Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei calls OpenAI’s messaging around military deal ‘straight up lies,’ report says

Anthropic gave up its contract with the Pentagon over AI safety disagreements -- then, OpenAI swooped in.

Apple Music to add Transparency Tags to distinguish AI music, says report

The label or distributor has to opt in to tagging their music as AI, so it's unclear how effective this intervention will be.

Google settles with Epic Games, drops its Play Store commissions to 20%

Google has dropped its commission, charging a 20% service fee and an optional 5% to use its billing services. It will also offer a new process for third-party app stores.

His house burned down. He used the insurance money to build PopSockets.

Does a consumer hardware company need to get on the VC treadmill to succeed? Eleven years and 290 million products sold across 115 countries later, PopSockets has proven that the bootstrapped, low-dilution path more viable than the industry gives it credit for. The global consumer hardware brand was built on less than $500k, no institutional capital, and a philosophy professor’s determination.  Watch as founder and former CEO […]

US and EU police shut down LeakBase, a site accused of sharing stolen passwords and hacking tools

Authorities say LeakBase was "one of the world’s largest online forums for cybercriminals," and maintained an archive of hacked databases containing hundreds of millions of passwords.

MacBook Neo, iPhone 17e, and everything else Apple announced this week

From a new iPhone to a budget-friendly MacBook, Apple announced a series of new products this week.

Google Search rolls out Gemini’s Canvas in AI Mode to all US users

Canvas in AI Mode is available to U.S. users in English for creating plans, projects, apps, and more.

Decagon completes first tender offer at $4.5B valuation

The AI-powered customer support startup is the latest example of a fast-growing, young company that's providing employee liquidity.

The US military is still using Claude — but defense-tech clients are fleeing

As the U.S. continues its aerial attack on Iran, Anthropic models are being used for many targeting decisions.

X taps William Shatner to give out invites to its payments service, X Money

42 X users donated to William Shatner's charity in exchange for an early invite to X Money beta.

Host a Side Event during TechCrunch Founder Summit Week in Boston

Want to tap into the energy of 1,100+ startup founders, investors, and tech leaders descending on Boston for the Founder Summit 2026 on June 9? Host your own Side Event during “Founder Summit Week,” happening June 4-10!

TikTok won’t add end-to-end encryption to direct messages, report says

The social media giant says that end-to-end encryption would make users less safe.

Father sues Google, claiming Gemini chatbot drove son into fatal delusion

A father is suing Google and Alphabet, alleging its Gemini chatbot reinforced his son’s delusional belief it was his AI wife and coached him toward suicide and a planned airport attack.

Meet the MacBook Neo, Apple’s colorful answer to the Chromebook, starting at $599

Apple is offering the MacBook Neo at a more affordable price point by using an A18 Pro chip, which is used in the iPhone 16 Pro.

One startup’s pitch to provide more reliable AI answers: Crowdsource the chatbots

CollectivIQ looks to give users more accurate answers to their AI queries by showing them responses that pull information from ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Grok — and up to 10 other models — all at the same time.

Who needs data centers in space when they can float offshore?

Offshore wind developer Aikido will deploy a small data center beneath a floating offshore wind turbine later this year.

Eight Sleep raises $50M at $1.5B valuation

Eight Sleep said it was free-cash-flow positive in 2025 and plans to use the new funding for new products, global expansions, and clinical validation.

Why AI startups are selling the same equity at two different prices

Some AI founders are using a novel valuation mechanism to manufacture unicorn status.

A suite of government hacking tools targeting iPhones is now being used by cybercriminals

Security researchers say exploits used by governments to hack into iPhones have been found to be used by cybercriminals. They warned of an emerging market for "secondhand" exploits.

Alibaba’s Qwen tech lead steps down after major AI push

Reactions rippled through Alibaba's Qwen team after tech lead Junyang Lin stepped down following a major model launch.