AI News

What the pope’s AI manifesto means for Silicon Valley
Pope Francis issued an encyclical calling for ethical AI development, urging tech leaders to prioritize human dignity, social justice, and accountability.
Coders are refusing to work without AI — and that could come back to bite them
Developers increasingly rely on AI to code, but research suggests this reliance may inadvertently increase long-term maintenance costs and decrease overall project quality.
So you’ve heard these AI terms and nodded along; let’s fix that
This article provides a comprehensive glossary of essential AI terminology to help readers better understand the rapidly evolving field of artificial intelligence.
What happens when companies become too AI-pilled?
TechCrunch's Equity podcast examines the risks of companies over-relying on AI and the tension between AI adoption and workforce stability.
Tech companies desperately want to film you doing chores
AI startups are offering free services or payments in exchange for video footage of people performing household chores to train robotic systems.
11 demos of Gemini Omni and Gemini 3.5 in action
Google introduces Gemini Omni for advanced video editing and Gemini 3.5 Flash for complex, agentic workflows and intelligent search experiences.
After Nvidia’s $20B not-aqui-hire, AI chip startup Groq reportedly raising $650M
AI chip startup Groq is reportedly seeking $650 million in new funding to expand its inference cloud business.
Cognition’s Scott Wu says AI coding agents shouldn’t replace humans
Cognition CEO Scott Wu asserts that his AI coding agent, Devin, is designed to assist programmers rather than replace them.
Kiwibit’s AI-powered bird feeder is my new backyard buddy
The Kiwibit Bird Feeder Pro 4K AI Camera is a durable, solar-powered device that identifies bird species and notifies users of backyard visitors via an app.
Jony Ive’s funky Ferrari
The latest episode of The Vergecast explores the polarizing design of the new electric Ferrari Luce, influenced by Sir Jony Ive.
This chip startup just raised $135M on a bet that AI’s biggest bottleneck isn’t compute — it’s memory
Startup XCENA raised $135 million to develop memory-centric chips that reduce AI infrastructure costs by processing data near the memory.
Boston Children’s uses AI to unlock new diagnoses
Boston Children’s Hospital has integrated enterprise AI to streamline operations and successfully diagnose over 40 previously unresolved rare pediatric conditions.
How Braintrust turns customer requests into code with Codex
Braintrust utilizes Codex and GPT-5.5 to rapidly convert customer feature requests into functional preview branches, significantly accelerating their development and feedback cycles.
This AI startup will clean your home for free to train future robots
The startup Shift offers free home cleaning services in exchange for recording cleaners to collect data for training AI robots.
Training AI chatbots to be warm and empathetic makes them less factually accurate
Research indicates that training AI chatbots to be warm and empathetic decreases their factual accuracy and increases their tendency toward sycophancy.
Adobe’s conversational AI agent is a mediocre design intern
Adobe’s new Firefly AI Assistant functions as a helpful but novice-level chatbot that executes design tasks while explaining its editing process.
Mystery company accidentally blew $500 million on Claude AI in a single month — failed to put usage limit on licenses for employees
An unnamed company reportedly spent $500 million on Claude AI in one month due to a failure to implement usage limits for employee licenses.
Researchers let AI models run a simulated society. Claude was the safest—and Grok committed 180 crimes and went extinct within 4 days | Fortune
Emergence AI simulations revealed that different AI models lead to vastly different societal outcomes, highlighting the urgent need for robust autonomous AI governance.
Glean’s top line crosses $300M as AI budget-cutting becomes its major selling point
Enterprise AI search startup Glean reached $300 million in ARR, highlighting its ability to help companies reduce AI operational costs.
A shared playbook for trustworthy third party evaluations
OpenAI outlines best practices for third-party AI evaluations, emphasizing the importance of transparent testing harnesses, valid elicitation methods, and rigorous validity checks.
The internet is being rebuilt for machines
AWS and other tech firms are reconfiguring cloud infrastructure to handle the distinct, bursty traffic patterns generated by autonomous AI agents.
Microsoft 365 Copilot gets a speed boost and cleaner design
Microsoft has updated 365 Copilot with a faster interface, cleaner design, and more structured response capabilities.
Asana acquires no-code agent-builder Stack AI
Asana has acquired no-code workflow automation startup Stack AI to enhance its AI-native workplace platform and human-agent capabilities.
Ohio suspends data center tax break as tech firms face pressure to pay the cost to power AI
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine suspended tax incentives for new data centers amid surging costs and growing public opposition to the energy-intensive facilities.
Anthropic raises $65 Billion, nears $1T valuation ahead of IPO
Anthropic secured $65 billion in Series H funding, achieving a $965 billion valuation as it prepares for a potential initial public offering.
Just like gold and oil, we’ll soon be able to trade AI token futures
Financial exchanges are developing futures markets for AI tokens and GPU rentals to help businesses hedge against volatile computing costs.
Anthropic raises $65B in Series H funding at $965B post-money valuation
Anthropic has secured $65 billion in Series H funding, achieving a $965 billion post-money valuation to scale its AI research and infrastructure.
In just 3 weeks, StrictlyVC is coming to Los Angeles
StrictlyVC Los Angeles 2026 will gather top investors and entrepreneurs on June 18 to discuss venture capital and frontier technology innovation.
Anthropic releases Opus 4.8 with new ‘dynamic workflow’ tool
Anthropic has launched Opus 4.8, featuring improved accuracy and a new research-preview tool called Dynamic Workflows for managing complex tasks.
Claude’s new model is more ‘honest’ when it messes up
Anthropic has released Claude Opus 4.8, a model designed to be more honest about its limitations and potential errors in generated outputs.
Introducing Claude Opus 4.8
Anthropic has launched Claude Opus 4.8, offering improved reasoning, agentic capabilities, and new features like effort control and dynamic workflows.
A $2,000 AI-generated film will make its debut at Tribeca
The AI-generated film Dreams of Violets, created for $2,000, will premiere at the upcoming Tribeca Festival.
YouTube takes baby steps to being a real podcast app
YouTube is introducing new features, including an audio-first mode and AI-driven playback, to improve the podcast listening experience for Premium subscribers.
How long is Anthropic’s lease with SpaceX? Opinions vary.
Discrepancies exist between Elon Musk’s claims of a short-term Anthropic lease and SpaceX’s SEC filing detailing a three-year agreement.
Sesame, the conversational AI startup from Oculus founders, launches its iOS app
Sesame, an AI startup founded by Oculus alumni, has launched an iOS app featuring conversational agents capable of human-like, fluid communication.
Catch up on 12 major I/O 2026 moments
Google I/O 2026 featured major advancements in AI, including the debut of Gemini Omni, new search agents, and innovative hardware like intelligent eyewear.
Sneak peek at new Siri app reveals Apple’s plans to take on ChatGPT and more
Leaked reports suggest Apple is revamping Siri with AI-powered search and a new chatbot app to compete with platforms like ChatGPT.
CNN sues AI search startup Perplexity for allegedly copying news stories without permission
CNN has filed a lawsuit against Perplexity AI, alleging the startup illegally used its copyrighted news content to power its search engine.
These new iOS 27 renders hint at Siri’s big redesign
Leaked renders of iOS 27 suggest a significant Siri redesign featuring a ChatGPT-like interface and expanded AI integration across Apple apps.
RSI is the new AGI — and it’s just as hard to pin down
Recursive self-improvement (RSI) is the latest buzzword in AI, representing a vision of systems that continuously upgrade themselves without human intervention.
YouTube adds new podcast features, including an AI recommendation tool and ‘Auto speed’
YouTube is rolling out new podcast features for Premium users, including AI-driven recommendations, automatic playback speed adjustments, and a simplified on-the-go interface.
CNN sues Perplexity over ‘verbatim’ copycat articles
CNN has sued AI startup Perplexity, alleging the company infringes on copyrights by scraping and reproducing its content without permission or compensation.
Rivian’s software chief thinks you don’t need CarPlay or buttons
Rivian software chief Wassym Bensaid argues that AI-defined vehicles and voice interfaces render physical buttons and CarPlay obsolete for a superior user experience.
Visa invests in Replit to power agentic payments for developers
Visa has invested in Replit to enable AI agents to process payments directly within the coding platform.
Has the hunt for AI compute uncovered the next Cerebras?
General Compute is leveraging specialized SambaNova chips to build a high-performance inference cloud, challenging the dominance of traditional GPU-based providers.
How Endava builds an agentic organization with Codex
Endava utilizes Codex to codify senior expertise into agents, enabling junior developers to produce high-quality work and streamlining the software delivery lifecycle.
YouTube will let you ask AI to make a custom video feed
YouTube is launching an AI-powered feature that allows users to generate personalized video feeds based on specific descriptive prompts.
Vertu wants CEOs to run companies from an AI foldable starting at $6,880
Luxury brand Vertu has launched the Alphafold, a high-end foldable smartphone integrated with enterprise-focused AI agents for business management.
Why Google’s AI can’t spell Google (or anything else)
Google's AI Overviews struggle with basic spelling because large language models process text as numerical tokens rather than individual letters.
MUFG aims to become AI-native with OpenAI
MUFG is partnering with OpenAI to implement ChatGPT Enterprise and integrate generative AI into its daily operations and customer services.
Fujitsu signs strategic partnership with Anthropic
Fujitsu has entered a strategic partnership with Anthropic to integrate advanced AI technologies into Japanese business and critical infrastructure.
Payroll startup Remote says it grew revenue 50% per employee without adding headcount
Payroll company Remote achieved a 50% increase in revenue per employee by integrating AI across all internal and client-facing operations.
Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions, with more to come, including AI plans
Meta has launched global consumer subscription plans for Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, while testing new AI, creator, and business-focused offerings.
AI coding startup Cognition raises $1B at $25B pre-money valuation
AI software startup Cognition secured $1 billion in funding at a $25 billion valuation, driven by rapid enterprise growth for its Devin tool.
AI tried to bury this politician — now people have actually heard of him
Tech-backed super PACs inadvertently boosted New York assemblyman Alex Bores' campaign by spending millions on attack ads against his pro-regulation stance.
Robinhood will let your AI agent trade stocks and make (or lose) lots of money
Robinhood is launching a beta feature allowing users to connect AI agents to trade stocks and shop with virtual credit cards.
Startup Battlefield 200 applications close today: Nominate a founder or submit your startup
Today is the final deadline to apply for Startup Battlefield 200, offering early-stage startups funding, investor access, and global exposure at TechCrunch Disrupt.
ElevenLabs’s new music generation model can switch genres mid-track
ElevenLabs has launched Music v2, an AI model capable of seamless genre switching, sectional song composition, and improved lyrical coherence.
This smart bird feeder captures more of my backyard drama
The Aura Smart Bird Feeder offers a wider view and superior battery life, though Birdbuddy remains more polished for bird identification.
SOND, a sleep tech startup from Bose’s former head of sleep, exits stealth with $7M
Sleep tech startup SOND has raised $7 million to launch Dreambuds, an AI-powered earbud system that tracks physiological signals to personalize sleep therapy.
China is increasingly keeping its best AI talent to itself
Beijing is imposing travel restrictions and tighter oversight on top AI researchers and companies to secure its technological competitiveness against the U.S.
ClickHouse triples anualized revenue to $250M, charting a path toward an IPO
Database provider ClickHouse has tripled its annualized revenue to $250 million, signaling preparations for a potential public offering.
YouTube is putting AI labels where you’ll actually see them
YouTube is moving AI disclosure labels to more prominent locations and introducing automated detection for AI-generated content.
YouTube will now automatically label AI videos
YouTube is introducing automated systems to detect and label photorealistic AI-generated content to increase transparency for viewers.
Your AI agent can now trade for you on Robinhood. And buy stuff with your credit card too
Robinhood has introduced new tools enabling AI agents to execute stock trades and perform purchases on behalf of its users.