Latest AI News & Industry Updates

OpenAI bets big on audio as Silicon Valley declares war on screens

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.

“Streaming stops feeling infinite”: What subscribers can expect in 2026

‘College dropout’ has become the most coveted startup founder credential

AI founders are increasingly using their "dropout" status as a credential during YC pitches.

Investors predict AI is coming for labor in 2026

The exact impact AI will have on the enterprise labor market is unclear but investors predict trends will start to emerge in 2026.

Supply chains, AI, and the cloud: The biggest failures (and one success) of 2025

From prophet to product: How AI came back down to earth in 2025

The phone is dead. Long live . . . what exactly?

"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."

VCs predict enterprises will spend more on AI in 2026 — through fewer vendors

Enterprises have been experimenting with AI tools for a few years. Investors predict they will start to pick winners in 2026.

The top 5 most horrifying and fascinating medical cases of 2025

Meta just bought Manus, an AI startup everyone has been talking about

Meta says it'll keep Manus running independently while weaving its agents into Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, where Meta's own chatbot, Meta AI, is already available to users.

2025 was the year AI got a vibe check

AI’s early-2025 spending spree featured massive raises and trillion-dollar infrastructure promises. By year’s end, hype gave way to a vibe check, with growing scrutiny over sustainability, safety, and business models.

Plaud Note Pro is an excellent AI-powered recorder that I carry everywhere

Plaud Note Pro is a $179 notetaker, which is an excellent recording device first

How to use the new ChatGPT app integrations, including DoorDash, Spotify, Uber, and others

Learn how to use Spotify, Canva, Figma, Expedia, and other apps directly in ChatGPT.

VCs predict strong enterprise AI adoption next year — again

More than 20 venture capitalists share their thoughts on AI agents, enterprise AI budgets, and more for 2026.

OpenAI is looking for a new Head of Preparedness

OpenAI is looking to hire a new executive responsible for studying emerging AI-related risks in areas ranging from computer security to mental health.

India startup funding hits $11B in 2025 as investors grow more selective

Startup funding rounds in India fell sharply in 2025 as investors concentrated capital into fewer companies.

Equity’s 2026 Predictions: AI Agents, Blockbuster IPOs, and the Future of VC

TechCrunch’s Equity crew is bringing 2025 to a close and getting ahead on the year to come with our annual predictions episode! Hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Rebecca Bellan were joined by Build Mode host Isabelle Johannessen to dissect the year’s bi

Nvidia to license AI chip challenger Groq’s tech and hire its CEO

With Groq on its side, Nvidia is poised to become even more dominant in chip manufacturing.

The year data centers went from backend to center stage

Data centers are no longer the boring tech issue they once were.

Why the operating room is ripe for AI, according to Akara

There’s plenty of hype around AI and robots in healthcare, but the problem that’s actually costing hospitals money right now is operating room coordination. Two to four hours of OR time is lost every single day, not because of the surgeries themselves, but because of everything in betwee

Waymo is testing Gemini as an in-car AI assistant in its robotaxis

Waymo is testing a Gemini-powered in-car AI assistant, per findings from a 1,200-line system prompt. The assistant can answer general knowledge questions, control certain in-cabin features, and more.

Italy tells Meta to suspend its policy that bans rival AI chatbots from WhatsApp

Italy has ordered Meta to suspend its policy that bans companies from using WhatsApp's business tools to offer their own AI chatbots on the popular chat app.

How AI coding agents work—and what to remember if you use them

Can AI fix the operating room? This startup thinks so

There’s plenty of hype around AI and robots in healthcare, but the problem that’s actually costing hospitals money right now is operating room coordination. Two to four hours of OR time is lost every single day, not because of the surgeries themselves, but because of everything in&#

China just carried out its second reusable launch attempt in three weeks

Leaked Avengers: Doomsday teaser is now public

John Carreyrou and other authors bring new lawsuit against six major AI companies

These authors rejected Anthropic's class action settlement, arguing that "LLM companies should not be able to so easily extinguish thousands upon thousands of high-value claims at bargain-basement rates."

FCC’s import ban on the best new drones starts today

OpenAI’s child exploitation reports increased sharply this year

Marissa Mayer’s new startup Dazzle raises $8M led by Forerunner’s Kirsten Green

Mayer launched Dazzle after shuttering her photo and contact management startup Sunshine. Green’s investment suggests Dazzle is poised for the coming wave of new AI-infused consumer businesses.

Amazon’s AI assistant Alexa+ now works with Angi, Expedia, Square, and Yelp

The new integrations join other services like Yelp, Uber, OpenTable and others.

Lemon Slice nabs $10.5M from YC and Matrix to build out its digital avatar tech

Digital avatar generation company Lemon Slice is working to add a video layer to AI chatbots with a new diffusion model that can create digital avatars from a single image.

F1’s new engines are causing consternation over compression ratios

How to Break Into AI: A Complete Career Guide for 2025

Whether you're a recent graduate or a seasoned professional looking to pivot, this comprehensive guide covers every path into the AI industry.

OpenAI Launches GPT-5 with Revolutionary Reasoning Capabilities

OpenAI unveils its most powerful language model yet, featuring unprecedented reasoning abilities and multimodal understanding.

Google DeepMind Achieves Breakthrough in Protein Folding

AlphaFold 3 can now predict protein structures with 99% accuracy, revolutionizing drug discovery and biological research.

Anthropic Raises $4.5B to Scale AI Safety Research

Anthropic secures massive funding round led by Google and Salesforce to advance constitutional AI and safety measures.

OpenAI says AI browsers may always be vulnerable to prompt injection attacks

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."

Call of Duty co-creator and Battlefield lead Vince Zampella dies in car crash

Alphabet to buy Intersect Power to bypass energy grid bottlenecks

Alphabet is set to pay $4.75 billion in cash, plus debt, for the data center and clean energy developer.

ChatGPT launches a year-end review like Spotify Wrapped

The experience includes awards, poems, and pictures referencing your year in chat.

US blocks all offshore wind construction, says reason is classified

Splat’s app uses AI to turn your photos into coloring pages for kids

The app turns your own photos into pages for your kids to color, via AI.

Power outage paralyzes Waymo robotaxis when traffic lights go out

Waymo resumes service in San Francisco after robotaxis stall during blackout

Waymo suspended its SF robotaxi service on Saturday evening after a massive blackout appeared to leave many of its vehicles stalled on city streets.

The Complete Guide to AI Product Management

AI Product Managers are among the most sought-after professionals in tech. Learn what the role entails and how to break in.

Discworld, Daleks, and Deep 13: A geeky holiday TV and movie watchlist

15 High-Paying AI Jobs That Don't Require Coding

Think you need to code to work in AI? Think again. These lucrative roles are perfect for non-technical professionals.

OpenAI allows users to directly adjust ChatGPT’s enthusiasm level

The tweaks allow users to further customize ChatGPT’s tone, on top of the existing ability to set a “base style and tone” — including the Professional, Candid, and Quirky tones that OpenAI added in November.

New York governor Kathy Hochul signs RAISE Act to regulate AI safety

The bill will require large AI developers to publish information about their safety protocols and report safety incidents to the state within 72 hours.

Ex-Splunk execs’ startup Resolve AI hits $1B valuation with Series A

The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, according to people familiar with the deal.

The Most In-Demand AI Skills for 2025 (Technical and Non-Technical)

From prompt engineering to AI governance, these are the skills employers are desperately seeking in the AI job market.

Cursor continues acquisition spree with Graphite deal

Graphite is an AI code review assistant that was last valued at $290 million.

Yann LeCun confirms his new ‘world model’ startup, reportedly seeks $5B+ valuation

Renowned AI scientist Yann LeCun confirmed on Thursday the worst-kept secret in the tech world: that he had indeed launched a new startup. Although he did say he will not be running the new company as its CEO.

Hardware’s brutal week: iRobot, Luminar, and Rad Power go bankrupt

The hardware world had a brutal week, with iRobot, Luminar, and Rad Power Bikes all filing for bankruptcy.  Each company faces its own mix of tariff pressures, supply chain issues, and shifting markets, but together they tell a larger story about the challenges of building physical products in

OpenAI adds new teen safety rules to ChatGPT as lawmakers weigh AI standards for minors

OpenAI updated its guidelines for how its AI models should behave with users under 18, and published new AI literacy resources for teens and parents. Still, questions remain about how well policies translate into practice.

Known uses voice AI to help you go on more in-person dates

In its test phase in San Francisco, Known said it observed 80% of its introductions led to physical dates, which is much higher than swipe-based dating apps.

Meta is developing a new image and video model for a 2026 release, report says

Meta aims to make the text-based model better at coding while also exploring new world models that understand visual information and can reason, plan, and act without needing to be trained on every possibility.

How to Ace Your AI Job Interview: Complete Preparation Guide

From technical screens to culture fits, here's how to prepare for interviews at AI companies for any role.