TechCrunch
AI news source. Articles are auto-selected and adapted by Hamidun News editors.
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OpenAI released open-source tools to protect teenagers in AI apps
OpenAI gave developers access to ready-made safety policies and tools to simplify building AI products for minors.
Kentucky Family Declines AI Company's $26 Million Offer for Farm Data Center
An unnamed major AI company offered a Kentucky farming family $26 million for the right to build a data center on their land — and received a refusal.
OpenAI shuts down Sora app: AI social network with video failed to find audience
OpenAI is shutting down the Sora mobile app with an AI video feed — users didn't stick around, despite the impressive capabilities of Sora 2. The model itself continues to operate.
Kleiner Perkins raised $3.5 billion — the fund's largest artificial intelligence bet
The legendary Silicon Valley venture fund closed two funds totaling $3.5 billion — $1 billion for early-stage startups and $2.5 billion to support growing AI companies at late stages.
Arm Releases Its First In-House Chip in 35 Years — in Partnership With Meta
For the first time in its 35-year history, Arm has developed its own processor jointly with Meta — and Meta itself became the first customer for the new chip.
Databricks acquires two startups for new AI security product
Using part of its recently raised $5 billion, Databricks has acquired Antimatter and SiftD.ai and is preparing its own solution for protecting corporate AI systems.
Spotify tests a tool to protect artists from AI tracks released under their names
Spotify has begun testing a new tool that will let musicians themselves flag tracks unfairly attributed to them, in response to the rise of AI-generated junk content.
Anthropic adds an auto mode to Claude Code: more autonomy with built-in limits
Anthropic has launched an auto mode for Claude Code — the AI agent now completes tasks without constant requests for confirmation, while retaining guardrails for destructive actions.
Zuckerberg launched Meta initiative to support entrepreneurs and AI adoption
Meta is launching a new program to support entrepreneurs: the company wants to help small businesses actively use AI for growth, customer acquisition, and scaling through its platforms.
Granola raises $125M and reaches a $1.5B valuation as it shifts to enterprise AI
Meeting recording startup Granola increased its valuation from $250M to $1.5B in a single round and is expanding into an enterprise AI platform with agent support.
Meta uses generative AI to simplify shopping on Instagram and Facebook
Meta is bringing generative AI to Instagram and Facebook so shoppers can get detailed information about products and brands directly inside the apps.
Sequoia invests in Harvey for the third time — the AI startup for lawyers is valued at $11 billion
Harvey, a Legal AI startup, confirmed a $11 billion valuation. Sequoia invested for the third time, joined by Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins, and investor Elad Gil.
Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez propose banning new data center construction in the US
Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have introduced a bill imposing a moratorium on data center construction until comprehensive federal AI regulation is adopted.
Google unveils TurboQuant — an algorithm that compresses AI working memory sixfold
Google has developed TurboQuant, an algorithm that theoretically compresses neural networks’ working memory sixfold — the internet is already comparing it to Pied Piper from “Silicon Valley”.
Anthropic: AI is not eliminating jobs yet, but the gap between users is already growing
Anthropic's study found that AI is not replacing employees, but experienced users are already far ahead of the rest — and that gap will only grow.
Deccan AI raises $25M in the data labeling market with a focus on specialists in India
Mercor rival Deccan AI has closed a $25M round — the company is concentrating specialists in India to address a systemic quality problem in data labeling for training AI models.
Mistral released an open speech generation model for smartphones and smartwatches
Mistral released an open speech model that runs directly on a smartphone or smartwatch — without the cloud, network latency, or API fees.
Senator Warner proposes taxing data centers over AI-driven job losses
Growing fears of AI-driven unemployment are turning into demands on data centers — Senator Mark Warner wants them to pay for worker retraining.
Cohere released an open-source transcription model — 2 billion parameters and 14 languages
Cohere released an open-source speech model for transcription: 2 billion parameters, support for 14 languages, and the ability to run on a standard consumer GPU.
Conntour raised $7 million from General Catalyst and YC for AI search across surveillance footage
Startup Conntour developed an AI system that lets security teams search for people, objects, and situations in surveillance footage using text queries in plain language.
Kentucky grandmother turned down an AI company: the real world is resisting data center expansion
An 82-year-old Kentucky resident rejected a $26 million offer for land for a data center, while OpenAI winds down Sora and Meta loses in court.
ByteDance adds new Dreamina Seedance 2.0 video generation model to CapCut
ByteDance launched Dreamina Seedance 2.0 in CapCut with built-in safeguards against generating videos with real faces and violating copyright.
Wikipedia tightens rules: AI-written texts face stricter scrutiny in article writing
Wikipedia has announced a crackdown on AI-generated content — the world’s largest online encyclopedia is tightening its policy to preserve the reliability of its materials.
Google launches tools to transfer chats from ChatGPT and other AI bots to Gemini
Google has added a “switching tools” feature — users can now transfer chat history and personal data from other chatbots directly to Gemini.
AI companies are buying up land for billions, but the real world is starting to push back
Venture investors are pouring billions into AI infrastructure as local residents refuse to sell land for data centers — and OpenAI quietly shuts down Sora.
SoftBank takes out a $40B loan: JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs bet on an OpenAI IPO
JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs are extending SoftBank a 12-month unsecured $40B loan — and Wall Street sees it as a direct signal of an upcoming OpenAI IPO.
Anthropic: paid Claude subscriptions doubled in early 2026
An Anthropic spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch that the number of paid Claude subscriptions more than doubled in 2026, with the overall audience ranging from 18 million to 30 million users.
The last of xAI’s co-founders left the company — only Musk remains of the 11
Of xAI’s 11 co-founders, by spring 2026 no one remained alongside Elon Musk — the team that launched the startup in 2023 had completely disbanded.
Stanford Scientists Measured Real Harm From AI Chatbot Sycophancy
Stanford computer scientists attempted for the first time not merely to document the tendency of AI assistants to tell people what they want to hear, but also to measure the specific harm caused by this sycophancy.
Bluesky launches Attie: AI helps create personalized feeds without code
Bluesky released Attie — an AI-powered application that lets any user create personalized feeds via AT Protocol by simply describing their interests.