Beyond AI: what Europe’s flagship customer contact event revealed
Amsterdam, early October. Customer Contact Week Europe 2026 brought together around 700 attendees and 50 exhibitors over three days to talk about the future of customer contact. A…
Helix Carbon says it can make iron cheaper by recycling blast furnace pollution
The steel industry is a big polluter, but Helix Carbon can upcycle pollution from blast furnaces to drive down emissions and improve margins.
FBI arrests OpenAI employee accused of planting hidden recording device in conference room
It's not clear exactly for what purpose the recording device was used, but FBI director Kash Patel said the scheme was to "capture sensitive communications about the company’s sup…
Judge orders OpenAI to turn over hiring records in Apple trade secrets case
A federal judge ruled that Apple can access OpenAI's interview materials involving former Apple employees, as well as private messages and testimony from key figures in the case.
Marina Segal wants your cloud to say no
Cloud security spent a decade learning to see everything. Half of what it found is still open. Tamnoon’s CEO says the next decade belongs to machines that know when not to act, an…
Cambridge Heavy Industries has been quietly building a desktop fusion device
Fusion power startup Cambridge Heavy Industries is building a small, laser-powered fusion device to fuel the coming wave of fusion power plants.
Zuckerberg admits Meta spent $200B on AI without knowing it would work
Mark Zuckerberg says Meta committed as much as $200B to AI infrastructure before anyone could tell him it would work, with his chief AI officer saying it was not clear at all. Met…
Licube wants to be the fuel provider to the fusion power industry — see how at TechCrunch Disrupt
Fusion power plants will need a lot of lithium, and Licube is preparing to be a key supplier.
Niobia takes the guesswork out of some of tech’s most expensive mistakes
The San Francisco startup aims to help battery and chip manufacturers identify defects on production lines, reducing downtime and costly mistakes.
Rivian’s startup Mind Robotics hires former Ford EV chief Doug Field
Field also worked on Apple's secretive car project and oversaw development of the Tesla Model 3.
Rivian spinoff Mind Robotics hires former Ford EV chief Doug Field
Field also worked on Apple's secretive car project and oversaw development of the Tesla Model 3.
Flox Intelligence is building AI to keep wildlife away from trains, airports, and roads
Flox's edge devices can identify animals and use species-specific sounds to drive them away from critical infrastructure.
Google says Gemini 4 Argon is a ‘powerhouse’ AI model, and anyone can pay for it
Google has released Gemini 4 Argon globally to paying users, in the Gemini app, in Search and through the API. The $2 and $10 per million token prices are a launch discount agains…
Facebook is giving users more control over their algorithm
Meta announced the launch of its new AI-powered feature, “Your Algorithm,” a feature it first launched on Instagram.
Forget rockets — Longshot wants to fire cargo into space from a gun. See it at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026
Longshot is trying to build a gun big enough to make space data centers a reality.
Europe trails the US on AI because of how firms work, Sifted report says
Europe is falling behind the US on AI use at work, and the main reason is not technology, according to a new report.The report from Sifted, sponsored by London Business School, sa…
Google will let anyone publish an app to the Play Store, for free
Google will let anyone over 18 with a Google account publish privately listed Android apps built in its AI Studio, with no paid developer account. Apple spent this year tightening…
Laplace Intelligence red-teams robots and self-driving cars before they hit the real world
University of Michigan spinout Laplace Intelligence uses AI agents and interactive simulation to stress-test robots and self-driving vehicles before deployment. The profitable sta…
Pluto Security raises $42M as AI gives enterprise security teams a new headache
The problem with giving everyone in a company access to AI tools is that people will use them in unexpected ways. And that fact is steadily seeding fears that companies now have n…
Volkswagen’s US EV sales collapse 90% in a quarter
Volkswagen sold 1,421 electric cars in the United States in the third quarter, a 90% fall, after ending ID.4 production and halting imports of its electric minivan. In Europe batt…
Jio Platforms attracts more than $20B in bids ahead of record India IPO
Jio Platforms has drawn more than $20B in bids for what would be India’s largest listing, with Fidelity, Allianz and Capital Group indicating interest. The company is now seeking …
Google Play now supports private, vibe-coded apps built just for you
Google is making it easier to build and use personal Android apps created with AI, without having to make them available to everyone on the Play Store.
MIT startup says it can turn diesel trucks into cheaper hydrogen haulers; see it at Disrupt
Diesel is expensive and polluting, and LNK Energies says it has come up with a way to replace it with hydrogen, all while undercutting diesel on cost.
Apple launches $299 HomeView hub alongside new smart home range
Apple has launched HomeView, a $299 smart display built around Siri AI, with shipping from 13 November in eight markets. The European Union is not one of them, because Siri AI is …