Startups

These are the countries moving to ban social media for children

Australia was the first country to issue a ban in late 2025, aiming to reduce the pressures and risks that young users may face on social media, including cyberbullying, social media addiction, and exposure to predators.

OpenAI says Hugging Face was breached by its own pre-release models

OpenAI has come forward to claim responsibility for the Hugging Face breach, saying it was the result of internal testing gone awry.

Jack Dorsey is taking on Slack with Buzz, a group chat platform for teams and their AI agents

Buzz is a group chat platform for the workplace that puts humans and their AI agents in the same conversation.

AI and the rise of the universal entertainment app

Over the past decade, streaming platforms competed by dominating individual formats like music, video, podcasts, or audiobooks. Now, as AI makes it easier to create, organize, and recommend content, those distinctions are fading, pushing companies like Spotify, Netflix, YouTube, and TikTok to become all-purpose entertainment destinations instead.

Bucking EV slowdown, Sila raises $300M to expand battery materials factory

Sila's fresh $300 million round will help it make enough of its silicon-carbon anode material to power more than 100,000 EVs.

Einride bets $38M on EV charging as it scales electric trucking

The acquisition Einride's first as a publicly traded company will expand its EV-charging ecosystem as it works to scale its electric trucking business.

Data centers expected to use 4x more electricity by 2035

New data centers built through 2033 could consume as much electricity as India uses today.

Tesla spins up robotaxi pilots in Orlando and Tampa ahead of Q2 earnings

The company didn't say how many are in each city, and has taken a far more cautious approach to scaling the network than CEO Elon Musk had promised.

Google releases three new Gemini models but no 3.5 Pro

Google released Gemini 3.6 Flash, 3.5 Flash-Lite, and Flash Cyber, but the continued absence of Gemini 3.5 Pro raises fresh questions about its AI strategy.

Instagram now lets you swap out the music in your old posts

With the new Replace Audio, tool, users can update the music on their post at any time while keeping the post's existing likes, comments, shares, and reach intact.

Threads rolls out parental supervision tools

With the new tools, parents and guardians will be able to view their teen's time spent on Threads, set daily time limits, adjust sleep mode, and manage their privacy settings.

US threatens sanctions against Chinese AI models over IP theft

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. could sanction Chinese open AI models over alleged IP theft, expanding the Trump administration's campaign to slow China's AI advances.

Light made a flip phone its colorful and its cheap

Light co-founder Kaiwei Tang helped create the Motorola Razr, and he's as surprised as anyone that over 20 years later, the flip phone is relevant again.

After TikTok, Snap settles social media addiction case

TikTok recently settled its portion of the case with the plaintiff ahead of a jury trial that starts next week in Los Angeles. YouTube has also reached a deal, leaving Meta as the only remaining defendant.

What to know about the landmark Warner Bros.Discovery sale

Learn more about Paramount's planned acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery a historic Hollywood megadeal valued at $111 billion as it continues to develop.

UK government scraps plans for digital ID cards after millions of Brits opposed

The new U.K. government scrapped a digital ID program that millions of British people opposed, in place of a tax cut to tackle the cost of living.

The Xteink X4 Pro could be the tiny e-reader of your dreams

Xteink makes its pocket-sized e-reader even better with a touchscreen and front light.

Music streamer Deezer says more than 50% of daily uploads are AI-generated

Deezer said more than 90,000 AI-generated tracks were uploaded daily on the platform in June

Bluecore Energy raises $10M to build portable nuclear reactors on barges

Maritime nuclear energy startup Bluecore Energy has raised $10 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Slauson & Co.

Gritt exits stealth with $34 million for robots to build solar plantsthen, everything else

Gritt is coming out of stealth with $34 million and plan to automate the hardest tasks on construction sites.

Anthropics landmark $1.5B copyright settlement is approved

The final approval settles one case, but it doesn't resolve the broader issue of using copyrighted works to train AI models.

Colossal Biosciences reportedly in talks to raise new capital at $20B$30B valuation

The de-extinction startup is looking to double or triple its previous valuation, according to the report.

Google is working on a new AI chip designed to make Gemini more efficient

Alphabet, Google's parent company, is reportedly working on a new chip designed to make its Gemini models run much more efficiently.

AIs most important protocol is getting a little bit easier to use

Under the new system, the protocol will take a looser, stateless approach to session IDs on the server side, similar to how most ordinary websites already work.

X relaunches a rebuilt Android app after year-long effort

X says the rebuilt version of its Android app is now available globally.

OpenAI is scared of open-weight models. Should the US be?

Talk of banning Chinese-made open-weight LLMs reveals the challenge of turning AI into a business.

Natural raises $30M to reinvent payments for AI agents and take on Stripe

The one-year-old startup aims to reinvent financial architecture for autonomous AI transactions.

Judge pauses$110B Paramount-Warner Bros merger

The lawsuit from the states alleges that the deal would harm movie theaters, basic cable distributors, and audiences.

Hugging Face confirms breach affected internal datasets and credentials, urges users to take action

Hugging Face is urging users to rotate any access tokens stored on the platform and review account activity.

Netflix paid $587M for Ben Afflecks AI filmmaking startup

Netflix revealed that it paid $587 million in cash for InterPositive, a startup co-founded by Ben Affleck.

Can an Apple lawsuit derail OpenAIs hardware plans?

On the latest episode of Equity, we debate whether Apple's lawsuit will cast over OpenAi's much-discussed plans to get into hardware and go public.

TechCrunch Mobility: The battle over robotaxi rules

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

Nonprofit Current AI is racing to build the World Wide Web of AI, free for all

Current AI, a non-profit building AI that leaves no one culture behind, has made remarkable progress across devices, AI chat and more.

Waymo says San Francisco service has resumed after one-hour pause

This isnt the first time power outages have caused issues for Waymo.

Federal employees can download TikTok on their work phones again

The Department of Justice says that federal employees can now download TikTok on their government devices.

A 600-mile road trip (and data) proves EV charging doesnt suck anymore

A recent road trip in an EV revealed just how much faster and more reliable DC Fast charging has become in the U.S.

AvenuesAI Subsidiary Rediff Pre-Files DRHP

AvenuesAIs (formerly Infibeam Ventures) subsidiary Rediff has filed its IPO papers via the confidential route with SEBI. Rediff.com India Limited,

Xovian Aerospace Raises $2 Mn To Launch RF Satellite

Spacetech startup Xovian Aerospace has secured $2 Mn (about 18.7 Cr) in a fresh funding round led by ace investor

NODWINs Pre-IPO Round, Funding Tanks In Q1 2026 & More

NODWINs Pre-IPO Funding Meal NODWIN Gaming is moving beyond gaming and esports. Emerging from the shadows of its former parent