Uber’s robotaxi lobbying effort puts it on a collision course with Waymo

Washington D.C. has become a battleground for Uber and Waymo's competing views.

TechCrunch Mobility: A robotaxi ultimatum

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, your hub for the future of transportation and now, more than ever, how AI is playing a part.

Reed Jobs would rather talk about curing cancer than his last name

When we last sat down with Jobs at TechCrunch Disrupt nearly three years ago, his firm Yosemite was brand new and biotech was still reeling from its post-pandem...

This slushie machine was a lifesaver during NYC’s heat wave

Last weekend’s brutal NYC heat wave had me craving a frozen drink almost every afternoon. Normally, that would mean sweating through a walk to 7-Eleven for a sl...

Smart glasses without a camera? Even Realities bets productivity beats recording everyone

The glasses are targeted at people who might be constantly in meetings, giving presentations, and traveling to countries where different languages are spoken.

OpenAI bets on families as ChatGPT goes deeper into households

ChatGPT is hiring a dedicated product manager to build experiences for families, caregivers, and older adults, according to a job posting.

US cyber agency CISA had to build its incident playbook during the incident, agency reveals

CISA said it "missed" an opportunity to get ahead of the security incident by not creating a response plan ahead of time.

Phia accused of ‘cookie stuffing,’ taking affiliate credit on purchases it didn’t earn

Phia, the shopping startup founded by Bill Gates’ daughter, Phoebe, and her friend, Sophia Kianni, is under fire for a practice known as “cookie stuffing,” whic...

Meta removes controversial AI feature on Instagram after backlash

Meta told Dylan Byers, of Puck News, that it had nixed the feature after backlash from its user base.

Bluesky’s interim CEO, Toni Schneider, drops the ‘interim’

Schneider, who formerly served as the CEO of Automattic and is a partner at True Ventures, says he is "all in" on the unconventional social media platform.

Apple sues OpenAI over alleged trade secret theft

Apple alleges the misconduct was directed by OpenAi's senior leadership, including a long-time former employee.

Filing: College app Fizz accuses VC of sharing confidential startup information with rival Sidechat

Fizz has expanded its lawsuit against rival Sidechat, alleging that a Maveron VC shared its confidential information obtained during a fundraising meeting with ...

SK Hynix raises $26.5B in the biggest foreign IPO in US history, is urged to build new US fabs

The AI chip boom just produced its biggest Wall Street moment yet. Now SK Hynix and Samsung are being asked to build US factories.

A new app, HyperTexting, turns the open web into a scrollable social media-like feed

HyperTexting's new app aims to make the open web feel more like social media by turning websites, blogs, newsletters, and podcasts into a scrollable feed, while...

China is catching up to Elon Musk’s reusable rockets

China's state-owned space company recovered its first orbital rocket booster after launch.

Disney+ is considering a free streaming tier, report says

The launch of free content would allow Disney+ to better compete with free services like YouTube and Tubi, which are capturing a growing share of consumers’ vie...

Dumb Co dared me to trade my iPhone for a hacked flip phone

Dumb Co sells flip phones that sync to your smartphone, bridging the infinite connectivity of the iPhone and the unrealistic limitations of an early 2000s relic...

Oratomic raises $300M to build a viable quantum computer that needs only 20K qubits

The new startup raised $300 million co-led by ARCH Venture Partners, Spark Capital, and Khosla Ventures.

Netflix could be planning ‘always-on’ live TV channels

Amid signs of slowing engagement, Netflix is reportedly considering launching "always-on" live channels, giving subscribers something to tune into 24/7.

EU threatens Meta with fines over addictive features on Facebook and Instagram

The tech giant is in breach of the Digital Services Act by focusing on features like infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and the highly personalized ...

Florida ransomware negotiator convicted for helping ransomware gang extort US companies

A third ransomware negotiator has been jailed for helping a notorious ransomware group to extort American victim companies into paying the hackers.

Hugging Face’s CEO on why companies are done renting their AI

Open source AI is booming, according to Hugging Face CEO Clem Delangue. The company has grown into something like a GitHub for AI in recent years, where AI buil...

After Apple, India’s smartphone manufacturing boom enters new phase with Vivo JV

Vivo's joint venture could become a template for Chinese smartphone makers in India.

OpenAI says GPT 5.6 is the ‘preferred model’ for Microsoft Copilot amid breakup chatter

OpenAI's new family of models will continue to power Microsoft's suite of workplace and productivity apps.

Don’t want to invest in Elon Musk? Two new ETFs explicitly exclude him

The new exchanged-traded funds exclude companies that are founded, controlled, or led by Elon Musk. That means no SpaceX or Tesla.

Fidji Simo steps down from OpenAI’s no. 2 role

OpenAI's No. 2 executive, Fidji Simo, is stepping down from her full-time role after her medical leave proved longer than expected — a leadership vacuum that co...

OpenAI launches its new family of models with GPT-5.6

OpenAI's latest family of models promise improvements across a range of areas, including cybersecurity.

An AI agent startup just let its agent run its $100 million fundraise

Lyzr, a startup that builds AI agents for enterprises, used its own AI agent to raise a $100 million round — proof, evidently, that the product actually works.

OpenAI is shutting down Atlas, but its AI browser ambitions are still growing

OpenAI is sunsetting its AI-powered browser after less than a year. But it's moving some agentic browsing features to its desktop app and a Chrome extension.

Elon Musk praises Mythos/Fable, promises not to ‘cut off’ Anthropic

Should Anthropic trust Elon Musk to host its models? With about $40 billion in revenue at stake, Musk insists that the company can.