April 2026
Spotify Adds AI Podcast Search via Text Queries
Spotify expanded Prompted Playlists to podcasts — Premium users can now search episodes through text queries.
Arcee — a 26-person startup — created a powerful open source LLM and is gaining users
American startup Arcee, with a team of just 26 people, released a high-performance open language model — and it's already gaining real tract
Google quietly launched AI dictation for iOS that works without internet
Google released a voice dictation app based on Gemma models that works completely offline on iPhone — a direct competitor to the popular Wis
ProPublica newsroom goes on strike over AI, job protection and wages
150 ProPublica Guild journalists went on a 24-hour strike, demanding protection from AI replacement, employment guarantees and wage increase
Atlassian adds visual AI and agents from Lovable, Replit, and Gamma to Confluence
Confluence now has built-in tools for creating visual content and integration with AI agents from third-party services.
Meta Superintelligence Labs released the first AI model Muse Spark for WhatsApp and Instagram
Meta Superintelligence Labs launched Muse Spark — the first model in a new series that already works in Meta AI and will soon appear in What
Databricks Co-founder Matei Zaharia Won ACM's Top Award and Said AGI Has Already Arrived
Creator of Apache Spark and Databricks co-founder awarded ACM's highest honor. He also stated: AGI is already here — people simply misunders
OpenAI Publishes Child Safety Blueprint to Protect Children From AI-Enabled Sexual Exploitation
OpenAI released the Child Safety Blueprint — a document outlining four approaches to combat generative AI use in creating child sexual explo
Astropad launches Workbench — AI agent control panel for Mac Mini
Astropad reimagined the remote desktop: the new Workbench is built not for IT support, but for monitoring and managing AI agents from iPhone
Anthropic Simplified AI Agent Creation for the Corporate Market with Claude
Anthropic's new product handles the technical infrastructure for running Claude-based AI agents — companies no longer need to independently
Elon Musk's partnership with Intel on Terafab chips raises more questions than answers
Musk announced the Terafab chip venture with Intel as a partner, but the company's role in the project remains unclear, and analysts doubt t
The US Army is developing its own VICTOR chatbot for soldiers' combat missions
The Pentagon is creating the military AI chatbot VICTOR, trained on real Army data — the system will provide soldiers with mission-critical
Google launched "Notebooks" in Gemini — a personal knowledge base inside the chatbot
Google added a "Notebooks" feature to Gemini: files, conversation history, and custom instructions in one place — like a personal knowledge
AWS chief explained why investing in both Anthropic and OpenAI is not a conflict of interest
AWS invested billions in two competing AI leaders at the same time. The company's chief explained why this is standard practice for the clou
Poke launches access to AI agents via SMS — no apps or technical knowledge needed
Startup Poke opens access to AI agents through regular SMS: no apps, sign-ups, or technical knowledge — just send a task and the agent carri
Anthropic in "legal limbo": two US courts cannot agree on the military's right to use Claude
A US appeals court contradicts a March ruling by a lower court, putting the US military's right to use Anthropic's Claude model in question.
YouTube Shorts launched AI avatars: clone yourself for short videos
YouTube allows creators to make a digital copy of themselves — the avatar will look and sound like the original and appear in Shorts without
Former Apple Vision Pro developers created an AI gadget that only activates on button press
A wearable AI device from two former Apple engineers is activated only by button press — a bet on privacy where Humane and Rabbit have alrea
Anthropic and OpenAI at the Edge: The Race for Profit Has Become a Matter of Survival
Anthropic and OpenAI are heading toward the largest IPOs in history, but AI agents are burning through computational resources faster than c
Bret Taylor from Sierra: The Button Era Is Over, AI Agents Will Replace Interfaces
Sierra's co-founder believes traditional software interfaces will give way to AI agents — users will simply state what they need.
Google Gemini Learns to Generate Interactive 3D Models and Simulations
Google's Gemini can now build interactive 3D models and physical simulations in response to user questions: objects can be rotated, paramete
Florida Attorney General Launches Investigation into OpenAI Over Security Threats
State authorities accuse the company of technology leaks to U.S. adversaries, ChatGPT connections to crimes, and possible involvement in Flo
OpenAI launches ChatGPT Pro subscription for $100 per month — direct response to Claude Max
OpenAI has released a new ChatGPT Pro tier for $100 per month with a fivefold increase in Codex limits for developers.
Meta AI App Soars to 5th Place on App Store Following Muse Spark Launch
The new Meta Muse Spark model propelled the app from 57th to 5th place on the American App Store in just days — a record jump among AI apps.
Florida Prosecutor Investigates OpenAI: ChatGPT May Have Helped Plan University Shooting
Florida's Attorney General has opened an investigation against OpenAI following the deaths of two people at a university; according to inves
ChatGPT Launches $100/Month Tier: Closing the Gap Between Plus and Pro
OpenAI closed the tenfold price gap in its subscription lineup: an intermediate ChatGPT tier at $100 per month for advanced users now sits b
OpenAI Backed Bill Limiting AI Companies' Liability for Mass Harm
OpenAI backed a bill in Illinois that would shield AI labs from lawsuits even in cases of "critical harm"—mass casualties or financial catas
Microsoft removes Copilot buttons from Windows 11 applications
Microsoft has begun removing Copilot buttons from Notepad, Snipping Tool, and other Windows 11 applications as part of a plan to improve the
Meta's New AI Requests Users' Medical Data and Dispenses Harmful Advice
Meta's Muse Spark model offers to analyze test results, but instead of helping, it jeopardizes privacy and provides dangerous recommendation
Generation Z Is Growing Disillusioned With AI but Keeps Using It — Gallup Poll
A Gallup survey of 1,600 Americans aged 14–29 found that young people’s enthusiasm for AI has dropped sharply and irritation is rising — eve
TechCrunch brings Startup Battlefield to Tokyo: AI, robots, and anime at SusHi Tech 2026
TechCrunch will hold its Startup Battlefield startup competition in Tokyo for the first time at SusHi Tech 2026, a festival focused on AI, r
Stalking victim sues OpenAI: company ignored three warnings about a threat
A woman accuses OpenAI of allowing ChatGPT to fuel her stalker’s delusional ideas — the company received three warnings that the user was da
Onix launched a "Substack for bots": subscription-based AI doubles of health experts
Startup Onix is building a platform where digital copies of real health influencers advise users around the clock — and sell them products.
Iranian team Explosive Media creates viral Lego war videos with AI
Iranian group Explosive Media is getting millions of views with Lego-style AI videos mocking US military failures in Iran, and explains the
Anthropic's Mythos: not a hacker superweapon, but a wake-up call for developers
Anthropic's new model is being called a "hacker superweapon," but experts see the main problem elsewhere: developers have ignored security f
Anthropic temporarily blocked the creator of OpenClaw after changing Claude pricing
The developer of the unofficial OpenClaw client lost access to Claude shortly after Anthropic changed pricing for users of the tool.
How the internet destroyed our ability to tell truth from fake
AI images, restricted satellite data, and overloaded verification tools — online fact-checking is facing a systemic crisis.
AI companion in a plush deer wrote an unprompted theory about Mitski’s father’s CIA ties
A toy with the Coral AI companion sent a user a conspiracy theory about singer Mitski without any prompt — and it turned out to be fabricate
The AI coding race: how OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic are competing for the developer market
The war over the market for AI tools for programmers has flared up between OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic — and it all began with GitHub Copi
TechCrunch Released a Guide to AI Jargon: What Are LLMs, Hallucinations, and RAG
TechCrunch compiled a glossary of key AI terms—from large language models and hallucinations to tokens and agents—for those seeking to under
Claude from Anthropic Became the Main Topic of the HumanX Conference in San Francisco
At the April AI conference HumanX in San Francisco, Anthropic and Claude found themselves in the spotlight, overshadowing competitors and be
Trump Administration Advises Banks to Test Anthropic's Mythos Model
Trump administration officials informally recommend that banks test Anthropic's Mythos — despite the U.S. Department of Defense just recogni
Pixel Societies Uses AI Agents to Match Colleagues, Friends, and Partners Before Meeting
Startup Pixel Societies simulates interaction between people using AI agents to help choose colleagues, friends, and romantic partners befor
Zuckerberg Creates His Own AI Clone for Employee Meetings
Meta trains a digital clone of Zuckerberg using his voice, appearance, and manner of speech to replace the CEO at team meetings.
Vercel CEO Guillermo Rauch announces IPO readiness amid AI agent-driven growth
Vercel CEO Guillermo Rauch announced at the HumanX conference the company's readiness for IPO — revenue has surged due to demand for AI agen
Microsoft Explores Integration of OpenClaw-Agents into 365 Copilot for Enterprise Markets
Microsoft Tests OpenClaw-like Agents for 365 Copilot, Aiming to Make the AI Assistant Fully Autonomous — to Execute Tasks for Users Round th
70 organizations warn Meta: facial recognition glasses threaten violence victims
More than 70 human rights organizations have demanded that Meta ban facial recognition in Ray-Ban smart glasses — the feature could be used
Stanford AI Index: the gap between AI experts and society continues to widen
The annual Stanford AI Index 2026 documented a growing gap between the optimism of AI specialists and public concern about employment, healt
OpenAI acquired startup Hiro to integrate financial planning into ChatGPT
OpenAI acquired fintech startup Hiro, which specialized in AI-driven personal finance management — a sign that ChatGPT will soon become a pe
Unitree launches humanoid robot R1 internationally via AliExpress for $4,370
Chinese company Unitree is launching sales of the R1 humanoid robot via AliExpress at $4,370 — the lowest price to date for a consumer-class
Silicon Valley funds Alex Bores's opponents after he passed a tough AI law
A former Palantir analyst helped pass one of the strictest AI laws in the US — now Silicon Valley's biggest players are spending millions to
Anthropic opposed the AI liability bill backed by OpenAI
The two AI giants openly split over an Illinois bill that would effectively shield AI developers from liability for mass deaths and financia
Google adds AI Skills to Chrome — save prompts for any site
Google integrates the Gemini-based Skills feature into Chrome: users will be able to save and rerun AI prompts on any site without additiona
Google Chrome launched “Skills” — saved AI commands for Gemini
Chrome now allows any prompt for Gemini to be saved as a “Skill” and launched on any page with one click.
Attacks on Sam Altman: how violence became a weapon against the AI industry
A Molotov cocktail at the home of the OpenAI CEO and gunfire at a city official’s door — the wave of violence against the AI sector is growi
Google Chrome gets Gemini AI Skills: protein in recipes and YouTube summaries
Chrome now includes a Gemini panel with prebuilt AI Skills — from nutrition analysis to video summarization directly on the page.
Apple secretly threatened to remove Grok from the App Store over deepfakes on X
In January, Apple demanded in a private letter that the X and Grok teams develop a content moderation plan after a wave of sexual deepfakes.
Deepfake nudes in schools: WIRED investigation reveals 90 institutions and 600 victims
A joint analysis by WIRED and Indicator documented nearly 90 schools worldwide where students became victims of AI-generated intimate deepfa
Adobe announces Firefly AI Assistant — editing through description instead of manual tools
Adobe introduced Firefly AI Assistant — an AI assistant for editing through text descriptions, without needing knowledge of specialized Crea
Parasail raises $32M: betting on developers who want more AI tokens
Parasail closed a Series A at $32M, betting that the future of AI infrastructure will be fragmented across multiple models and compute provi