Kayak launches an ‘AI Mode’ for travel questions, search, and bookings
Kayak is bringing AI directly to its main platform with a new “AI Mode” that lets travelers research, plan, and book trips through a built-in chatbot.
Why AI startups are taking data into their own hands
Where training sets were once scraped freely from the web or collected from low-paid annotators, companies are looking to proprietary training data as a competitive advantage.
Amazon’s Ring to partner with Flock, a network of AI cameras used by ICE, feds, and police
Agencies that use Flock can request that Ring doorbell users share footage to help with “evidence collection and investigative work.”
Meta to shut down Messenger desktop apps for Mac and Windows
Starting December 15, users will no longer be able to log into the apps and will be automatically redirected to the Facebook website to access Messenger.
Rent a Cyber Friend will pay you to talk to strangers online and will show off its platform at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025
“Loneliness is the biggest disease in the world right now,” founder Francesco Vitali said. “So we built a platform where human time has value again, and a place where being human is important.”
The real reason Google DeepMind is working with a fusion energy startup
Google has invested in fusion startups as potential power suppliers. This latest move suggests Google sees them as potential customers, too.
A new wave of social media apps provide hope in a doomscrolling world
“The platforms that won were the ones that kept people scrolling the longest, not the ones that made them feel the most connected,” Zehra Naqvi told TechCrunch. “Now there is an abundance of content but a scarcity
Deel hits $17.3B valuation after raising $300M from big-name VCs
Deel says it’s been profitable for three years and surpassed $1 billion in ARR, including having a month.
How a headphone site operator built loyalty startup Lantern to solve his own problems
After struggling to retain customers at his e-commerce site Headphones.com, founder Andrew Lissimore built his own loyalty solution — and it’s now a startup called Lantern. The Shopify-native platform helps brands
Apple loses another AI exec to Meta
Yang’s departure marks the latest in a string of exits from Apple’s AI unit, putting the company into jeopardy in the lead up to a much-anticipated Siri revamp scheduled for March.