AI News
Recent AI news and official updates
Follow recent AI announcements and reporting with concise PopAIExplorer summaries and direct original-source links.
Meta is reportedly developing an AI pendant
TechCrunch AI published: Meta seems to be making big bets on AI-powered hardware.
I put Google’s 24/7 AI assistant Gemini Spark to work, and it’s actually pretty useful
TechCrunch AI published: Gemini Spark helps automate everyday tasks, from inbox summaries to local event planning, but it’s unclear why Google made it a separate product.
The groupthink boom: what 3 top VCs really think about the AI frenzy
TechCrunch AI published: "If you're 22 years old in San Francisco and building something in AI, there may be a seed term sheet in your inbox — but if you're 19, oh my God, this means you're really good; you might already have a Series A [offer]," said one, half-kiddingly.
Coders are refusing to work without AI — and that could come back to bite them
TechCrunch AI published: While AI is helping coders produce code faster, it may not be producing better code, researchers warn. And that could cause problems down the road for them.
So you’ve heard these AI terms and nodded along; let’s fix that
TechCrunch AI published: The rise of AI has brought an avalanche of new terms and slang. Here is a glossary with definitions of some of the most important words and phrases you might encounter.
What happens when companies become too AI-pilled?
TechCrunch AI published: The people deciding that AI can replace your job are also the ones least likely to understand what your job truly involves, according to Box founder Aaron Levie, who pointed to this as an example of “AI psychosis.” Indeed, ClickUp recently cut 22% of its workforce for AI agents, tech layoffs in 2026 are already nearly matching all of 2025, […]
After Nvidia’s $20B not-aqui-hire, AI chip startup Groq reportedly raising $650M
TechCrunch AI published: Chipmaker Groq is looking to raise $650 million in internal funding as it pivots from hardware to focus more on AI inference, the process of refining the way AI models respond to prompted requests, per Axios.
After Nvidia’s $20B not-acqui-hire, AI chip startup Groq reportedly raising $650M
TechCrunch AI published: Chipmaker Groq is looking to raise $650 million in internal funding as it pivots from hardware to focus more on AI inference, the process of refining the way AI models respond to prompted requests, per Axios.
Cognition’s Scott Wu says AI coding agents shouldn’t replace humans
TechCrunch AI published: Cognition makes Devin, the first and arguably most successful AI coding agent. But famed coder Wu says it isn't designed to supplant human programmers.
Does your CEO have AI psychosis? Aaron Levie thinks most of them do.
TechCrunch AI published: The people deciding that AI can replace your job are also the ones least likely to understand what your job truly involves, according to Box founder Aaron Levie, who pointed to this as an example of “AI psychosis.” Indeed, ClickUp recently cut 22% of its workforce for AI agents, tech layoffs in 2026 are already nearly matching all of 2025, […]
Kiwibit’s AI-powered bird feeder is my new backyard buddy
TechCrunch AI published: If you're looking for a fun way to connect with nature while collecting bird species on an app like Pokémon, give this smart feeder a try.
This chip startup just raised $135M on a bet that AI’s biggest bottleneck isn’t compute — it’s memory
TechCrunch AI published: South Korean chip startup XCENA is betting that AI's real bottleneck is not compute, but memory.
How the Pope’s Magnifica Humanitas offers a template for individuals to meet the AI moment
MIT Technology Review published: Pope Leo XIV’s new encyclical on artificial intelligence includes a statement that warrants serious attention from technologists and policymakers: “Technology is never neutral.” Magnifica Humanitas (“Magnificent Humanity”) is a clarion call to all people to act with courage and solidarity as we enter an age already being transformed by artificial intelligence, the greatest change in…
Glean’s top line crosses $300M as AI budget cutting becomes its major selling point
TechCrunch AI published: The enterprise AI search startup tripled its annual revenue even as tech giants entered the category.
The internet is being rebuilt for machines
TechCrunch AI published: As AI agents move from experiments to production, AWS, Cloudflare, and others are redesigning cloud infrastructure for a future dominated by machine-generated internet traffic instead of human users.
Asana acquires no-code agent-builder StackAI
TechCrunch AI published: Asana will incorporate StackAI into its growing suite of AI workflow tools.
Anthropic raises $65 billion, nears $1T valuation ahead of IPO
TechCrunch AI published: Anthropic has closed a $65 billion Series H round at a $965 billion post-money valuation, marking what could be the AI startup's final private fundraise before a highly anticipated IPO.
Just like gold and oil, we’ll soon be able to trade AI token futures
TechCrunch AI published: Large exchanges are designing derivative products around AI tokens, which are increasingly being considered less a computational output and more a raw material input, like electricity or bandwidth.
Anthropic releases Opus 4.8 with new ‘dynamic workflow’ tool
TechCrunch AI published: The new Opus model comes with a tool called Dynamic Workflows, for coordinating swarms of subagents.
Sesame, the conversational AI startup from Oculus founders, launches its iOS app
TechCrunch AI published: Sesame’s new iOS app brings its conversational AI agents to the public, offering more natural back-and-forth interactions designed to feel less like traditional chatbots and more like talking to a person.