Top OpenAI, Google Brain researchers set off a $300M VC frenzy for their startup Periodic LabsĀ
When Liam Fedus announced he was quitting OpenAI, VCs swarmed. One even wrote a love letter. Here’s how Felicis’ Peter Deng won the deal.
U.S. and Australia sign $3B critical minerals deal
Leaders of the country’s governments announced they would work together to secure critical minerals supplies outside of Chinese control. The deal includes a new gallium refinery in Western Australia.
Meta AIās app downloads and daily users spiked after launch of āVibesā AI video feed
New data from Similarweb shows Meta AIās mobile app is surging in popularity, jumping from 775,000 to 2.7 million daily active users in just four weeks. The app is now seeing roughly 300,000 new installs per day ā
Trump DOE confirms itās canceling over $700M in manufacturing grants
The Department of Energy said it was canceling grants to build new factories in places like Alabama and Kentucky. Three startups are affected.
Anthropic brings Claude Code to the web
Anthropic now lets developers spin up Claude Code agents, and manage them, from their web browser on desktop and mobile.
Cards Against Humanity settles trespass lawsuit against SpaceX
Cards Against Humanity, the irreverent party game company known for its provocative humor, has settled its trespassing lawsuit against SpaceX, one year after filing the complaint and launching a profanity-laced
Shin Starrās robotic food truck kitchen will serve up Korean BBQ at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025
Shin Starr’s OLHSO food truck is an autonomous kitchen on wheels, serving Korean BBQ cooked by a robot.
Automattic CEO calls Tumblr his ābiggest failureā so far
At WordCamp Canada 2025, Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg called Tumblr his ābiggest failure,ā noting the challenge of maintaining the platformās half a billion blogs while it remains unprofitable. Though plans to
FTC removes Lina Khan-era posts about AI risks and open source
One post, authored by Khanās staff, was published on January 3, 2025 with the title āAI and the Risk of Consumer Harm.ā It noted that the FTC was ātaking note of AIās potential for real-world instances of harm ā
Regulators probe Waymo after its robotaxi drove around a stopped school bus
The incident happened in Atlanta, Georgia earlier this month. Waymo says it has already updated the software on its robotaxis.