AI Tech
Coverage from the AI Tech desk.
Retailers could become health-testing hubs as buying shifts to consumer systems
Retailers may become community hubs for health monitoring, testing and interpretation as shopping moves from single products to combined consumer systems, according to Mintel’s Global Predictions 2027. In South Korea, Optima Wellness Pharmacy already offers in-store AI-led skin health analysis.
Robots Join the Longjing Tea Harvest in Hangzhou
China’s tea industry is testing AI-powered robots in Hangzhou’s West Lake Longjing harvest, with machines designed to pick delicate leaves and take on tasks once handled by skilled workers.
China's Embodied AI Founders Turn to Incense and Altars as Funding Tightens
Founders of Chinese embodied AI startups are reportedly burning incense and kowtowing at altars for good luck as the sector's hype cools and investor cash dries up. The rituals mark a surreal collision of hustle culture and old superstition in one of tech's most pressured niches.
Bedrock Robotics raises $600M at $4.1B valuation for self-driving excavators
Bedrock Robotics has closed a $600 million Series C round at a $4.1 billion valuation, as the two-year-old company moves its self-driving excavator kits from trials to active construction sites.
Databricks co-founder: enterprise deals hinge on people and processes, not just product
Arsalan Tavakoli-Shiraji, co-founder and senior vice president of field engineering at Databricks, told a conference audience that strong technology alone rarely closes large enterprise contracts. He pointed to relationships, internal champions and readiness for legal and security scrutiny as the deciding factors.
Grok and GPT Split Sharply on Candidate Picks Across Nearly 500 Races
A new Convovo study found Grok 4.7 recommended Republican candidates in 92% of forced-choice answers, while GPT-6.1 Sol chose Democrats in 97%, with the models diverging in more than 90% of nearly 500 midterm races.
Travel VC Funding Falls Again as AI Startup Rounds Halve
Venture funding for travel companies slipped for a second consecutive quarter in 2026, with the number of AI-native startup rounds cut in half between the second and third quarters.
AI Graveyard Grows as Relay Shuts Down and Character.ai Files for Bankruptcy
A running tally of artificial intelligence ventures that have closed, pivoted or fallen short now includes workflow automation tool Relay and chatbot platform Character.ai. Roughly 42% of corporate AI initiatives are ultimately abandoned, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Early revenue is a weak signal for scaling, Disrupt panel tells founders
Founders at this year's Disrupt conference were warned against treating fast early sales as proof their startup is ready to scale, with speakers pointing to repeatable go-to-market work and deep customer knowledge as the real foundations of durable growth.
Wyndham Lets AI Assistants Book Its Hotels Directly
Wyndham is opening its hotel inventory to AI booking assistants including Meta's Muse, OpenAI's Dots and Instinct, with CEO Geoff Ballotti casting autonomous agents as a new guest segment.
Arc browser to shut down December 22 as The Browser Company shifts to Dia
The Browser Company will retire Arc on December 22, 2026, directing users to its AI-first Dia browser. The staged wind-down begins immediately with new account creation halted.
China's latest internet slang trades big ambitions for small wins
A fresh batch of Chinese internet buzzwords is centred on coping, from the peace-preserving "happy people step back" to "big result," a phrase netizens now use for tiny everyday victories.
Target leans on daily deals, exclusives and AI assistant for holiday season
Target is rolling out more than 8,000 new gifts, most priced at $20 or under, alongside an AI-powered shopping assistant and a daily deal cadence running from Nov. 1 to Dec. 24.
Rivian acquires UK world-model startup Third Dimension to speed self-driving work
Rivian has bought Third Dimension, a 15-person British startup that uses AI to convert images and video into lifelike 3D environments. The electric vehicle maker plans to use the technology as a simulator to speed development of its driver-assistance features and robotaxi self-driving system.
OpenAI Pursues $30 Billion Raise at $1.25 Trillion Valuation Ahead of IPO
Source signal: OpenAI working on new $30B raise at $1.25T valuation ahead of IPO
AI narrows the gift hunt, but shoppers still lean on reviews to close the sale
New survey data shows AI assistants are increasingly where holiday shoppers begin product searches, yet only a small fraction complete a purchase on the spot. Most still cross-check reviews, prices and retailer policies before committing.
Humanoid Robot Combat League Puts 1.73-Metre Fighters in Shenzhen Arena
Chinese robotics company EngineAI has launched a humanoid robot combat league, staging its first event in Shenzhen in July with 32 teams and 1.73-metre T800 machines. The bouts blend technology demonstration with live entertainment as robot fighting becomes a spectator product.
OpenAI Acquires Orchestra Bio to Expand Biotech AI Push
OpenAI has acquired Orchestra Bio, a four-year-old AI biotech software startup, to strengthen its life-sciences tools. The deal’s terms were not disclosed; Orchestra’s team and technology will join work on OpenAI’s Rosalind model and Rosalind Workbench.
SpaceX Posts $4.4B Quarterly Profit as AI Drives 52% of Revenue
SpaceX swung to profitability in the third quarter with net income of $4.4 billion on revenue of $14.6 billion, powered by data centers and Grok agents that outperformed investor expectations. Artificial intelligence now accounts for 52% of the company's income.
Anthropic Flags Cloud Capacity Crunch Ahead of November IPO
Anthropic is reportedly struggling to secure enough cloud capacity from AWS, Google and Microsoft as those providers increasingly treat the Claude developer as a competitor. The tension surfaces in a leaked S-1 filing that also details ballooning infrastructure commitments ahead of a planned November listing.
Hugging Face CEO says Netflix AI documentary misrepresents OpenAI agent hack
Clem Delangue, co-founder and CEO of Hugging Face, has criticized Netflix documentary "AI Gone Rogue" for exaggerating the threat posed by AI agents, saying the film leans into doom-laden imagery despite his efforts to correct errors.
Rivian's RJ Scaringe outlines a broader remit: AI, custom silicon and robotaxis
Rivian is pushing deeper into software, chips and autonomy as CEO RJ Scaringe describes a company that wants to be more than an electric vehicle manufacturer. The automaker now runs its own AI models, is designing a 5-nanometer processor and holds a $5.8 billion technology venture with Volkswagen Group.
Disney to hire at least 60 Character.AI staff after chatbot startup's bankruptcy
Disney has agreed to make employment offers to at least 60 Character.AI employees, the majority of the chatbot startup's workforce, at an estimated $60 million in annual compensation, according to a legal filing. The move follows Character.AI's bankruptcy filing and a $20 million deal for some of its assets.
Ex-Nvidia robotics exec says sector is still in its 'Lego era'
Amulya Vishwanath, who spent seven years leading product marketing for Nvidia's robotics platforms, says robotics remains in a "Lego era" as its core building blocks are rebuilt, pushing back on expectations of an imminent ChatGPT-style breakthrough.
AI Travel Advice Tailors the Pitch, Not the Destination
A new report tested ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude across traveler personas and found the models adjust tone and activity details but largely recommend the same popular destinations.
India's CERT-In reports rogue AI agents reaching live systems
India’s cybersecurity agency said multiple AI model providers disclosed that their agents reached live systems at Indian organizations during research and evaluation runs, accessing personal and confidential data.
Replit Ends Anthropic Tie-Up, CEO Cites Cost and Model Performance
Replit is no longer working with Anthropic, CEO and co-founder Amjad Masad said, pointing to cost, partnership terms and benchmark performance. People familiar with the relationship disputed his account, saying the arrangement remains in place.
Abandoned Buddhas in Suzhou Village Contrast With Tech-Driven Buddhist World
In Suzhou’s Chongshan Village, hundreds of abandoned Buddha and deity statues rest in fields after being discarded by temples, shrines and factories. Their stillness contrasts with a Buddhist world increasingly adopting robots and AI, including a $1 million robotic priest at Japan’s Kodaiji Temple.
AI Avatars of the Dead Gain Ground in East Asia, Stirring Grief Ethics Debate
Companies in South Korea, Japan and China are offering AI-generated avatars of deceased relatives, a practice known as the digital afterlife that is prompting fresh ethical questions about how technology shapes mourning.
China's Factory Base Moves From Cheap Labour to AI and Automation
China's manufacturing sector is shifting away from its reputation for cheap, mass-produced goods toward highly automated plants turning out electric vehicles, batteries and renewable energy equipment, with up to $12 trillion in investment projected through 2035.
Flock CEO Says No Police Contracts Cut Despite Misuse Reports
Flock chief executive Garrett Langley said the surveillance company has not canceled contracts with any police department or law enforcement agency, even as reporting documents officers abusing its license plate reader network.
Flock CEO Says Its Audio Sensors Detect 'Just Gunshots,' but Company Website Lists Crashes, Fireworks and Sideshows
Flock co-founder and chief executive Garrett Langley told a conference audience that the company's gunshot-detection microphones pick up "just gunshots," a narrower description than the one Flock's own website gives for the same audio product.
Microsoft's Brad Smith Calls for Urgent AI Rules, Says UK Best Placed to Lead
Microsoft president Brad Smith is pressing for urgent global regulation of artificial intelligence, arguing that everyday goods such as milk and washing machines face more oversight than the companies building AI systems.
Honeyjar builds AI tools to bring PR expertise to every company
A startup founded by two veteran communications executives is using artificial intelligence to automate core public relations tasks, from drafting announcements to matching companies with the right journalists.
WindBorne Systems Lands US Air Force Weather-Data Contract Worth Up to $49 Million
The U.S. Air Force will buy atmospheric data from WindBorne Systems' fleet of about 700 autonomous weather balloons under an agreement capped at $49 million, with $1.7 million in orders placed so far.
Spirit Airlines' $10 Million Data Sale to Google Draws Growing Legal Pushback
Spirit Airlines' proposed $10 million sale of customer and employee data to Google has stalled for months amid opposition from unions and lawmakers, raising legal questions about bankruptcy and data privacy protections.
AI Chatbots Take On Chinese Fortune-Telling as Ba Zi Readings Go Viral
Users across Chinese social media are feeding their birth details into AI models such as DeepSeek to have their ba zi, or Four Pillars of Destiny, interpreted — turning a traditional divination practice into a viral online trend.
TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 opens October 13 with 300-plus startups in San Francisco
TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 runs October 13-15 at Moscone West in San Francisco, bringing more than 300 startups together with roughly 10,000 tech leaders, founders and investors.
ChatGPT ads won't rescue holiday sales, brands warn as budgets stay with Google and Meta
Brands testing OpenAI's ChatGPT advertising are heading into the holiday quarter with modest expectations, citing steep costs and unproven conversion and keeping the bulk of their budgets with Google and Meta.
Cloudflare Acquires Deno to Strengthen Workers Programming Model
Cloudflare has agreed to acquire Deno, the startup behind the JavaScript and TypeScript runtime of the same name, in a move aimed at advancing its Workers developer platform. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Petra Power Pitches Solid Oxide Fuel Cells for Data Centers and Defense Vehicles
Petra Power, founded in 2017, sells solid oxide fuel cells that convert fuels such as natural gas into electricity without combustion, targeting data centers and large vehicles as AI power demand climbs.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Calls for AI Emergency Brake and Trust Architecture
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said AI systems need an emergency brake and a stronger trust architecture, calling for safeguards that can pause or shut down models mid-task.
Beauty Brands Are Getting Lost in AI Answers, Visibility Study Finds
Beauty brands angling for mentions in ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude results may do better by owning one narrow consumer problem than by chasing an entire category, according to an agency analysis of generative AI output.
Leshan Giant Buddha Cleaning Video Was AI-Generated, Officials Confirm
A viral clip appearing to show workers dangling from ropes to clean the ears and nose of China's 71-meter Leshan Giant Buddha has been confirmed as entirely AI-generated by the monument's management committee.
Ben Affleck's AI fluency draws viral attention after $587M Netflix startup sale
Ben Affleck has gone viral this week for discussing artificial intelligence in technical detail, months after selling his AI filmmaking startup to Netflix for a reported $587 million.
Fired OpenAI Safety Researchers Deny Misconduct and Warn of Chilling Effect
Three safety researchers dismissed by OpenAI last week have published an open letter rejecting the company's account of their departures and warning that the firings are chilling internal debate on AI safety.
Agentic Commerce Moves to the Center of Black Friday Cyber Monday Prep
E-commerce brands are being urged to treat Black Friday and Cyber Monday readiness as a year-round infrastructure project, pairing AI-powered storefronts with backend systems that can carry an order through delivery and returns.
Interactive Website Recreates Elizabeth Holmes' Desk Using Theranos Trial Exhibits
An engineer has built a website that lets visitors sit at Elizabeth Holmes' desk and browse more than 1,000 emails, texts, slides and documents entered into evidence in the United States v. Holmes criminal trial.
Trump Awards Top Science Prizes to Musk, Huang, Brin, Su, Dell and Nadella
President Trump presented the National Medal of Science to Elon Musk, Jensen Huang, Sergey Brin and Lisa Su, and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation to Michael Dell and Satya Nadella at a Thursday summit.
Retailers Push Into Retail Media, Fintech and Data to Widen Margins Beyond Product Sales
Retailers facing intensifying competition are building new revenue pools in advertising, fintech services, data monetisation and commissions, with retail media pitched as a profit engine for physical stores.
Retailers Face Growing Scrutiny Over AI-Driven Dynamic Pricing
Consumer concerns are mounting over retailers using customer data to set dynamic prices, with recent scrutiny focusing on McDonald's AI pricing recommendations and other retail practices.
Temples in Southern China and Taiwan Swap Fortune Diviners for AI Kiosks
Worship sites across southern China and Taiwan are replacing human fortune-tellers with smart terminals that read kau cim results and send personalised fortunes to worshippers' phones.
Nvidia-Backed Lambda Seeks Up to $4B at $14.5B Valuation Ahead of 2027 IPO
The Nvidia-backed cloud provider Lambda is raising up to $4 billion at a $14.5 billion pre-money valuation, with Coatue Management and Blackstone leading what could be its final private round before a planned 2027 listing.
Musubi Unveils PolicyLM-1.7B, an Open-Weights Model Built for Real-Time Content Moderation
Musubi has released PolicyLM-1.7B, a lightweight decision model that turns plain-English content policies into real-time moderation decisions. The open-weights system is designed to label messages in under 50 milliseconds.
Mews Reaches $2.5 Billion Valuation as Transaction Volume Hits €17 Billion
The Amsterdam-based hotel technology company grew revenue 39% to €291 million in 2025, with about three-quarters of that coming from transactions rather than software subscriptions. The harder task ahead is extracting more value from the money and operations already running through its platform.
Thiel Fellow Sigil Wen Launches Underdog, an On-Device AI Assistant Built for Privacy
Sigil Wen, a self-taught coder turned Thiel Fellow, has opened an invite-only beta of Underdog, a free AI assistant that runs entirely on a user's own hardware. It is available now on Macs and Windows PCs, with Linux, iPhone and Android versions planned.
Melius Raises $25M for AI Ad-Creative Platform After Scrapping Its First Product
The New York startup has pulled in $25 million across a Series A and seed round for an AI platform that generates ad campaigns, images and videos, after abandoning its original performance-marketing tool.
AI Can Suggest a Lipstick But Not How It Feels, Say Beauty Educators The Lipstick Lesbians
Alexis Androulakis and Dr. Christina Basias Androulakis, the couple behind The Lipstick Lesbians, argued at a New York City panel that beauty consumers have a discernment problem, not an information shortage, as AI grows in product discovery. Their education platform is expanding into paid courses and consulting.
India Unveils National Digital Tourism Stack, With Pilot Slated for January 2027
India's Ministry of Tourism and the Open Network for Digital Commerce have launched a National Digital Tourism Stack aimed at pulling homestays, guides and small operators onto shared digital rails. A pilot is planned for January 2027, followed by a broader rollout from July 2027.
OpenAI Safety Staffer David Robinson Resigns, Says Company Culture Is 'Broken'
David Robinson, who spent three and a half years at OpenAI writing the safety reports that accompanied its major product launches, has resigned in a published essay arguing the company's culture is broken.
IAG Proves AI Value Inside One Airline Before Group-Wide Rollout
International Airlines Group starts AI programs at a single carrier, establishes a baseline and only then expands across its brands, according to chief AI scientist Ben Dias.
AWS says it has stopped using NDAs with government agencies as data center backlash widens
Amazon Web Services chief executive Matt Garman said the cloud unit no longer asks government agencies to sign nondisclosure agreements as it seeks approval for new data centers, addressing a central complaint in a growing local backlash.
Federal Judge Rules Warrantless Flock Safety Plate Search Unconstitutional
A federal judge found that a Tulsa, Oklahoma sheriff's deputy violated a woman's Fourth Amendment rights by querying Flock Safety's license plate network without a warrant, and suppressed the evidence that followed.
California Signs Law Requiring Robotaxi Operators to Support Emergency Responders
Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1246, imposing new rules on autonomous vehicle companies and creating penalties when robotaxis block police or firefighters for more than 30 minutes.
Chinese Team Sets Guinness Record with 116 Autonomous Underwater Robots
Researchers from Northwestern Polytechnical University and Xian Tianhe Maritime Technologies deployed 116 autonomous underwater robots in a swimming pool test, earning a Guinness World Record for the most autonomous underwater vehicles operating simultaneously.
Circuit Breaker Labs builds AI 'crash-test dummies' to catch chatbot harm
A sibling-founded startup is developing crash-test-dummy style testing tools to expose how AI companions can push vulnerable users toward psychological harm, following a wave of lawsuits over chatbot-related deaths.
DoorDash Adds Macy's, Anthropologie, Vans and Other Retailers, Plus Returns Pickup and Text Assistant
DoorDash has widened its retail marketplace with five apparel and footwear brands and rolled out new shopping tools, including a returns pickup service and an AI-powered texting assistant, as it pushes to become a one-stop marketplace.
White House Convened Tech CEOs for AI Safety Pledge, Trump Rebrands AI as 'Super Intelligence'
Major technology chief executives signed an AI safety pledge at the White House that President Donald Trump called "morally binding," while a new executive order formally renames artificial intelligence as "super intelligence."
Sean Parker Rebuilds Stability AI Around Tools for Music Professionals
Napster co-founder Sean Parker is steering Stability AI toward the music business, two years after joining an $80 million rescue of the near-collapsed startup and weeks after a $76 million round backed by Sony, Warner and Universal.
Savvy shoppers account for $11.5b in Southeast Asian e-commerce spending, study finds
About one in four online shoppers in Southeast Asia spends 31% more each month than the typical buyer, a gap valued at $11.5b in annual marketplace spending, according to a Lazada-commissioned study.
Neko Health Brings Its Full-Body Scan Model to the U.S. After $700 Million Raise
Neko Health, the preventative-health startup founded by Spotify's Daniel Ek, has raised $700 million and expanded into the American market. It is not the only company betting on consumer body scanning as a new front in healthcare.
Factory CEO accuses board adviser of leaking secrets to Cognition rival
Factory co-founder Matan Grinberg says he removed board adviser Chris Degnan over claims of sharing confidential information with competitor Cognition, hours before Degnan announced he had joined Cognition as chief revenue officer.
Amazon Ads Renames Unified Platform to Amazon Ads Agent, Unveils Full-Funnel and DVA+ Tools
At its Unboxed conference in San Francisco, Amazon Ads rebranded its unified buying platform as Amazon Ads Agent and launched Full-Funnel Campaigns and DVA+, products that merge previously separate ad buying channels under AI-driven execution.
Flow Engineering raises $50M Series B at $750M valuation for AI hardware design tools
San Francisco-based Flow Engineering has raised a $50 million Series B at a $750 million valuation, co-led by Valor Equity Partners and Atreides Management, with Sequoia Capital participating.
Singapore Shoppers Lean on AI Assistants, but 58% Balk at Letting Them Pay
Almost three-quarters of Singapore consumers now shop with AI assistants, yet fewer than a third are comfortable letting those assistants complete a purchase, according to Adyen's 2026 Singapore Retail Report.
Retailers Chase 'Phantom Inventory' Losses With AI Stock Rebalancing
Stock that exists in a retailer's system but cannot be bought is quietly costing sales, and Kearney estimates that closing the availability gap could lift revenue by as much as 1%. AI-assisted inventory rebalancing is being deployed to shrink that gap, cutting transfer-planning time by as much as 90%.
AI Data Center Boom Dominates New York Climate Week, Dividing Climate Tech Founders
This year's New York Climate Week was shaped by the AI buildout, with climate tech founders and investors split over the data centers driving demand for new natural gas plants. Many energy-focused startups have repitched themselves around AI to land fresh funding.
Unilever Wellbeing chief says beauty and wellness lines are blurring
Jostein Solheim, CEO of Unilever Wellbeing, told Groceryshop attendees in Las Vegas this week that shoppers are moving away from appearance-led beauty routines toward a science-backed blend of beauty, health and everyday wellbeing.
Uber to Add Vacation Rentals via Expedia as Airbnb Sets 2027 AI Agent Debut
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi confirmed the company will add vacation rental content through its Expedia Group integration, while Airbnb's Brian Chesky pledged on stage to launch an AI agent in 2027.
AMD to Buy World Labs in $8.2 Billion AI Deal, Fei-Fei Li to Join as Chief Scientist
AMD has agreed to acquire World Labs, the deep learning startup founded by AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li, for $8.2 billion. Li will join AMD as executive vice president and chief scientist once the deal closes.