Senators demand answers from TikTok over experiment that disabled safeguards
The safeguard was designed to prevent users from being overwhelmed by harmful content, but TikTok wanted to determine whether it made the app less engaging.
Octopus Charge puts 210,000 US chargers in one app, without Tesla, Ionna or Electrify America
Octopus Energy has launched Octopus Charge in the US, Canada and Mexico, aggregating more than 210,000 chargers from over 20 networks with no markup on energy prices. Its European…
Meta brings Pocket, an app that lets you vibe-code and share games, to US users
Meta is bringing Pocket, its experimental AI-powered app for creating and sharing interactive games, to users across the U.S. after quietly testing it in Brazil.
Cinemas, schools and ICE are all banning Meta smart glasses
Cinemas became the latest institution to move against Meta smart glasses on Thursday. The UK Cinema Association said many operators are introducing policies to restrict camera-ena…
Inertia Enterprises finds a way to make its fusion fuel fast
Fusion power startup Inertia Enterprises reduced the fuel filling process from a week to just a few hours. It's one of 10 hurdles the company must overcome to make a profitable po…
Patreon launches 30 new creator features, including short-form Clips and revamped discovery
Patreon is overhauling how creators get discovered, adding short-form Clips, topic-based communities, and a revamped recommendation system designed to give smaller creators more v…
The 2026 Startup Battlefield 200 is here — see who made the cut
We’re thrilled to unveil the 2026 Startup Battlefield 200, our annual handpicked list of the 200 most promising early-stage startups from around the world.
Milan’s Domyn raises over $1bn Europe’s largest AI round, mostly in debt
Domyn has raised more than $1bn, which makes it one of the largest financings a European AI company has ever announced, yet only about a tenth of it is equity. The Milan company t…
There are less than 48 hours to save up to $300 on your TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 ticket
If you’ve been circling around Disrupt, then now’s the best time to lock in your pass and start getting ready to join the rest of the startup community gathering in San Francisco …
Slack launches Slack Code, where teams and AI agents build together
Slack launched a coding product on Thursday. Slack Code adds project-specific channels where teams and AI agents write, review and ship software together. The work happens inside …
Waymo built its own robotaxi chip and published its supplier list
Waymo has published what is in the boot of its robotaxis. A blog post on Thursday set out the architecture of its onboard computer, introduced a custom 5-nanometer chip of its own…
Tesla’s Austin robotaxis are now fully driverless, tracking shows
Tesla’s robotaxi service in Austin appears to have gone fully driverless. Over the past fortnight, every one of the 170 rides logged by an independent monitoring project ran with …
Baidu’s Apollo Go is now on Uber in Dubai, with no safety driver
Uber has put Baidu’s driverless robotaxis on its app in Dubai. Book an UberX or an Uber Comfort there now and the app may match you with an Apollo Go vehicle that has nobody in it…
Alibaba’s profit fell 75% as quarterly AI spending hit $10bn
Alibaba’s net profit fell 75% in the June quarter, to $1.54bn. The cause was not a weak business. It was the bill for building one. Capital spending reached $9.98bn in three month…
Two senators give TikTok until 1 September to explain its safety test
Two US senators have written to TikTok about an experiment that switched off a safety feature for roughly 15 million American users. Their letter runs to four pages and sets out 1…
AI can recommend a deal. Governed execution decides whether it should happen
Every revenue leader now has AI somewhere in the deal cycle. It drafts the proposal, suggests the discount, recommends the next move, and does it all in seconds. The speed is real…
Apollo Atomics wants to make nuclear power cheaper by shrinking an overlooked part
Y Combinator alumnus Apollo Atomics is shrinking a key nuclear reactor part, which promises to slash the cost of electricity below natural gas.
White House tech strategy leaves open-weight AI off its critical list
The White House has published a new National Security Science and Technology strategy. It names 15 critical technology areas the United States intends to lead. Artificial intellig…
AI data giant Alation confirms cyberattack
The data search and AI giant confirmed unauthorized access to its systems during an incident on Tuesday, and said it was investigating the breach.
For a16z, AI gives foreign founders an advantage
a16z’s Borderless Founder network initiative supports immigrant and international founders. 'Having one foot in your home country, and one foot in Silicon Valley," is an advantage…
OpenAI previews Private Safety Processing to keep zero data retention
OpenAI has told enterprise customers that its promise not to keep their data will survive the next generation of models. The company set out the position on Wednesday in a post ti…
US says hackers are targeting vulnerable water systems with the help of AI
Hackers are targeting internet-connected Siemens controllers used in water facilities around the United States.
Munich Re is buying cyber-insurer At-Bay for $575mn, half its 2021 price
Munich Re has agreed to buy At-Bay, a cyber-insurance startup, for $575mn. The deal values the company at less than half what it was worth in 2021. The German insurance group anno…
OpenAI’s CFO told staff it will go public in 2027, or sooner
OpenAI has finally put a date on its stock market debut. The company “will be a public company in 2027,” or sooner if its business keeps growing fast, chief financial officer Sara…