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Funding, launches, tools & everything AI money — updated daily
Google’s Gemini is the latest AI model to hack other companies
Google said Gemini had "acted appropriately" by ending each hack immediately.
Petlibro’s new AI-powered feeder is a game changer for multi-cat homes
Petlibro's new Granary 2 smart feeders use a built-in scale and (on pricier models) an AI camera to track exactly how much your cat is eating and when — though the fanciest health-monitoring features...
Vals, backed by Andreessen Horowitz, is looking to become the gold standard for AI benchmarking
Vals AI is hoping to make AI benchmarking a more neutral and trustworthy resource in a world increasingly inundated by AI models.
Forget the AI Slowdown—the Vulnerability Explosion Is Already Happening
AI labs are toying with an industry-wide pact to slow development. Meanwhile, widely available AI chatbots are already helping uncover a tidal wave of security flaws.
A startup that builds other startups raised $100M and is all-in on physical AI
UP.Labs, now doing business under the name Vantora, is building startups for industrial corporations.
AI hallucination nearly triggers US military operation
“It’s important for service members to understand the uncertainty inherent to LLMs," a GovAI research scholar warns.
World model companies are keeping a lot of secrets
Everyone in the world-models space is sitting on a pile of cash and a ton of buzz, but good luck getting anyone — from the founders to their own data suppliers — to tell you what they're actually...
A new kind of AI model from a ChatGPT inventor is thrilling developers
Jev, a new kind of AI model, is showing developers a cheaper and faster path to software intelligence.
The Week’s 10 Biggest Funding Rounds: Large Rounds For AI Infrastructure, Space Tech And Investment Management Lead
After a week of multiple billion-dollar-plus rounds, startup investors have reduced the number of zeroes on their funding checks. This past week, the largest U.S. startup funding rounds were in the...
Disney’s first CTO led an AI startup it once accused of copying its characters
The former CEO of Character.AI, which Disney previously sent a cease-and-desist letter to, will serve as the company's first-ever chief technology officer.
Google’s new ‘CC’ is an AI agent that helps families run their households
Google is refocusing its CC AI agent on household coordination, letting families share emails, schedules, and tasks so the AI can manage calendars, fill out forms, make shopping lists, plan meals,...
Dario Amodei and other AI leaders want to ‘Pace the Frontier’ but…how?
A week after an Anthropic researcher’s doomsday warning rattled the AI world, the company’s CEO Dario Amodei has outlined his plan to “pace the frontier” of AI development. The proposal leans on...
Automattic’s 33-Hour Coup, and can AI labs police themselves?
A week after an Anthropic researcher’s doomsday warning rattled the AI world, the company’s CEO Dario Amodei has outlined his plan to “pace the frontier” of AI development. The proposal leans on...
Manus seeks $4B valuation in new $500M fundraise as it resumes independent ops
Manus, which earlier this year had to break off a merger with Meta, is in discussions to raise $500M at a $4B valuation.
Open or closed AI? Nvidia’s Nader Khalil and Sydney Sykes take on one of the decisions shaping next-gen startups at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026
Nvidia's Nader Khalil and Sydney Sykes discuss one of the decisions shaping next-gen startups on the Builders Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026.
AI PACs Have Dumped Nearly $1 Million Into an Obscure Senate Race
The reliably Republican South Dakota senate seat has an incumbent on the ballot. But PACs associated with AI labs and investors have already spent more money on the race than actual residents have.
If the AI Industry Followed Its Own Research, It Might Have Paused Already
Anthropic’s CEO says that safety hinges on understanding how AI “thinks.” So far the evidence is disturbing.
Gartner outlines four AI tiers in warehouse automation
Gartner reports that warehouse automation now spans four operational AI tiers as logistics operators transition from software trials to live facility deployments. In an analysis released this month,...
What 25,000 Startup Applications Reveal About The New Rules Of Seed-Stage Startups
The most-fundable startups prioritize a clear go-to-market strategy and test distinctive marketing channels early, treating distribution and disciplined focus as durable competitive advantages,...
The Leftist Split Over AI Doom
The left wants AI regulation. They just can’t agree on what it should look like or how concerned they should be.
Fulcra Brings Universal Multiplayer to Any Agents You Choose
The Instinct-to-Instinct model that is the talk of Silicon Valley presents too small a future for personal AI. With Fulcra’s multiplayer capabilities, people can get agent to agent collaboration...
Napster Is Back, and It Wants to Digitally Clone Teachers
Once the music industry’s biggest headache, Napster’s next act is bringing AI to the classroom.
The specter of AI-enabled bioweapons is a wake-up call for biotech
In recent weeks, leaders of some of the biggest AI companies have warned that the very tech they are developing is dangerous. Last weekend, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei argued that AI carries serious...
Exclusive: Fintech Offers Startups Alternative To Venture Debt With A New Model To Finance Customer Acquisition Costs
Newly launched Skalar provides startups with capital to fund sales and marketing initiatives in a fairly straightforward, though somewhat unusual model which lets the startups pay it back out of the...
The Download: mice with part-human brains and climate tech innovators
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Meet a mouse whose brain cortex is made up of human cells...
5 Interesting Startup Deals You May Have Missed: Floating Nuclear Power, Robot Report Cards And Voice AI For Farmers
From putting nuclear reactors on barges to grading how well AI models can control robots, this month’s crop of interesting startup deals takes AI and other emerging technologies well beyond the...
Adecco Group rolls out Agentforce Coworker to 27,000 staff in 40-plus countries
The Adecco Group is rolling out Salesforce’s Agentforce Coworker across more than 40 countries following a pilot in the UK and France, the staffing group announced on September 15. The group said the...
Lidl deploys driverless truck for store deliveries in Germany
Lidl has started using a cab-less autonomous electric truck for regular store deliveries in Germany, assigning it a daily replenishment route between its Edermünde distribution centre and a nearby...
The Crunchbase Tech Layoffs Tracker
Over 127,000 workers at U.S.-based tech companies were laid off in mass job cuts in 2025, per a Crunchbase News tally, and the layoffs have continued into 2026. See the latest companies to cut roles.
Meet a mouse whose brain cortex is made up of human cells
Multiple cameras tracked a mouse as it wandered around a small arena. A computer charted its position and speed, leaving Pong-like traces on a monitor. The reason to watch this rodent so carefully?...
Startup Funding Hits Record $510B in H1 2026 — AI Took the Lion's Share
Global venture funding smashed every record in the first half of 2026, and AI swallowed most of it — OpenAI and Anthropic alone pulled in $217B.
MGX Raises $49 Billion — One of the Biggest AI Funds Ever
Abu Dhabi's MGX, just two years old, closed a $49B fund dedicated to AI deals — instantly one of the most consequential investors in the sector.
AI Agents Market Hits $7.6B — Individual Developers Are Building Custom Agents for $500-1,500 Each
The AI agents market reached $7.63 billion in 2025, projected to hit $183 billion by 2033. Solo builders are cashing in.
Anthropic Raises $3.5B at $61.5B Valuation — AI Safety Race Intensifies
Anthropic's latest funding round makes it the second most valuable AI startup after OpenAI.
OpenAI Slashes API Prices by 40% — Startups See Immediate Margin Boost
GPT-4o API costs drop significantly, making AI products cheaper to build and run.
Cursor Becomes #1 AI Coding Tool — Developers Are Switching in Droves
The AI-first code editor surpasses GitHub Copilot in developer satisfaction surveys.
EU AI Act Enforcement Begins — Companies Face Up to 7% Revenue Penalties
The world's first comprehensive AI law starts enforcing compliance requirements across Europe.
DeepSeek V3 Proves You Don't Need Billions to Build Frontier AI
The Chinese open-source model matches GPT-4 performance at 1/10th the API cost.
Enterprise AI Adoption Hits 58% — What Separates Winners from Failures
More than half of enterprises now use AI in production, but 42% of projects fail to deliver ROI.
Hot Right Now
Google’s Gemini is the latest AI model to hack other companies
Petlibro’s new AI-powered feeder is a game changer for multi-cat homes
Vals, backed by Andreessen Horowitz, is looking to become the gold standard for AI benchmarking
Forget the AI Slowdown—the Vulnerability Explosion Is Already Happening
A startup that builds other startups raised $100M and is all-in on physical AI