September 28, 2026

Anthropic releases Sonnet 5.5, which it calls a significantly cheaper, faster work partner: Anthropic has released the newest version of its midrange model, boasting faster response times and less token burn. Read More

OpenAI still doesn't seem to have a handle on all of its rogue AI activity: On Friday, OpenAI published a new site devoted to “misalignment reports” and the breadth of the incidents is alarming. Read More

Google is killing off Gemini's Gems in favor of 'skills': As all-in-one AI agents like Meta's Muse and Instinct take off, Google is opting to end a feature that built task-specific agents. Read More

The Disrupt experience is better shared. Get one pass at regular price and a second at 50% off for a co-founder, partner, colleague, or peer. Make more connections, gain fresh insights, and discover the next wave of tech together. This offer ends when Disrupt begins Oct. 13 at 8 a.m. PT.

AMD will acquire Fei-Fei Li's World Labs for $8.2 billion: The acquisition will see World Labs founder Fei-Fei Li join AMD as executive vice president and chief scientist. Read More

Viral AI agent Instinct raises $1B Series C at a $10B valuation: "This funding helps us bring Instinct to more people and continue building the future of personal AI. It’s an exciting, creative time, and we're just getting started," founder Noah Shinn said in a statement. Read More

FBI reportedly declares 'cyber security incident' after hackers steal agents' personal data: The bureau has not yet publicly confirmed a breach, but has told its agents that their personal information and Social Security numbers were exposed. Read More

SpaceX's Starship rocket reaches orbit for the first time: Reaching orbit is a critical milestone that could let SpaceX start using Starship for regular commercial missions and, importantly, inch closer to its goal of making the mega-rocket fully reusable. Read More

Tesla delays Roadster 2 event again due to bad weather: Tesla says the event "can only be held outdoors," as it's expected to show the car flying in some form using SpaceX thrusters. Read More

Final week to put your startup at the heart of the global startup ecosystem. Secure your exhibit table to showcase your breakthrough to 10,000+ founders, investors, and decisionmakers across three days at Disrupt. Generate valuable leads, connect with VCs, and put your startup in front of your next opportunity. Book by Oct. 2 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

The iPhone Duo may already have its first killer app: a virtual Walkman: The app imitates how Walkmans used to function: You can open up the Duo to pick your music and "insert" your cassette tape, then close the device shut to start listening. Read More

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September 28, 2026

SpaceX's Starship rocket reaches orbit for the first time: Though not without some drama along the way. Read More

FBI reportedly declares 'cyber security incident' after hackers steal agents' personal data: The bureau has not yet publicly confirmed a breach, but has told its agents that their personal information and Social Security numbers were exposed. Read More

Viral AI agent Instinct raises $1B Series C at a $10B valuation: Instinct has raised a $1 billion Series C, saying 'we're just getting started.' The company is now valued at $10 billion. Read More

A message from Spin Analytics

SPIN Analytics is building AI-driven infrastructure for regulatory credit risk modelling. RISKROBOT™ accelerates model development with governed risk intelligence to support better capital allocation. Discover the investment opportunity behind a critical banking capability. Spin Analytics is part of Santander X 100, global community of Santander X.

Truecaller takes its scam intelligence to the open web as it looks beyond caller ID: Truecaller finds a new way to reach users as pressure grows on its traditional caller ID business in India, its biggest market. Read More

Anthropic's Dario Amodei gets the SNL treatment: "AI is the devil and I its maker." Read More

Can Muse overcome Meta’s trust issues?: On Equity, we discussed how Meta's AI announcement managed to steal the spotlight from OpenAI and Anthropic. Read More

Insuretech Outmarket raises $34.5M just months after prior round: The startup uses AI to automate tedious paperwork for insurance agencies and brokers. Read More

Next five VCs judging Startup Battlefield 200 contenders at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026: Thousands of applications. Multiple rounds of review. Hundreds of hours spent evaluating startups from around the world. Now comes the part everyone has been waiting for. Startup Battlefield 200 is almost here, and with today's announcement, the judging panel is nearly complete. In just a couple of weeks, 200 carefully selected startups will gather at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 to exhibit, meet investors, and compete for one of the most coveted opportunities in the startup world. Only a select group will advance to the live competition, where they'll pitch in front of thousands of founders, investors, media, and customers and face questions from some of the sharpest minds in technology. Today's judges bring decades of experience building companies, backing founders, and spotting transformative ideas before they become obvious. They'll help decide which startups continue their journey toward the Startup Battlefield finals and, ultimately, who has a chance to lift this year's trophy. If you want to see tomorrow's industry leaders before the rest of the world does, there's no better place to be than TechCrunch Disrupt. The only way to be front and center at the Disrupt Stage and witness the ultimate pitch competition of the year is to register for TechCrunch Disrupt. Grab your pass and bring your co-founder, partner, or peer for 50% off. Bringing a community of four or more? Save up to 30% on passes. Meet the next wave of Startup Battlefield judges Get to know all 20 judges revealed so far by visiting the Disrupt agenda. Read More

A message from RoMADE

Romania gave the world UiPath and Bitdefender, and its next wave of founders is already shipping. Before Disrupt opens on October 13, get to know the country behind them: a deep engineering bench, a fast-growing startup scene and a habit of building for global markets from day one. RoMADE is bringing 12 Romanian tech companies to San Francisco.

ElevenLabs' new v4 speech model supports more expression control and 90 languages: ElevenLabs v4 can clone voices with a 10 second clip Read More

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