TechCrunch Industry News

The fusion power frontrunner said that construction on its Sparc reactor was proceeding as planned. Meanwhile, it's building a digital twin to help dial it in. Also, Meta had originally planned to launch the glasses in France, Italy, Canada, and the U.K. in early 2026. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A hacker known as Martha Root broke in and deleted three white supremacists websites at the end of a talk during the annual hacker conference Chaos Communication Congress in Germany. Also, developers of off shore wind projects seek to reverse the Department of the Interior's stop-work order which affected five offshore wind projects off the Eastern Seaboard. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

Lidar-maker Luminar says its founder and former CEO Austin Russell has been evading requests for information — including a subpoena — that the company needs in order to decide whether it should take legal action against him. Twitter co-founder Biz Stone and Pinterest co-founder Evan Sharp have raised new funding for their social media startup West Co. The startup launched an invite-only version of...

India's IT ministry has given X 72 hours to submit an action-taken report. Also, Jeff Bezos led the way. The Amazon founder sold 25 million shares for $5.7 billion in June and July, right around the time he was getting hitched to Lauren Sanchez in Venice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2026, here's what you can expect from the AI industry: new architectures, smaller models, world models, reliable agents, physical AI, and products designed for real-world use. This audio was produced using AI. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The form factors may differ, but the thesis is the same: audio is the interface of the future. Every space -- your home, your car, even your face -- is becoming an interface. Also, the bloodletting in the European banking industry will hit hardest in back-office operations, risk management, and compliance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The exact impact AI will have on the enterprise labor market is unclear but investors predict trends will start to emerge in 2026. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"We're not going to be using iPhones in 10 years," Callaghan says flatly. "I kind of don't think we'll be using them in five years." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Enterprises have been experimenting with AI tools for a few years. Investors predict they will start to pick winners in 2026. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Meta Platforms is acquiring Manus, a Singapore-based AI startup that’s become the talk of Silicon Valley since it debuted last spring with a demo video that showed an AI agent doing things like screening job candidates, planning vacations, and analyzing stock portfolios. Manus claimed at the time that it outperformed OpenAI’s Deep Research. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.co...

The electrical grid is facing unprecedented stress from the addition of new data centers. Software could offer a cost-effective way to boost reliability and capacity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tech companies are increasingly warning their customers that they have been targeted by governments with advanced government spyware, such as NSO's Pegasus or Paragon's Graphite. What happens after receiving a threat notification? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For years, Access Now’s Digital Security Helpline has been aiding journalists and dissidents who have been targeted with government spyware. This is how they operate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As Nigel Morris watches his BNPL investments from the other side of the table, he seems to understand the warning signs better than most. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The $82.7 billion deal to acquire Warner Bros., and the acquisition has already been described as sending Hollywood into “full-blown panic mode,” “possibly a death blow to theatrical filmmaking,” and maybe even “the end of Hollywood” itself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

TechCrunch's Dominic-Madori Davis writes about women who ran an experiment to see if LinkedIn's new algo was being sexist and thought they proved it. But experts say there's more complexity involved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pirate group Anna’s Archive says it has scraped 86 million songs from Spotify. Also, OpenAI says prompt injections will always be a risk for AI browsers with agentic capabilities, like Atlas. But the firm is beefing up its cybersecurity with an 'LLM-based automated attacker.' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alphabet is set to pay $4.75 billion in cash, plus debt, for the data center and clean energy developer. Also, the move is the latest attempt by the Trump administration to delay the construction of 6 gigawatts of offshore wind near a hotspot of data center development. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The bill will require large AI developers to publish information about their safety protocols and report safety incidents to the state within 72 hours. Also, the newest episode raises questions about whether Sequoia's new leadership -- managing partners Alfred Lin and Pat Grady, who took over last month -- can or will rein in Maguire's social media activity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

The future may be electric, but that future is being postponed. The European Commission, citing the need for flexibility, has softened its ambitious plan to ban the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The gaming startup will allow Netflix subscribers to create avatars that can extend across gaming titles. Also, Meta is working on an image and video model and new text-based model, which aids with coding. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The FTC alleged Instacart misled consumers with unlawful tactics, causing them to pay higher fees while also denying refunds. Also, Apple says it can now collect any money a developer owes the tech giant at any time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The lawsuit is just the latest in a string of copyright-related legal complaints aimed at the AI industry. Also, in an economy where everyone's feeling squeezed, AI-driven price testing of kitchen essentials was bound to attract attention. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Isaacman will run the space agency at a time when Trump is trying to both downsize it and task it with returning astronauts to the Moon. Also, DeSantis has spent 27 years at Amazon, including eight years as an SVP for AWS, the cloud provider that powers about one-third of the internet. And, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Skana Robotics built a decision-making algorithm that helps unmanned vessels react and adapt to data from other vessels. Also, Amazon reportedly in talks to invest $10B in OpenAI as circular deals stay popular Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices