OpenAI was the company that signed a $30 billion per year deal with Oracle for data center services, disclosed last month, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. Now, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has confirmed the details of the contract (but not the dollar amount) in an X post on Tuesday and in a company…
Amazon has acquired the AI wearables startup Bee, according to a LinkedIn post by Bee co-founder Maria de Lourdes Zollo. Amazon confirmed the acquisition to TechCrunch but noted that the deal has not yet closed. Bee, which raised $7 million last year, makes both a stand-alone Fitbit-like bracelet (which retails for $49.99, plus a $19-per-month…
Apple notified more than a dozen Iranians in recent months that their iPhones had been targeted with government spyware, according to security researchers. Miian Group, a digital rights organization that focuses on Iran, and Hamid Kashfi, an Iranian cybersecurity researcher who lives in Sweden, said they spoke with several Iranians who received the notifications in…
Apple on Tuesday released the fourth developer beta of its next big software update, iOS 26, which brings with it slight changes to its Liquid Glass redesign and the re-introduction of AI-powered notification summaries for news, among other updates. The rollout arrived just ahead of the iOS 26 public beta, which is expected to launch…
Threads is introducing enhanced metrics to help users better understand how their posts are performing and where their content is getting discovered, the company announced on Tuesday. Users can now see more detailed information in the platform’s “Insights” dashboard. When they navigate to the “Interactions” section, they will see engagement by likes, replies, quotes, and…
The Florida GOP isn’t the only one profiting from the detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz” by selling merchandise. A subset of Etsy buyers and sellers began a boycott of the online marketplace this month over its decision to allow “Alligator Alcatraz”-branded merchandise on its site. Today, this sort of merchandise — including T-shirts, hats,…
TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 is where breakthrough ideas meet the real-world challenges that define the future — and with over 10,000 startup and VC leaders converging, there’s no better place to have the hard conversations. One of the most urgent? How artificial intelligence is reshaping national defense, security, and critical infrastructure in real time. Enter AI…
Lux Capital-backed Cloaked, a consumer app for user identity protection, launched an AI-powered caller screening and dark web monitoring feature today. Cloaked’s caller screening feature, named Call Guard, takes a call from an unknown number and converses with the caller to understand the intent. The tool automatically filters out spam or potentially scammy calls instead…
Photo editing and sharing app VSCO is making its iOS camera app, Capture, available across the world, following a limited launch in June, when the app could be downloaded only in Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. VSCO also said it is acquiring The Freelance Photographer, which provides a mix of online and offline workshops for…
New York City-based Betaworks has closed its $66 million Fund III, which will focus on investing in early-stage AI companies. Betaworks has been investing in AI since at least 2016 and, through its investment program Camp, has backed companies such as Huggingface and Granola. Jordan Crook, a partner at the firm (and former TechCrunch employee),…
