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Inside Microsoft’s AI bet with CTO Kevin Scott at Disrupt 2025 Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott joins the Disrupt Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 to share how one of the world’s largest technology companies is navigating the AI revolution and what it means for startups and the future of innovation. From its landmark partnership with OpenAI to reshaping enterprise and consumer products with AI, Scott will pull back the curtain on where Microsoft sees the biggest opportunities. This is not a session to miss. Lean in on one of the biggest discussions around AI from an enterprise perspective. Register now to save up to $444 on your pass…

Inside Microsoft’s AI bet with CTO Kevin Scott at Disrupt 2025

Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott joins the Disrupt Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 to share how one of the world’s largest technology companies is navigating the AI revolution and what it means for startups and the future of innovation. From…

Instagram updates its Map feature to make it easier to tell if you’re sharing your location Instagram announced on Monday that it’s updating its Map feature to make it easier to see whether you’re sharing your location. The social network also announced that it’s launching the Snap Map-like feature to users in India, following the initial rollout to users in the United States and Canada in August. When the feature first launched, it caused widespread confusion, with numerous social media posts urging users to turn off location sharing, incorrectly claiming it was enabled by default. At the time, Instagram head Adam Mosseri reassured users that their location is only visible to others if they decide to share it.

Instagram updates its Map feature to make it easier to tell if you’re sharing your location

Instagram announced on Monday that it’s updating its Map feature to make it easier to see whether you’re sharing your location. The social network also announced that it’s launching the Snap Map-like…

Adobe predicts AI-assisted online shopping to grow 520% during the 2025 US holiday season The U.S. holiday shopping season is expected to bring in $253.4 billion in online sales this year, up 5.3% year-over-year, according to a new report from Adobe’s e-commerce connected division, Adobe Analytics. Adobe Analytics develops its predictions by analyzing over 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail sites, encompassing 100 million SKUs across 18 product categories. Its analytics software is used by a majority of the U.S.’s top 100 online retailers, giving it deep insights into online shopping and consumer behavior. The company forecasts that Cyber Monday will again be the biggest shopping day of the year, up 6.3% year-over-year to reach $14.2 billion.

Adobe predicts AI-assisted online shopping to grow 520% during the 2025 US holiday season

The U.S. holiday shopping season is expected to bring in $253.4 billion in online sales this year, up 5.3% year-over-year, according to a new report from Adobe’s e-commerce connected division, Adobe…

A 19-year-old nabs backing from Google execs for his AI memory startup, Supermemory Context windows of AI models, which indicate the ability of a model to “remember” information, have increased over time. However, researchers have suggested new ways to increase long-term memory of AI models, as they often can’t hold context over several sessions. Nineteen-year-old founder Dhravya Shah is attempting to solve problems in this area by building a memory solution, called Supermemory, for AI apps. Originally from Mumbai in India, Shah started building consumer-facing bots and apps a few years ago. He even sold his bot that formatted tweets into good-looking screenshots to the social media tool Hypefury.

A 19-year-old nabs backing from Google execs for his AI memory startup, Supermemory

Context windows of AI models, which indicate the ability of a model to “remember” information, have increased over time. However, researchers have suggested new ways to increase long-term memory of AI models, as…

Clop hackers caught exploiting Oracle zero-day bug to steal executives’ personal data Oracle has fixed a zero-day vulnerability in one of its flagship business software products that a hacking group is currently abusing to steal personal information about corporate executives.  In a brief post updated over the weekend, Oracle chief security officer Rob Duhart said the tech giant released a new patch to fix a vulnerability in its Oracle E-Business suite, and urged customers to install the update as soon as possible.  

Clop hackers caught exploiting Oracle zero-day bug to steal executives’ personal data

Oracle has fixed a zero-day vulnerability in one of its flagship business software products that a hacking group is currently abusing to steal personal information about corporate executives.  In a brief post…

Meta Llama: Everything you need to know about the open generative AI model Like every Big Tech company these days, Meta has its own flagship generative AI model, called Llama. Llama is somewhat unique among major models in that it’s “open,” meaning developers can download and use it however they please (with certain limitations). That’s in contrast to models like Anthropic’s Claude, Google’s Gemini, xAI’s Grok, and most of OpenAI’s ChatGPT models, which can only be accessed via APIs.  In the interest of giving developers choice, however, Meta has also partnered with vendors, including AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure, to make cloud-hosted versions of Llama available.

Meta Llama: Everything you need to know about the open generative AI model

Like every Big Tech company these days, Meta has its own flagship generative AI model, called Llama. Llama is somewhat unique among major models in that it’s “open,” meaning developers can download and use it however they…

Sam Altman says ChatGPT has hit 800M weekly active users  OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said Monday that ChatGPT has reached 800 million weekly active users, marking an increase of adoption among consumers, developers, enterprises, and governments.   ChatGPT’s impressive growth comes as OpenAI is on a race to secure as many AI chips and build as much AI infrastructure as possible. In August, OpenAI said it was on the cusp of reaching 

Sam Altman says ChatGPT has hit 800M weekly active users 

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said Monday that ChatGPT has reached 800 million weekly active users, marking an increase of adoption among consumers, developers, enterprises, and governments.   ChatGPT’s impressive growth comes as OpenAI is on a…

OpenAI launches apps inside of ChatGPT OpenAI is launching a new way for developers to build applications inside of ChatGPT. Starting Monday, users in ChatGPT will be able to access interactive applications from companies like Booking.com, Expedia, Spotify, Figma, Coursera, Zillow, and Canva. OpenAI is also launching a preview of the Apps SDK, the developer-facing toolkit to build these apps. OpenAI made the announcement at its annual developer conference, DevDay 2025. “We want ChatGPT to be a great way for people to make progress, to be more productive, more inventive, to learn faster, to do whatever they’re trying to do in their lives better,” said CEO Sam Altman.

OpenAI launches apps inside of ChatGPT

OpenAI is launching a new way for developers to build applications inside of ChatGPT. Starting Monday, users in ChatGPT will be able to access interactive applications from companies like Booking.com, Expedia, Spotify, Figma, Coursera, Zillow, and Canva.…

MrBeast says AI could threaten creators’ livelihoods, calling it ‘scary times’ for the industry Top YouTube creator MrBeast is worried about AI’s impact on creators’ livelihoods, despite having dabbled with using the technology himself. On Monday, the creator posted his concerns on social media, where he openly wondered how AI-generated videos could affect the “millions of creators currently making content for a living.” “Scary times,” he added. MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, is No.

MrBeast says AI could threaten creators’ livelihoods, calling it ‘scary times’ for the industry

Top YouTube creator MrBeast is worried about AI’s impact on creators’ livelihoods, despite having dabbled with using the technology himself. On Monday, the creator posted his concerns on social media,…

OpenAI ramps up developer push with more powerful models in its API  OpenAI unveiled new API updates at its Dev Day on Monday, introducing GPT-5 Pro, its latest language model, its new video generation model Sora 2, and a smaller, cheaper voice model.   The updates were part of a series of announcements geared toward wooing developers to OpenAI’s ecosystem, including the launch of an agent-building tool and the ability to build apps in ChatGPT.  The addition of GPT-5 Pro might appeal to developers building applications in finance, legal, and healthcare — industries that need “high accuracy and depth of reasoning,” per OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. 

OpenAI ramps up developer push with more powerful models in its API 

OpenAI unveiled new API updates at its Dev Day on Monday, introducing GPT-5 Pro, its latest language model, its new video generation model Sora 2, and a smaller, cheaper voice model.   The updates were part of a series…

Deloitte goes all in on AI — despite having to issue a hefty refund for use of AI Deloitte is rolling out Claude to its nearly 500,000 employees after issuing a refund for a report that contained AI hallucinations. Source link

Deloitte goes all in on AI — despite having to issue a hefty refund for use of AI

Deloitte is rolling out Claude to its nearly 500,000 employees after issuing a refund for a report that contained AI hallucinations. Source link

Lucid Motors sets record as Gravity sales pick up and tax credit expires Lucid Motors delivered a record 4,078 vehicles in the third quarter, likely buoyed by a combination of more Gravity SUVs hitting the road and a rush of customers taking advantage of the expiring federal EV tax credit. The Saudi-owned luxury EV startup is still way off the projections it used to go public in 2021 — a transaction that netted it $4 billion. But Lucid Motors has seen deliveries steadily climb over the last two years. The third-quarter delivery figures announced Monday mark the seventh consecutive quarter that Lucid Motors has seen sales increase.

Lucid Motors sets record as Gravity sales pick up and tax credit expires

Lucid Motors delivered a record 4,078 vehicles in the third quarter, likely buoyed by a combination of more Gravity SUVs hitting the road and a rush of customers taking advantage of the expiring federal EV tax credit. The…

Taylor Swift fans accuse singer of using AI in her Google scavenger hunt videos For the release of her twelfth album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” Taylor Swift sent fans on an online scavenger hunt this weekend, which began by searching for “Taylor Swift” on Google. But as fans unveiled secret videos as part of the campaign, some fretted that the clips looked like they were AI-generated and were not pleased. A Google search for the singer’s name yields a cryptic message: “12 cities, 12 doors, 1 video to unlock.” Fans had to figure out the location of the doors, then physically find them and scan a QR code, which surfaced twelve unique videos that contained the clues needed to solve the puzzle.

Taylor Swift fans accuse singer of using AI in her Google scavenger hunt videos

For the release of her twelfth album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” Taylor Swift sent fans on an online scavenger hunt this weekend, which began by searching for “Taylor Swift” on Google. But as fans unveiled secret videos…

Microsoft buys another 100 MW of solar, this time in Japan Microsoft is buying 100 megawatts of solar capacity from Japanese developer Shizen Energy, the latest in a string of renewable energy deals designed to power the tech company’s growing compute needs.  The agreement, which the companies announced late last week, covers four different solar developments; one is already operating and three are under construction. The deal covers output from the plants for 20 years.

Microsoft buys another 100 MW of solar, this time in Japan

Microsoft is buying 100 megawatts of solar capacity from Japanese developer Shizen Energy, the latest in a string of renewable energy deals designed to power the tech company’s growing compute needs.  The agreement, which the companies…

Instagram introduces new ‘Ring’ award for top creators Instagram announced on Monday that it’s launching an awards program, with 25 creators set to receive a gold ring next week. The company says the new awards program will recognize creators around the world who shift culture and break barriers. The judges panel for the new awards program includes Instagram head Adam Mosseri, director Spike Lee, designer Marc Jacobs, YouTuber Marques Brownlee, actress Yara Shadhi, makeup artist Pat McGrath, and more. Winners will receive a physical custom ring designed by English fashion designer Grace Wales Bonner, along with a digital golden ring around their Instagram profile.

Instagram introduces new ‘Ring’ award for top creators

Instagram announced on Monday that it’s launching an awards program, with 25 creators set to receive a gold ring next week. The company says the new awards program will recognize creators around the world who shift culture and break barriers.…

OpenAI launches AgentKit to help developers build and ship AI agents  OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Monday announced the launch of AgentKit, a toolkit for building and deploying AI agents, at the firm’s Dev Day event.   “AgentKit is a complete set of building blocks available in the open AI platform designed to help you take agents from prototype to production. It is everything you need to build, deploy, and optimize agent workflows with way less friction,” Altman said.  

OpenAI launches AgentKit to help developers build and ship AI agents 

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Monday announced the launch of AgentKit, a toolkit for building and deploying AI agents, at the firm’s Dev Day event.   “AgentKit is a complete set of building blocks available in the open AI platform…

Okosix will show its biodegradable plastic at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 Healthcare is awash in single-use plastics. In U.S. healthcare facilities alone, more than 2,800 tons of plastic packaging and products are thrown out every day.  Few people are more aware of this than Eddie Yu. Early in the pandemic, Yu founded a company that made disposable masks. One day, his niece was with him while he was sorting recycling, and she asked him whether his mask was also recyclable. “I told her that actually we can’t recycle the mask,” he told TechCrunch. “She just interrupted me and said, ‘Oh, then you make a lot of trash every day.’”

Okosix will show its biodegradable plastic at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025

Healthcare is awash in single-use plastics. In U.S. healthcare facilities alone, more than 2,800 tons of plastic packaging and products are thrown out every day.  Few people are more aware of this than Eddie Yu. Early in the…

What to expect at OpenAI’s DevDay 2025, and how to watch it OpenAI is gearing up to host its third annual developer conference, DevDay 2025, on Monday. The company says more than 1,500 people are scheduled to convene at Fort Mason in San Francisco for OpenAI’s “biggest event yet,” which features announcements, keynotes from OpenAI executives, and a fireside chat between CEO Sam Altman and longtime Apple designer Jony Ive. From the sound of it, DevDay 2025 is shaping up to be a grand display of OpenAI’s rising dominance in Silicon Valley against giants like Apple, Google, and Meta.

What to expect at OpenAI’s DevDay 2025, and how to watch it

OpenAI is gearing up to host its third annual developer conference, DevDay 2025, on Monday. The company says more than 1,500 people are scheduled to convene at Fort Mason in San Francisco for OpenAI’s “biggest event yet,” which features…

Sugar Free Capital raises $32M inaugural fund to back early-staged MIT founders Sheena Jindal is from Boston.  She grew up there, attended MIT, and worked at the Boston Consulting Group for several years. She launched a startup, worked at a startup, and then became an investor at Bessemer and Comcast Ventures (CV).  Last year, her worlds collided when she decided to launch her own fund, Sugar Free Capital, a firm that focuses on investing in technical founders from MIT. She nabbed LPs, including the family offices of heavy-hitting tech executives from companies like Nvidia and Citadel, and on Monday announced the closing of Sugar Free’s $32 million inaugural fund. 

Sugar Free Capital raises $32M inaugural fund to back early-staged MIT founders

Sheena Jindal is from Boston.  She grew up there, attended MIT, and worked at the Boston Consulting Group for several years. She launched a startup, worked at a startup, and then became an investor at Bessemer and…

TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 exhibit tables are selling out fast and time is running out Exhibit tables at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, happening October 27–29 in San Francisco’s Moscone West, are one of the most in-demand opportunities of the year — and they’re disappearing quickly. We expanded the floor just two weeks ago to add more tables due to overwhelming demand, and they’re already close to selling out. Once these final spots are gone, there’s no more room to expand. This is your chance to put your startup directly in front of 10,000+ founders, investors, decision-makers, and press — all under one roof. Don’t wait until your competitors are already there, capturing the spotlight.

TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 exhibit tables are selling out fast and time is running out

Exhibit tables at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, happening October 27–29 in San Francisco’s Moscone West, are one of the most in-demand opportunities of the year — and they’re disappearing quickly. We expanded the floor…

Firefly leans into its defense ambitions with $855M SciTec acquisition Firefly Aerospace on Sunday said it had agreed to buy defense analytics firm SciTec for about $855 million in cash and stock, paving the path to its goal of becoming a significant player in the national security market. Firefly will pay around $300 million in cash and $555 million in new shares, and the deal is expected to close by the end of 2025.

Firefly leans into its defense ambitions with $855M SciTec acquisition

Firefly Aerospace on Sunday said it had agreed to buy defense analytics firm SciTec for about $855 million in cash and stock, paving the path to its goal of becoming a significant player in the national security market. Firefly…

Heidi Health raises $65M Series B led by Steve Cohen’s Point72 Dr. Tom Kelly is a trauma surgeon, and everywhere, he sees doctors drowning in administrative work. He wanted change, so he set out to build it.  “We wanted to build an AI care partner that would stand alongside clinicians and take care of the admin so that individual providers, like me, can feel empowered to deliver the care which we dedicated our lives to,” he told TechCrunch.  Dr. Kelly teamed up with Waleed Mussa, with whom he had worked at a previous startup, and founded Heidi Health in 2021. The company began launching products in early 2024. 

Heidi Health raises $65M Series B led by Steve Cohen’s Point72

Dr. Tom Kelly is a trauma surgeon, and everywhere, he sees doctors drowning in administrative work. He wanted change, so he set out to build it.  “We wanted to build an AI care partner that would stand alongside clinicians and take…

Waffles eat Bluesky | TechCrunch For the past few days, my Bluesky feed has been increasingly filled with mysterious posts about waffles. The back-and-forth seems to have started with a tongue-in-cheek post by Jerry Chen lampooning a form of social media sanctimoniousness that’s become all too recognizable on Bluesky: “(bluesky user bursts into Waffle House) OH SO YOU HATE PANCAKES??” Bluesky CEO Jay Graber quoted this approvingly, adding, “Too real. We’re going to try to fix this. Social media doesn’t have to be this way.”  Another user then asked, “have y’all banned Jesse Singal yet or” to which Graber…

Waffles eat Bluesky | TechCrunch

For the past few days, my Bluesky feed has been increasingly filled with mysterious posts about waffles. The back-and-forth seems to have started with a tongue-in-cheek post by Jerry Chen lampooning a form of social media sanctimoniousness that’s become all too…

Suspect arrested after threats against TikTok’s Culver City headquarters Police say they have arrested a suspect allegedly connected to multiple online threats that led TikTok to evacuate its headquarters near Los Angeles on Friday. A press release from the Culver City Police Department says that TikTok employees reported receiving multiple threats, across various social media platforms, from 33-year-old Hawthorne resident Joseph Mayuyo. After an additional message threatened TikTok’s Culver City headquarters, police say company security evacuated the office “out of an abundance of caution.” Police then investigated Mayuyo’s home, according to the press release. During the investigation, he allegedly posted additional threatening statements, including one declaring that he would not be taken alive.

Suspect arrested after threats against TikTok’s Culver City headquarters

Police say they have arrested a suspect allegedly connected to multiple online threats that led TikTok to evacuate its headquarters near Los Angeles on Friday. A press release from the Culver City Police Department says that…

California’s new AI safety law shows regulation and innovation don’t have to clash  SB 53, the AI safety and transparency bill that California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law this week, is proof that state regulation doesn’t have to hinder AI progress.   So says Adam Billen, vice president of public policy at youth-led advocacy group Encode AI, on today’s episode of Equity.  “The reality is that policy makers themselves know that we have to do something, and they know from working on a million other issues that there is a way to pass legislation that genuinely does protect innovation — which I do care about — while making sure that these products are safe,” Billen told TechCrunch. 

California’s new AI safety law shows regulation and innovation don’t have to clash 

SB 53, the AI safety and transparency bill that California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law this week, is proof that state regulation doesn’t have to hinder AI progress.   So says Adam Billen, vice president of…

OpenAI and Jony Ive may be struggling to figure out their AI device OpenAI and Jony Ive face significant technical challenges as they work to develop a screen-less, AI-powered device, according to the Financial Times. Back in May, OpenAI acquired io, the device startup founded by the legendary Apple designer with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, for $6.5 billion. At the time, Altman declared that Ive and his team would help the company “create a new generation of AI-powered computers,” while…

OpenAI and Jony Ive may be struggling to figure out their AI device

OpenAI and Jony Ive face significant technical challenges as they work to develop a screen-less, AI-powered device, according to the Financial Times. Back in May, OpenAI acquired io, the device startup founded by the legendary…

TechCrunch Mobility: Toyota makes a $1.5B bet on the startup ecosystem Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, your hub for all things “future of transportation.” To get this in your inbox, sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! More than a month ago, I asked you, dear reader, how you thought EV sales would play out once the $7,500 federal tax credit expired on September 30. The majority of those who responded to the poll predicted that EV sales would fall off a cliff. Now, it’s too early to tell yet; we are just a few days past the end of the quarter.

TechCrunch Mobility: Toyota makes a $1.5B bet on the startup ecosystem

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, your hub for all things “future of transportation.” To get this in your inbox, sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! More than a month ago, I asked you, dear reader, how…

The Reinforcement Gap — or why some AI skills improve faster than others   AI coding tools are getting better fast. If you don’t work in code, it can be hard to notice how much things are changing, but GPT-5 and Gemini 2.5 have made a whole new set of developer tricks possible to automate, and last week Sonnet 2.4 did it again.   At the same time, other skills are progressing more slowly. If you are using AI to write emails, you’re probably getting the same value out of it you did a year ago. Even when the model gets better, the product doesn’t always benefit — particularly when the product is a chatbot that’s doing a dozen different jobs at the same time.

The Reinforcement Gap — or why some AI skills improve faster than others  

AI coding tools are getting better fast. If you don’t work in code, it can be hard to notice how much things are changing, but GPT-5 and Gemini 2.5 have made a whole new set of developer tricks possible to automate, and…

The Young Minds App wants to protect and educate children online and will show its tech at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 An app called Young Minds wants to give parents control over what their kids do on the internet, while also protecting their children’s privacy and teaching them good online habits.  The startup was founded by Nino Dvalidze (pictured), an entrepreneur and a mother of two from the United Kingdom. Dvalidze told TechCrunch that the idea for Young Minds came from conversations with fellow parents, who are also worried about how to keep their children safe, while also allowing them to have access to the internet, which, she admitted, is “enormously helpful in terms of education and exploration and connection with so many people outside of your immediate zone of contacts.”  

The Young Minds App wants to protect and educate children online and will show its tech at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025

An app called Young Minds wants to give parents control over what their kids do on the internet, while also protecting their children’s privacy and teaching them good online habits. …

Event startup Partiful wasn’t stripping GPS locations from user-uploaded photos Social event planning app Partiful, which calls itself “Facebook events for hot people,” has firmly replaced Facebook as the go-to platform for sending party invitations. But what Partiful also has in common with Facebook is that it’s collecting a tsunami of user data, and Partiful could have done better at keeping that data secure. On Partiful, hosts can create online invitations with a retro, maximalist vibe, allowing guests to RSVP to events with the ease of ordering a salad on a touch-screen. Partiful aims to be user-friendly and trendy, propelling the app to #9 on the iOS App Store’s Lifestyle charts.

Event startup Partiful wasn’t stripping GPS locations from user-uploaded photos

Social event planning app Partiful, which calls itself “Facebook events for hot people,” has firmly replaced Facebook as the go-to platform for sending party invitations. But what Partiful also has in common with…