TechCrunch Industry News

Since the release of GPT 5.2, AI tools have become inescapable in high-level mathematics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's a huge change to Tesla's approach with FSD, and it could impact Musk's $1T pay package and the company's myriad legal troubles. Also, parents will be able toggle the Shorts time limit on connected children's accounts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

New York City will be a notable exclusion from proposed legislation to legalize commercial robotaxis across the state. The tech giant has pledged to be a "good neighbor" as it continues to invest in AI infrastructure throughout the country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Announced early last year, Alexa+ is Amazon’s future in the generative AI market, offering more expressive voices, access to world knowledge similar to other AI assistants, and AI agents that perform tasks on behalf of the customer — like calling an Uber or ordering food. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“Meta is planning to build tens of gigawatts this decade, and hundreds of gigawatts or more over time. How we engineer, invest, and partner to build this infrastructure will become a strategic advantage,” Zuckerberg said, in a post on Threads. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The standard, developed with companies like Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, Target, and Walmart, lets agents work across different parts of customer buying processes, including discovery and post-purchase support. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

These are the most aggressive moves so far from government officials responding to a flood of sexualized, AI-generated imagery — often depicting real women and minors, and sometimes depicting violence — posted by Grok in response to requests from users on the social network X. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In a blog post published Friday morning, Ben Horowitz writes that "as the American leader in Venture Capital, the fate of new technology in the United States rests partly on our shoulders." It's the kind of statement certain to cause agita at rival firms. Also, Elon Musk's AI company has restricted Grok's controversial AI image-generation feature to only paying subscribers on X, after the tool invited heated criticism from across the world for letting users generate sexualized images of women and children. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The infamous spyware maker released a new transparency report claiming to be a responsible spyware maker, without providing insight into how the company dealt with problematic customers in the past. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ford says the new generation of BlueCruise will be 30% cheaper to build than the current technology. Also, the new ChatGPT Health feature is expected to roll out in the coming weeks and will offer a dedicated space for conversations with ChatGPT about health. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Caterpillar is piloting Cat AI, a system of AI agents in one of its excavators built on Nvidia's physical AI platform. Also, Calacanis, General Catalyst's Taneja, and McKinsey's Sternfels discussed how AI is reshaping technology and the labor force. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The studio's board unanimously rejected Paramount Skydance's revised $108.4 billion bid, calling the proposal a "leveraged buyout" that would saddle the company with $87 billion in debt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Narwal's new robo vacuum cleaner switches to quiet mode near a baby's crib. Also, AMD announced the latest version of its AI-powered PC chips designed for a variety of tasks from gaming to content creation and multitasking. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 its first app, Tangle, in November. Now the Financial Times has pieced together more details from comments made by Stone and Sharp, as well as from regulatory filings and job listings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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