Google denies AI search features are killing website traffic
Google denies AI is impacting search across the web, saying only "some" sites have suffered.
First impressions of Alexa+, Amazon’s upgraded, AI-powered digital assistant
To find out whether Alexa is still the best smart assistant for my family, I'm going to test Amazon's AI-powered devices, experiment with AI queries, and write out my thoughts in a multi-part series.
Google takes on ChatGPT’s Study Mode with new ‘Guided Learning’ tool in Gemini
Google is also offering students in the U.S., Japan, Indonesia, Korea, and Brazil a free one-year subscription to its AI Pro plan.
OpenAI is practically giving ChatGPT to the government for free
GSA Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Josh Gruenbaum in a statement encouraged âother American AI technology companies to follow OpenAIâs lead and work with us.â
Google’s AI coding agent Jules is now out of beta
Google today launched its AI coding agent, Jules, out of beta â just over two months after its public preview debut in May.
Billing platform Lava raises $5.8M to build digital wallets for the ‘agent-native economy’
Lava is a digital wallet that lets merchants use credits to facilitate transactions.
Tavily raises $25M to connect AI agents to the web
The one-year-old startup raised a Series A led by Insight Partners.
Cohereâs new AI agent platform, North, promises to keep enterprise data secure
Canadian AI firm Cohere is taking aim at alleviating data privacy concerns with its new AI agent platform, North, which can be deployed privately so that enterprises and governments can keep their, and customers', data safe behind their own firewalls.Â
Two arrested for smuggling AI chips to China; Nvidia says no to kill switches
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Tuesday that two Chinese nationals have been arrested for their alleged involvement in illegally shipping "tens of millions of dollars" worth of high-performance AI chips to China.
Final call: TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 ticket savings end tonight
TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 marks 20 years of shaping the startup world â and tonightâs your last chance to save up to $675 on your ticket. From October 27â29, Disrupt returns to Moscone West in San Francisco. Join 10,000+ tech innovators, founders, VCs, and ecosystem builders for three days of high-impact programming, networking, and startup energy. […]
Microsoft brings OpenAI’s smallest open model to Windows users
Microsoft will bring OpenAI's new free and open GPT model, gpt-oss-20b, to Windows 11 users via Windows AI Foundry, its platform that lets users tap AI features, APIs, and popular open-source models on their computers.
Qwant and Ecosia debut Staan, a European search index that aims to take on Big Tech
European search engines Qwant and Ecosia said on Wednesday that they have both started serving search queries through an index they developed together, Staan, that aims to be a cheaper, more privacy-focused alternative to Google and Bing.
Clay confirms it closed $100M round at $3.1B valuation
The AI sales automation startup raised fresh funds, led by CapitalG, just months after its last round.
For the first time, OpenAI models are available on AWS
This is a juicy competitive move for both companies after AWS faced an onslaught of criticism over its progress with AI.
OpenAI launches two ‘open’ AI reasoning models
For the first time in more than five years, OpenAI is launching a new open language model that appears to be state-of-the-art.
Some people are defending Perplexity after Cloudflare ânamed and shamedâ it
In a debate likely to get louder as AI agent usage grows, some people say Perplexity crawling blocked websites isn't a simple matter.
The EU AI Act aims to create a level playing field for AI innovation. Here’s what it is.
The European Unionâs Artificial Intelligence Act, known as the EU AI Act, has been described as âthe world's first comprehensive AI lawâ by the European Commission.
Googleâs NotebookLM is now available to younger users as competition in the AI education space intensifies
The removal of age restrictions is intended to provide younger students with access to the AI research tool, allowing them to better understand their class materials.
Three weeks after acquiring Windsurf, Cognition offers staff the exit door
Cognition is also laying off 30 employees. Those who take the buyout are expected to work 80+ hour weeks.
ElevenLabs launches an AI music generator, which it claims is cleared for commercial use
The AI audio-generation unicorn ElevenLabs announced the launch of a new model that allows users to generate music that's cleared for commercial use.
Trump says he’ll announce semiconductor and chip tariffs
This announcement comes as the Trump administration is also mulling over its approach to AI chip export restrictions.
Crack the code to startup traction with insights from Chef Robotics, NEA, and ICONIQ at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025
Finding product-market fit isnât a milestone â itâs a messy, make-or-break journey. And at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, a founder whoâs been through the fire and two investors whoâve helped startups hit escape velocity will break down how to do it right. On the Builders Stage, Rajat Bhageria (Founder & CEO, Chef Robotics), Ann Bordetsky (Partner, […]
DeepMind reveals Genie 3, a world model that could be the key to reaching AGI
Google DeepMind has revealed Genie 3, its latest foundation world model that the AI lab says presents a crucial stepping stone on the path to artificial general intelligence, or human-like intelligence.Â
Only 2 days left to save $675 on your TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 ticket
TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 marks 20 years of driving the startup world forward â and youâve got just two days left to join the movement and save up to $675 on your ticket. From October 27â29, Moscone West becomes the home base for over 10,000 movers and makers in the tech world. Join us in San […]
US adds OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic to list of approved AI vendors for federal agencies
The companies will see their AI tools offered via a new federal contracting platform, the Multiple Awards Schedule (MSA), which would let government agencies access AI tool sellers with pre-negotiated contracts, rather than negotiating with vendors individually.Â
AI-powered fintech Alaan raises $48M, one of the largest Series A rounds in MENA
When Parthi Duraisamy was a consultant at McKinseyâs Dubai office, he discovered that the American Express cards his company relied on for corporate expenses were rarely accepted in the Middle East. This forced Duraisamy to cover significant travel expenses out of pocket and file endless expense reports. âIt was a constant pain,â Duraisamy explained on […]
Google says its AI-based bug hunter found 20 security vulnerabilities
The discoveries by an AI-based bug hunter are significant, as it shows these tools are starting to get real results, even if they still need a human.
Perplexity accused of scraping websites that explicitly blocked AI scraping
Internet giant Cloudflare says it detected Perplexity crawling and scraping websites, even after customers had added technical blocks telling Perplexity not to scrape their pages.
OpenAI says ChatGPT is on track to reach 700M weekly users
OpenAI's consumer chatbot ChatGPT to hit a new milestone of 700M weekly users.
Grok Imagine, xAIâs new AI image and video generator, lets you make NSFW content
Elon Musk continues to position Grok as an unfiltered, boundary-pushing AI.
OpenMind wants to be the Android operating system of humanoid robots
OpenMind is building humanoid robot operating software designed for robots that interact with people and other robots.
Apple might be building its own AI âanswer engineâ
Apple is reportedly working to create a lightweight competitor to ChatGPT.
Inside OpenAIâs quest to make AI do anything for you
OpenAI developed the first AI reasoning model less than a year ago, but the technology has shifted Silicon Valley's focus to agents.
The uproar over Vogue’s AI-generated ad isn’t just about fashion
âModeling as a profession is already challenging enough without having to compete with now new digital standards of perfection that can be achieved with AI,â Sarah Murray told TechCrunch.
Tim Cook reportedly tells employees Apple ‘must’ win in AI
Apple CEO Tim Cook held an hourlong all-hands meeting in which he told employees that the company needs to win in AI: "Apple must do this. Apple will do this."
Anthropic cuts off OpenAIâs access to its Claude models
Anthropic has cut off one of its biggest competitors, revoking OpenAIâs access to its Claude family of AI models.
A backlog at the Commerce Department is reportedly stalling Nvidia’s H20 chip licenses
News of a backlog at the U.S. federal department comes less than a week after national security experts urged the Trump administration to reverse its decision that allows Nvidia to export H20 chips to China.
Google bets on STAN, an Indian social gaming platform
Google has backed STAN, an Indian social gaming mobile platform that connects gamers with creators, communities, and publishers.
More details emerge on how Windsurfâs VCs and founders got paid from the Google deal
VCs and founders took much of the $2.4 billion, but money was left for a payout to all employees, sources say.
Fundamental Research Labs nabs $30M+ to build AI agents across verticals
Fundamental Research Labs is releasing multiple AI products related to gaming and productivity.
OpenAI reportedly raises $8.3B at $300B valuation
The oversubscribed round came months ahead of schedule, and is part of OpenAI's strategy to raise $40 billion.
The new face of defense tech â Ethan Thornton of Mach Industries â takes the AI stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025
Autonomous weapons, decentralized strategy, and startup speed â this isnât the future of defense, itâs the now. At TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, Ethan Thornton, CEO and founder of Mach Industries, steps onto the AI Stage to talk about how next-gen defense is being built from the ground up with AI at its core. Inside the AI […]
Vast Data in talks with Alphabet’s CapitalG, Nvidia to fund round at up to $30B valuation
The round could make the AI data storage company one of the most valuable in the world.
Google rolls out Gemini Deep Think AI, a reasoning model that tests multiple ideas in parallel
Google released its first publicly available "multi-agent" AI system, which uses more computational resources, but produces better answers.
Female-founded semiconductor AI startup SixSense raises $8.5M
SixSense offers an AI-powered platform that helps chip makers prevent defects. It landed backing led by Peak XVâs Surge (formerly Sequoia India & SEA).
Amazon CEO wants to put ads in your Alexa+ conversations
Amazon is spending a fortune on AI infrastructure and CEO Andy Jassy sees a new way to pay for it with Alexa+.
Reddit revenue soars as it bets on AI and advertising
Reddit reported its Q2 earnings, and itâs clear that its focus on AI has ramped up significantly.
Apple plans to ‘significantly’ grow AI investments and is open to M&A
Apple is open to M&A to accelerate its AI strategy, and says it's made seven acquisitions this year so far.
Enterprises prefer Anthropic’s AI models over anyone else’s, including OpenAI
Anthropic holds 32% of enterprise LLM market share by usage. This is sharp reversal from just two years ago when OpenAI held 50%.
Your public ChatGPT queries are getting indexed by Google and other search engines
Search engines are indexing links to ChatGPT conversations that have been made sharable with a link.
Design and development shop the Iconfactory is selling some apps âand AI is partially to blame
Side products can no longer be maintained, even if they have "loads of happy and loyal customers," as the Iconfactory's co-founder, Ged Maheux, says.
Quora’s Poe releases a developer API with access to a bouquet of AI models
Quora's Poe platform is releasing an API to let developers access more than 100 models across text, image, video, and voice.
OpenAI to launch AI data center in Norway, its first in Europe
OpenAI said the new Norway-based datacenter comes as the European Union races to achieve AI sovereignty by investing in data center and compute power.
Waymoâs Tekedra Mawakana on the truth behind autonomous vehicles at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025
Autonomous vehicles have long been touted as âjust around the corner,â but the reality of what it takes to bring self-driving cars to the streets is anything but simple. At TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, happening October 27â29 at Moscone West in San Francisco, Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana joins the Disrupt Stage for a wide-ranging conversation on […]
Google is experimenting with machine-learning powered age estimation tech in the U.S.
Google will use machine learning and user data to estimate age of users in the U.S.
GitHub Copilot crosses 20 million all-time users
One of the most popular AI coding tools on the market added five million users in the last three months.
Kleiner Perkins-backed Ambiq pops on IPO debut
The 15-year-old chipmaker saw its shares climb 61% above its IPO price by the close of its first trading day.
Zuckerberg says people without AI glasses will be at a disadvantage in the future
Mark Zuckerberg really believes AI glasses will be the ideal way to blend the physical and digital worlds together.
Meta to spend up to $72B on AI infrastructure in 2025 as compute arms race escalates
Meta is pouring money into the physical and technical infrastructure needed to scale its AI ambitions. The company said Wednesday in its second-quarter earnings report that it plans to more than double its spend on building AI infrastructure â like data centers and servers. âWe currently expect 2025 capital expenditures, including principal payments on finance leases, to be in the range of $66-72 billionâ¦up approximately $30 billion year-over-year at the midpoint,â Meta said.
Zuckerberg: AI increased the time spent on Facebook and Instagram in Q2
Overall, Meta estimated that over 3.4 billion people used one of its "family of apps" on a daily basis.
Zuckerberg signals Meta won’t open source all of its ‘superintelligence’ AI models
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared his vision on Wednesday for âpersonal superintelligence,â the idea that people should be able to use AI to achieve their personal goals, create, connect, and lead fulfilling lives. Smuggled into the letter is a signal that Meta is shifting how it plans to ensure widespread access to superintelligence, a suggestion that the companyâs most advanced AI may remain closed so that Meta can stay in the driverâs seat.
PlayerZero raises $15M to prevent AI agents from shipping buggy codeÂ
PlayerZero landed angel investors like Databricks' Matei Zaharia, Dropbox's Drew Houston, Figma's Dylan Field, and Vercel's Guillermo Rauch, its founder says.
How 2 UC Berkeley dropouts raised $28 million for their AI marketing automation startup
A marketing automation startup called Conversation has a founding story that sounds like it could have been an episode of the HBO show âSilicon Valley.â
Gen AI apps doubled their revenue, grew to 1.7B downloads in first half of 2025
People are downloading and spending money on Gen AI apps more than ever.
Observe continues to adapt to the changing world of software observability
Observe just raised a $156 million Series C round as the company looks to offer support for Apache Iceberg by the end of the year.
Google says it will sign EU’s AI code of practice
Google confirmed it will sign the European Union's general purpose AI code of practice. Meta has already said it will not sign the voluntary framework.
Nvidia AI chip challenger Groq said to be nearing new fundraising at $6B valuationÂ
AI chip startup Groq is in talks to raise a fresh $600 million at a near $6 billion valuation, sources tell Bloomberg, although the deal isnât yet final and terms could change.Â
Luma and Runway expect robotics to eventually be a big revenue driver for them
Both Luma and Runway have reportedly held conversations with self-driving car and robotics companies as they look toward the future.
Anthropic reportedly nears $170B valuation with potential $5B round
The new round is being led by Iconiq Capital, with the possibility of a co-lead investor joining.
Google’s NotebookLM rolls out Video Overviews
With this new capability, NotebookLM is taking a more visual approach to helping users understand different topics and ideas.
OpenAI launches Study Mode in ChatGPT
OpenAI's Study Mode aims to help students develop their own critical thinking skills, rather than just giving answers.
Spotify hints at a more chatty voice AI interface in the future
Spotify says AI will allow for "much more interactive" consumer experiences in its app.
Google’s AI Mode gets new ‘Canvas’ feature, real-time help with Search Live, and more
The tech giant is rolling out a new Canvas feature, the ability to get real-time help with Search Live, and the option to search what you see while browsing.
Microsoft in talks to maintain access to OpenAIâs tech beyond AGI milestoneÂ
Microsoft is reportedly in advanced talks with OpenAI for a new agreement that would give it ongoing access to the startupâs technology even if OpenAI achieves what it defines as AGI, or advanced general intelligence. If the deal goes through, it would clear a key hurdle in OpenAIâs transition toward becoming a fully commercial enterprise.
AI data analyst startup Julius nabs $10M seed round
The seed round for Julius AI was led by Bessemer Venture Partners.
Harmonic, the Robinhood CEO’s AI math startup, launches an AI chatbot app
The chatbot app, which is available in beta on iOS and Android, lets users access its AI model, Aristotle.
Microsoft Edge is now an AI browser with launch of ‘Copilot Mode’
Microsoft's Edge browser introduces an AI-powered "Copilot Mode" for smarter web browsing.
Anthropic unveils new rate limits to curb Claude Code power users
The new rate limits will go into effect August 28 for subscribers to Anthropic's $20-per-month Pro plan, as well as its $100 and $200-per-month Max plans.
Why Dispo’s co-founder made the leap from social media to steelmaking
Daniel Liss, co-founder of the social network Dispo and the dating app Teaser AI, is convinced heâs onto the next big thing: steelmaking. It all started, incongruously, with a few op-eds he wrote for TechCrunch about anti-trust enforcement in social media. The commentaries apparently caught the attention of some folks in Washington D.C., Liss told […]
Google Chrome adds AI-powered store summaries to help US shoppers
The feature will display a pop-up that informs consumers about the store's reputation for things like product quality, shopping, pricing, customer service, and returns.
Tesla signs $16.5B deal with Samsung to make AI chips
The deal for next-generation chips is a boon for Samsung.Â
20 national security experts urge Trump administration to restrict Nvidia H20 sales to China
The letter states that allowing sales of the H20 AI chip to China could hurt the U.S.'s AI "edge" and further chip bottlenecks in the U.S.
Meet the minds shaping AI: TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 AI Stage revealed
At TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, the AI Stage comes alive with the voices shaping the future of technology, creativity, and security. Top VCs reveal what it takes to win funding in a rapidly evolving landscape, as they place bets on the next wave of AI founders. Hear groundbreaking insights from leaders at visionary startups like Apptronik, […]
âWizard of Ozâ blown up by AI for giant Sphere screen
The massive Las Vegas venue known as Sphere will be screening its first classic movie, âThe Wizard of Oz,â starting on August 28. And as detailed in a segment on CBS Sunday Morning, this isnât just a matter of taking the existing movie and projecting it on Sphereâs 160,000 square foot, wraparound LED screen.
DOGE has built an AI tool to slash federal regulations
The Department of Government Efficiency has presented plans to use a new AI tool to eliminate half of the federal governmentâs regulatory mandates by the first anniversary of President Donald Trumpâs return to office, according to The Washington Post.
Meta names Shengjia Zhao as chief scientist of AI superintelligence unit
Shengjia Zhao, a former OpenAI researcher, will round out the leadership team at Meta's new AI lab.
AI referrals to top websites were up 357% year-over-year in June, reaching 1.13B
AI platforms in June 2025 generated over 1.13 billion referrals to the top 1,000 websites globally, up 357% year-over-year.
Sam Altman warns there’s no legal confidentiality when using ChatGPT as a therapist
In response to a question about how AI works with today's legal system, Altman said one of the problems of not yet having a legal or policy framework for AI is that there's no legal confidentiality for users' conversations.
Tesla is reportedly behind on its pledge to build 5,000 Optimus bots this year
Tesla is behind on its goal to produce at least 5,000 Optimus humanoid robots by the end of 2025.
Google is testing a vibe-coding app called Opal
Google is testing a new vibe-coding tool called Opal, available in the U.S. through Google Labs, that lets users quickly spin up web apps with just a few prompts.
Intel continues to pull back on its manufacturing projects
Intel cancelled multiple manufacturing projects in Europe and delayed its Ohio chip plant for the second time this year.
Chime backer Lauren Kolodny bets on AI to revolutionize estate processing
Acrew Capital's Kolodny led a $20 million Series A in Alix, a startup that uses AI to automate estate processing.
This industrial AI startup is winning over customers by saying it wonât get acquired
In red-hot acquisition market, this CVector founders answer this key question in its first conversation with prospective customers.
AI companions: A threat to love, or an evolution of it?
As AI companions from companies like Replika, Character AI, and Nomi AI abound, love is no longer strictly human. In this debate, we ask the question of whether it should be, or whether dating an AI could be better than dating a human.
Google’s new Web View search experiment organizes results with AI
Google's new Search Labs experiment will organize the search results using AI smarts.
AI slop and fake reports are exhausting some security bug bounties
"We're getting a lot of stuff that looks like gold, but it's actually just crap,â said the founder of one security testing firm. AI-generated security vulnerability reports are already having an effect on bug hunting, for better and worse.
Samsung backs a video AI startup that can analyze thousands of hours of footage
Memories.ai's platform can process up to 10 million hours of video. For companies with a lot of video to analyze, the startup wants to provide a contextual layer, complete with searchable indexing, tagging, segments and aggregation.
Google’s new AI feature lets you virtually try on clothes
The feature is launching in the United States today, letting users try on apparel items in Google's Shopping Graph across Search, Google Shopping and product results on Google Images.
SoftBank-backed LegalOn lands $50M to streamline legal workflows with AI
LegalOn, which provides AI-powered contract review software for legal teams, has raised $50 million in a Series C round.