it ‘scary times’ for the industry

As Sora tops the App Store, MrBeast says AI could threaten creators' ability to make money.

Firefly leans into its defense ambitions with $855M SciTec acquisition

Firefly Aerospace has agreed to buy defense analytics firm SciTec for about $855 million in cash and stock as the company tries to push deeper into the national security market.

Heidi Health raises $65M Series B led by Steve Cohen’s Point72

Heidi Health raised a $65 million Series B led by Steven Cohen’s Point72.

Waffles eat Bluesky

A waffle-centric controversy underlines ongoing tensions between Bluesky and some of its most vocal users.

Suspect arrested after threats against TikTok’s Culver City headquarters

Police say they have arrested a suspect allegedly connected to multiple online threats that led TikTok to evacuate its headquarters near Los Angeles on Friday.

Newsom signs bill giving Uber and Lyft drivers in California the right to unionize

Drivers for ride-hailing apps like Uber and Lyft will soon have the right to unionize in California as independent contractors, thanks to a bill signed Friday by Governor Gavin Newsom.

Anker offered Eufy camera owners $2 per video for AI training

Hundreds of Eufy customers have donated hundreds of thousands of videos to train the company’s AI systems.

Google’s Gemini AI app could soon be getting a big makeover

The company is seemingly experimenting with a new user interface that would shift the app from having a chatbot-style look and feel to one offering a scrollable feed with suggested prompts accompanied by eye-catching photos.

Rivian is redesigning the R2 SUV’s door handles for better safety

The change comes after employees and customers reportedly voiced concerns.

Can AI companies turn brainrot into revenue?

The U.S. government shutdown that began this week is the first in seven years. While it might not feel immediately disruptive, for startups waiting on permits, visas, or regulatory approvals, even a few weeks can become an existential problem.  On this episode of Equity, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Max Zeff talk through how uncertainty […]

After nine years of grinding, Replit finally found its market. Can it keep it?

While AI coding startups like Cursor raise brow-raising rounds on barely three years of existence, Replit's path to a $3 billion valuation has been anything but swift.

Amazon to resume drone delivery following crash in Arizona

Investigations by the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are underway.

OpenAI’s Sora soars to No. 3 on the U.S. App Store

Sora becomes the No. 3 US app after 164K downloads in 2 days, making the AI video app an early hit.

Why California’s new AI safety law succeeded where SB 1047 failed

California just made history as the first state to require AI safety transparency from the biggest labs in the industry. Governor Newsom signed SB 53 into law this week, mandating that AI giants like OpenAI and Anthropic disclose, and stick to, their safety protocols. The decision is already sparking debate about whether other states will […]