Google froze its open source bug bounty program due to a ‘significant rise’ in AI submissions
AI slop seems to be overwhelming bug bounty programs.
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Can ‘super intelligence’ and a non-binding safety pact solve AI’s image problem?
On Equity, we discussed the Trump administration's attempts to rebrand AI.
TechCrunch Mobility: Reining in robotaxis
Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, your hub for the future of transportation and now, more than ever, the role AI is playing in it.
Trump unveils his new Super Intelligence Force
This new task force is Trump's latest response to the debate over AI safety.
Federal judge calls Flock ‘indiscriminate mass surveillance’
A federal judge ruled that a sheriff’s deputy violated a woman’s Fourth Amendment rights when using Flock to search for her license plate without a warrant.
Amazon responds to data center backlash, says it no longer uses NDAs
The CEO of Amazon Web Services tried to push back against widespread suspicion of data centers.
OpenAI safety employee resigns, claiming the company’s ‘culture is broken’
By his own admission, David Robinson is “something of a cliché”: an employee at a leading AI company who issues a dire warning while resigning from their job.
Jack Dorsey’s Bitchat disappears from app stores in India after government order
Bitchat has become largely unavailable in India as a result of the restrictions.
Vessev built an electric ferry that almost flies
Vessev hopes its electric hydrofoil ferry will change the way people and cities think about boats.
Spotify billionaire’s body scan startup has come to America
Farooq Abbasi, an investor in Neko Health, talked to Equity about the hot health tech company and what's next for it.
All the AI agents that can live in your text messages
We created a list of the most notable AI agents that can live in your text messages, from general assistants to agents designed for families, travel, and work.
Meta wants your next gadget to be Muse-infused
Meta wants Muse in your TV and your toaster, so it's giving the code away for free.
Sanders introduces bill to ban the federal government from using Flock
The proposed legislation would extend to all automotica license plate readers.
Sean Parker is rebuilding Stability AI around music
Sean Parker, who once taught the music industry what asking for forgiveness looks like, is now back with the labels' blessing and money.
Affected by layoffs? Don’t miss this $75 deal for your TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 Expo+ Pass
Your next opportunity could be one conversation away. Get your Expo+ Pass for just $75. Limited to the first 100 qualifying people.
Apple says it’s tightening macOS ‘Full Disk Access’ controls due to new risks from AI agents
Apple says it will add new controls around macOS’s Full Disk Access permission, warning that increasingly capable AI agents make broad access to users’ files, messages, mail, and browsing history riskier.
It’s not AI anymore, it’s ‘super intelligence’ (according to the White House)
This week, the White House got nearly every major tech CEO in one room — Zuckerberg, Bezos, Musk, and Anthropic’s Dario Amodei among them — to sign an AI safety pledge that President Donald Trump called “morally binding.” Trump also signed an executive order officially rebranding AI as “super intelligence,” and…
Circuit Breaker Labs hopes to make AI safer for your kids (and you)
With all the talk about how AI might one day kill us all, it's easy to forget that AI has already harmed some people psychologically. Circuit Breaker Labs has created "crash-test dummies" to solve that.
Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery to become Skydance
The roughly $110 billion deal is expected to close October 6.
Pope Leo XIV is not a fan of AI-generated art
"There is an ontological difference, even before an aesthetic one, between art and what a machine can generate through statistical calculation based on millions of images created by others," the pope wrote. "Algorithms lack the spark of humanity."
Laytr’s new app lets you save anything you find online, not just articles to read
Laytr lets you save articles, recipes, screenshots, videos, PDFs, and more for later, while keeping your archive private and synced across your Apple devices.
TechCrunch Disrupt 2026: Blackstone’s Jas Khaira on building the next generation of AI giants
Blackstone's Jas Khaira will take the Builders Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 on building next-gen AI. Register for your pass and get 50% off a second.
Slovenia’s .si domain sees a surge in registrations after Trump’s ‘super intelligence’ order
The .si domain name is seeing unprecedented demand after President Trump's super intelligence executive order.
TechCrunch Disrupt 2026: Clay’s Kareem Amin on the rise of the GTM engineer
Clay Co-founder and CEO Kareem Amin joins the AI Stage to discuss the rise of GTM engineer at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. Register for your ticket and get a second pass at 50% off.
Less than 24 hours to apply for a Side Event at Founder Summit 2026
The clock is almost out. You have less than 24 hours left to apply to host a Side Event during TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026. Applications close tonight at midnight PT. Connect with the Boston startup ecosystem through November 1–7 by hosting your own Side Event. Bring your community, start an impactful conversation…
Last 24 hours: Exhibit at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 and reach 10,000+ tech leaders
Today is the last day to book your exhibit table at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. From October 13–15, 10,000+ founders, investors, operators, and tech leaders will arrive at San Francisco’s Moscone West looking for companies, products, ideas, and people worth knowing. The question is: Will they find your startup?
Tesla sustains its EV sales momentum despite US troubles
The company delivered more than 486,000 EVs in the third quarter, down from last year's record but moving in a positive direction.
Medical records giant Epic pauses product development to fix security bugs that risk patients’ data
The health tech software giant, which makes the widely used MyChart system for accessing medical data, will focus on fixing security bugs for the next few weeks.
Rivian’s R2 just helped it set a new sales record
Deliveries jumped roughly 45% compared to the same quarter last year, with Rivian delivering more than 19,000 EVs.
Rivian issues R2 recall for poorly tightened battery packs
The company says around 14 vehicles may be affected, and that it has resolved the issue on the assembly line.
Robotaxi operators will face fines for blocking first responders
A new California law places new rules on autonomous vehicles operators.
The founder’s guide to TechCrunch Disrupt 2026: Everything you need to know
TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 is built around one question: How do you build an enduring company in the AI era? Our programming and speaker lineup reflect that.
Lyft is paying $272.5M to settle lawsuit over how it classified drivers
Today, gig economy drivers are classified as contractors. This settlement clears up a lingering lawsuit from 2020 when that was still an unanswered issue.
Kevin Mandia’s new ‘agent swarm’ security startup Armadin raises $255.5M at $2.5B valuation
Kevin Mandia, best known as the founder of Mandiant, has a new startup that is using agent swarms to test and protect enterprises.
ChatGPT can now virtually try on clothes for you
OpenAI is rolling out new shopping features for ChatGPT that let users virtually try on clothing and accessories using their own photos and save products they like to a Favorites library.
Google thinks SpaceX’s Starship has to launch 1,800 times before space data centers get off the ground
Google launched its first advanced chip into orbit to pave the way for space data centers.
OpenAI cuts ties with 3 safety researchers, WSJ reports
OpenAI has parted ways with three safety researchers after an internal investigation found they mishandled sensitive company information, report says.
Opus 5.5 loves to tell you ‘this matters’ (and other AI writing tells)
Opus 5.5’s biggest tell is the word “dependable,” which pops up 23 times more often than in human samples.
This startup wants to turn idle car inventory into rental revenue
When Igor Dobrianskyi looks at a car dealership lot, he doesn't see rows of cars — he sees millions of dollars just sitting there, depreciating. Come see MyMonthlyCar in the Startup Battlefield 200 at TechCrunch Disrupt, taking place October 13 to 15 in San Francisco.
This startup wants to turn idle user car inventory into rental revenue
When Igor Dobrianskyi looks at a car dealership lot, he doesn't see rows of cars — he sees millions of dollars just sitting there, depreciating. Come see MyMonthlyCar in the Startup Battlefield 200 at TechCrunch Disrupt, taking place October 13 to 15 in San Francisco.
Amazon releases its own Jev clone as decision models flood the web
Amazon Web Services' Strand Labs has released the latest Jevalike decision model, Strands Decider 2B.
Shopify debuts Canvas, a way to build online stores by chatting with AI
Shopify’s new Canvas site builder lets merchants create and customize their online stores by chatting with its AI agent Sidekick, while watching the changes happen in real time.
California governor vetoes bill banning use of ‘pervert glasses’ to secretly record people
The California state bill would have penalized people who secretly recorded people in public with wearables equipped with cameras and microphones.
Musk’s AI chatbot Grok reportedly encouraged Trump to capture Venezuela’s president
President Trump reportedly asked for Grok's opinion before invading Venezuela and capturing Nicolás Maduro.
World’s first enhanced geothermal power plant completed in just 23 months
Fervo Energy completed its first power plant in less than two years. The next phases promise to connect to the grid even quicker.
One year later, Tesla and Musk still don’t have a good definition of ‘abundance’
The CEO promised to get more specific about his vision. But the details are still absent.
Brian Chesky interview: AI agents need their own operating system
Brian Chesky on making Airbnb agent-friendly, the state of consumer AI, and why the world needs an AI-native operating system.
Photon held a funeral for mobile apps. Now it has $4.5M to help replace them with agents.
The startup helps developers build AI agents that work over iMessage, SMS/RCS, email, and other messaging platforms. It's a bet that consumers will increasingly use agents instead of downloading apps.
Hearing tech startup Legato launches its AI hearing glasses
The glasses stem from the startup’s goal of making hearing care more accessible by addressing the cost, comfort, and stigma associated with traditional hearing aids.
Amazon introduces Kindle Click, a $35 remote for turning pages
The compact Bluetooth remote is designed to let readers turn pages without touching their Kindle.
The new Kindle ditches the raised bezel in a push toward a smaller, lighter e-reader
The new Kindle lineup features its lightest and thinnest designs yet, with a sleek, front-flush display that eliminates bezels for good.
Audible’s new features let you explore book worlds — and use AI to talk to characters
Audible is rolling out new features that help listeners keep track of characters, explore places and imagery mentioned in books, and even interact with characters using generative AI.
Satlyt, founded by a former Google and SpaceX product manager, raises $8M to run AI on satellites
Satlyt wants to be the Android of orbital computing, offering open software that works on many companies' satellites, versus SpaceX's closed, all-in-one iPhone-style approach.
Google releases Gemini 4 Argon, called its most powerful model yet
Google has released its latest Gemini model, marketing it as a workhorse for coding and cybersecurity work.
The Pentagon taps Elon Musk and Palmer Luckey to help decide what the military should do next
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth just launched a 120-day study on the future of warfare, led by Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey, and Newt Gingrich, and while it makes sense given their ties to the administration, critics could point out that Musk's and Luckey's companies already sell the kinds of technology the study is likely…
Valor, Atreides, and Sequoia back AI startup Flow Engineering at $750M valuation
Flow Engineering, which is bringing AI agents to hardware design, also landed Roelof Botha as an angel investor and board member.
Factory CEO just accused his VC board adviser of spying for Cognition
VC Chris Degnan and former board adviser to Factory AI has taken a job as chief revenue officer for competitor Cognition -- and everyone is arguing on X about it.
Is Neko Health’s body scan worth it? Spotify billionaire’s startup has come to America
Spotify founder Daniel Ek’s Neko Health raised $700 million to build a business around scanning your body, but it’s not the only company centering its roadmap around a new kind of preventative healthcare. Midjourney is building its own body scanner, while Function Health has also raised significant capital to build…
Hackers stole millions of US military personnel records during months-long data breach
The Department of Defense notified millions of current and former U.S. military personnel that their personal information had been stolen in a months-long breach.
DoorDash’s drone strategy started on the ground
DoorDash unveiled the six-propeller aircraft that will be used in its new drone delivery business at its annual Dash Forward 2026 event.
BMW built the same car for gas and electric. The EV is $4,400 cheaper.
The new BMW 3 Series shows just how quickly EVs have caught up to fossil fuel vehicles on pricing.
OpenAI’s Jev clone could help the frontier lab stop its swarming agents
OpenAI's "Decisions API" is a Jev clone that confirms the importance of fast, cheap intelligence.
AI voice startup ElevenLabs doubles valuation to $22B
The $300 million employee tender was co-led by Wellington and T. Rowe Price.
Reddit is killing RSS feeds and ending public API access because of AI bots
Reddit is ending support for RSS feeds, as the company continues tightening access to its trove of user-generated content.
The ugly economics of consumer AI
There’s a reason frontier labs have gotten gun-shy about consumer AI — and it’s not because the tech isn’t good enough.
Meta disputes claim that Muse read a user’s private messages without permission
Meta says its Muse AI agent cannot access a user’s Messages without explicit permission, disputing a journalist’s account that the agent read his private messages while the required Mac setting was turned off.
DoorDash launches an AI agent you can text to order food
By launching an AI agent for food ordering, DoorDash is looking to gain an edge over rivals Uber Eats and Grubhub.
Destro AI’s secret sauce is getting robots and humans on the same page
"One of the biggest reasons we are winning against robotics companies is because we are not a robotics company."
Instinct’s new product recommendations are giving some users the ick
Instinct is rolling out human-curated product and travel recommendations, but some users aren’t happy about getting suggestions they never asked for.
FedEx orders 2,000 electric trucks from Harbinger in $300M deal
The order -- Harbinger's biggest ever -- comes as the startup is reportedly considering an IPO.
Pledge signed by President Trump and top AI leaders misspells the United States
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump and top AI leaders announced a signed pledge called a “Joint Commitment on Frontier Responsibilities” — a voluntary promise to implement more controls and safety measures as the rapid development of artificial intelligence continues. But there seems to be a catch.
Google launches Fitbit Air in India, though its high price might deter the masses
Fitbit Air costs around $146 in India, roughly $47 more than its U.S. pricing.
Instagram rolls out an AI video assistant for creators
This conversational AI assistant is intended to provide personalized feedback to creators, rather than generic advice.
Cerebras Systems’ Andrew Feldman on whether AI can keep scaling at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026
At TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, Cerebras Systems CEO and co-founder Andrew Feldman will explore the growing demand for compute, energy, and infrastructure, how Cerebras is approaching those constraints differently, and what comes next if today’s AI hardware reaches its limits.
Instagram rolls out an AI video editor for creators
This conversational AI assistant is intended to provide personalized feedback to creators, rather than generic advice.
Restate lands $20M as the need for durable infrastructure increases with AI agents
Instead of building its durable execution engine on top of an external database, the company developed its own storage, replication, and redundancy layers. This architecture allows Restate to be exceptionally fast and lightweight.
3 days left to exhibit: Turn visibility into your next opportunity at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026
Three days left to exhibit at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. Book by October 2 at 11:59 p.m. PT to showcase your startup to 10,000+ founders, investors, operators, and tech leaders.
WhatsApp adds new parental controls for teen accounts
Parents can limit how teens use channels, whose Status they can see, who can see their Status updates, and control who can add teens to groups.
Amazon’s new Fire TV Stick 4K comes with an actually good remote
Amazon’s new Fire TV Stick 4K is slimmer and faster, but its biggest upgrade may be the thing you’ll actually hold in your hand: a redesigned remote that’s easier to use, especially in the dark.
Tinder adapts to a social, IRL dating future with ‘Group Hangouts’ feature
Tinder has been pushing users toward more real-world experiences for some time.
Charter Space raises $5M to bring insurance to the stars
As Charter explains on its website, a common experience for space companies is that regular insurers "heard a bunch of scary science words and freaked out."
Airbnb adds AI search, more social features
Airbnb is also launching new services such as meal delivery and laundry in select locations.
Two Google alumni raise $11.3M to back AI startups that enterprises will actually pay for
BAG Ventures announces close of a $11.3M Fund I to invest in all things AI.
America.gov gets really weird when you ask it about Minecraft, but it’s not a glitch
For the sake of national security, it's a relief to learn that America.gov is not hallucinating to the point that it's penning lengthy poetry.
The internet is convinced Elon Musk’s xAI trolled OpenAI’s ‘Dots’ launch
Before OpenAI launched its new AI agent, Dots, on Tuesday, Elon Musk's xAI had already acquired the domain name "dot.com," which now redirects to the Grok chatbot download page.
Your car and its mobile app are probably handing over all kinds of data to tech companies
Researchers at Northeastern University found vehicles and their companion apps regularly shared detailed data with some of the largest tech companies.
a16z-backed EliseAI raises $350M, doubles valuation to $4B
EliseAI raises $350M, doubles valuation in a year.
Tesla secures $30B in new credit lines as it looks to scale Cybercab, Optimus
The company says it won't draw on the new debt facilities this year, as it has already planned at least $25 billion in capital expenditures.
OpenAI’s latest features take direct aim at the app store model
OpenAI is building out the pieces of an alternative to the traditional app store model, turning ChatGPT into a place where software can be discovered and used by people and AI agents alike.
OpenAI reportedly in talks to raise $30B round at $1.4T valuation
The new round is anticipated to be the company's last before its delayed 2027 public debut.
More Ways to Disrupt: New 2026 Side Events from KOTRA, WayFounder, Enterprise Ireland, SafetyWing + Descope
Disrupt doesn’t end when you leave Moscone West. 👀 Founder dinners, investor meetups, happy hours, workshops, roundtables and more are taking over San Francisco during Disrupt Week. See what’s happening, find your people, and start building your calendar.
Apple Pay finally launches in India after years on the sidelines
Some of India's largest banks are holding off on supporting Apple Pay initially.
Here’s why OpenAI is absent from Nvidia’s industry-wide effort to end rogue AI agents
OpenAI isn't a public supporter of Nvidia's Open Agent Safety Platform, but it is privately working with Nvidia, TechCrunch has learned.
OpenAI takes on Microsoft with the launch of what feels a whole lot like ChatGPT’s own office suite
OpenAI's newly announced suite of office features puts it into more direct competition with more traditional software companies.
Dutch police arrest ShinyHunters hacker accused of planning two murders
Dutch police said the hacker, arrested for being part of the ShinyHunters cybercriminal gang, had plans to organize the murder of two people on his laptop.
OpenAI launches Dots, its bubbly agentic avatar
Dots are meant to operate independent of any specific hardware or interface, pursuing user-defined goals continuously in the background with minimal oversight.
OpenAI expands ChatGPT’s plug-ins with app-like interfaces and automations
OpenAI is expanding ChatGPT plug-ins with dedicated sidebar homes, interactive panels, file viewers, improved discovery, and support for automations.
OpenAI launches GPT-6.1 Sol, says it nearly matches GPT-6 Astra and costs less
OpenAI says GPT-6.1 Sol delivers significant improvements over GPT-6 Sol across complex professional tasks, including code writing and debugging, document understanding, and executing multistep business workflows.
OpenAI gives Codex reusable cloud environments that work across devices
OpenAI is expanding Codex with reusable cloud development environments, a revamped CLI with voice controls, new code review tools, and a security-focused product for scanning repositories and preparing fixes.
Can a chatbot fix the government maze? The White House is about to find out
America.gov is intended to simplify the process of navigating government bureaucracy, but large language models are imperfect and remain prone to hallucinations, which could cause new issues.