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TechCrunch Daily Crunch

Today’s biggest tech headlines in a flash from TechCrunch.

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Plus - Walmart to finally start accepting Apple Pay and Google Pay; Oura faces lawsuit accusing it of misleading consumers about sleep-tracking accuracy 
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OpenAI is gaining on Anthropic

Plus - Patreon launches 30 new creator features; Senators demand answers from TikTok
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Meta’s experimental vibe-coding gaming app

Plus - You can Venmo your college tuition, for some reason; TikTok explores peer-to-peer payments via DMs
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Amazon’s Prime Air is taking off in nearly 500 US cities

Plus - Peacock is raising prices across all of its streaming plans; OpenAI launches a safer ChatGPT for teens
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Why Apple’s camera-equipped AirPods may not be the ‘pervert pods’ consumers fear

Plus - Uber adds Zipline drones to its Eats delivery network; YouTube will now count a view as soon as a video starts playing
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Anthropic CEO says AI backlash is ‘fundamentally a crisis of trust’

Plus - Google will now allow users to remove visible watermark from its AI generations; Apple proposes to take a 15% cut of purchases made outside the App Store  
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Flock says its new tool will help identify police abuse, but hasn’t explained how it works

Plus - Microsoft kills off unsuccessful AI features while merging its separate Copilot apps; Apple in talks to pay publishers to provide Siri with current news
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Facebook officially rolls out its stand-alone Creator Studio app

Plus - The latest in startup business news
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Everything announced at Made by Google ’26

Plus - OpenAI reportedly completed a $7 billion employee tender offer; Anthropic says it will watermark text generated by its AI models
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Jeff Bezos might finally get his hands on a sports team

Plus - Planned Amazon data center could become the biggest climate polluter in the US; Anthropic is turning Claude Code’s auto mode on by default
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Meta gets a new AI model

Plus - The Trump administration has spent nearly $4B to cancel offshore wind farms; Bumble teases a swipe-free future as it doubles down on IRL meetups; 
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Airbnb says AI is helping it ship features faster

Plus - Google Maps adds agentic features, including food ordering and hotel bookings; Mirendil inks $100M+ Google Cloud deal to scale self-improving AI
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eBay continues to bet on live shopping

Plus - Anthropic signs $10B deal with AI cloud startup Volta; SpaceX doubles revenue on Anthropic and Google compute deals, Starlink growth
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Disney+ looks to TikTok creators to bring fan content

Plus - Bending Spoons to buy Airtable for $1.28B; Influencers draw backlash for attending OpenAI’s first luxury trip
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Spotify now has over 300M subscribers

Plus - Congress’s favorite AI tool? ChatGPT; Samsung bans smart TV apps that share users’ internet connections with strangers
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Apple finally fixed Siri. So why does it feel anticlimactic?

Plus - Google says it fixed more Chrome bugs in June than over the past two years, thanks to AI; LinkedIn adds a button to report AI-generated ‘slop’
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Spotify launches ‘User Notes’ to let users add memories to songs, and more

Plus - A new AI startup co-founded by Martha Stewart offers an AI 
assistant for homeowners; Winamp aims for a comeback with a new music 
player powered by Deezer
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Mark Zuckerberg predicts billions will have personal AI agents in five years

Plus - Sam Altman is ready to decelerate; Data centers may face temporary power cuts to prevent blackouts on largest US grid
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DoorDash is building its own drone delivery business

Plus - Satya Nadella says companies that trust one AI for everything may not survive; Lyft and Baidu enter London’s robotaxi battleground as testing begins
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Peacock bets on bundles through a new deal with YouTube

Plus - Snapchat now lets you share what you’re listening to in real time; Threads users can now chat with Meta AI in their DMs
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Can Apple make smart glasses that aren’t a constant privacy threat?

Plus - Patreon lays off 20% of its workforce; OpenAI’s new voice mode makes it to the ChatGPT desktop app
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Facebook launches a dedicated Marketplace app for sellers

Plus - Amazon is bringing games to Prime Video; Ford bets on Apple for its next-generation of EVs
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Google’s Gemini nears billion-user milestone

Plus - Meta is testing an AI bedtime story app for people with no imagination; Instagram now lets you swap out the music in your old posts.
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Jack Dorsey is taking on Slack

Instagram now lets you swap out the music in your old posts; Threads rolls out parental supervision tools
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Deezer says more than 50% of daily music uploads are AI-generated

Plus - Adobe camera app’s new feature will critique your photos using AI; Netflix paid $587M for Ben Affleck’s AI filmmaking startup
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YouTube clarifies policies around AI slop

Plus - Uber’s $14.8B Delivery Hero deal would nearly double its global footprint; Google Vids now lets you star in your own AI videos; 
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Google’s AI Mode gets an update

Plus - Meta now alerts parents if their teen discussed suicide or self-harm with its AI chatbot; Stripe and Advent reportedly offered to buy PayPal
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Microsoft is reportedly training salespeople to talk down to OpenAI

Plus - Lorde says AI glasses are ‘not sexy’; Google Images gets a Pinterest-like redesign focused on discovery
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OpenAI announces first hardware device

Plus - X just tweaked its algorithm to make it more friendly; 12 states sue to block Paramount’s $110B Warner Bros. deal
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Sam Altman’s space data center trash talk is what most experts already believe

More than three years after ChatGPT’s launch brought generative AI into the mainstream, OpenAI is broadening its focus beyond individual users to families.
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OpenAI bets on families as ChatGPT goes deeper into households

Plus - EU threatens Meta with fines over addictive features on Facebook and Instagram; Meta enters the crowded AI coding battle with Muse Spark 1.
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Netflix could be planning ‘always-on’ live TV channels

Plus - Anthropic, OpenAI, and SpaceX are bigger than the last 25 years of tech exits; Feds demand autonomous vehicle companies stop interfering with first responders
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Anthropic’s new Claude feature is quietly selling you on AI

Plus - Microsoft joins AI cost-cutting trend by relying more on its own models; Venus Williams-backed WeWard can now lock your apps until you hit your steps
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Meta just launched a new AI generator

Netflix invented binge-watching. Now it may have outgrown it.
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Netflix dabbles in shorter video content

Plus - Microsoft lays off nearly 5,000 employees
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If you use Google, you’re training its AI

Plus - Mark Zuckerberg tells staff that AI agents haven’t progressed as quickly as he’d hoped; Jersey Mike’s IPO illustrates how bad the AI hype has become 
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A warning sign about AI’s real cost, courtesy of Google and Amazon

Plus - US government says it got hacked — again; Popular TV-tracking app TV Time is shutting down
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Microsoft launches its own AI deployment company

Plus - Trump drops restrictions on Anthropic’s Mythos and Fable models
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OpenClaw is finally available on Android and iOS

Plus - Tesla starts testing Cybercab without pedals or a steering wheel in Austin
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X now offers an MCP server to make its platform easier for AI tools to use

Plus - TIDAL cracks down on AI music by cutting off monetization
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In major privacy win, Supreme Court rules geofence warrants are protected by privacy rights

Plus - YouTube Shorts are getting even shorter with an update that lets you double the playback speed
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Robotaxis drive miles just to get cleaned and charged; this new startup wants to fix that

Plus - Apple raises Mac and iPad prices, spares iPhone for now
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Trump admin proposes axing brake-pedal requirement for AVs in a boost for Tesla

Plus - If you want to cut your screen time, just get a Brick
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Slate Auto’s radically simple electric truck starts at $24,950

Plus - Fika Jobs raises $4M to build a video-first hiring platform where AI agents interview candidates
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Meta debuts new, cheaper smart glasses under its own brand

Plus - Instagram looks to take on streaming services with longer-form, episodic and live formats for its TV app
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Lucid Motors’ new CEO cuts 18% of staff to ‘simplify the company’

Plus - Mivo’s new app takes a mindful approach to managing screen time
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Waymo recalls nearly 4,000 robotaxis to stop them from driving into highway construction zones

Despite the fact that AI increasingly dominates our economy, most Americans are not particularly optimistic about the technology’s long-term impact on the country, a Pew Research study reveals.
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Only 16 percent of Americans think AI will have a positive impact on society, a new study shows

Plus - DeepL acquires Mixhalo for live-event audio streaming and translation
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Uber will bring its premium robotaxi service to Houston in 2027

Plus - ChatGPT’s market share slips below 50% for the first time
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Threads adds new personalization and community features as it reaches 500M monthly users

Plus - As AI agents become employees, NewCore emerges with $66 million to give them identities
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Fox to acquire Roku in $22 billion deal

Plus - Cheaper, faster, and culturally aware, Avataar’s video AI is built for India’s scale
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SpaceX opens at $150, an 11% pop for the most anticipated debut in history

Plus - DoorDash’s new AI chatbot lets you order with prompts and photos
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Opendoor’s India exit is fueling a bigger conversation about AI and outsourcing

Plus - Warner Music acquires AI attribution startup Sureel AI
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Pinterest bets on creators with Amazon Storefront integration

Plus - Evotrex raises $30M to build the RV that doesn’t need a charging station
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How an e-scooter founder raised $5 million to build space data centers

Plus - Amazon now lets you design custom merch using AI
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Eventbrite and Vimeo owner Bending Spoons files to go public

Plus - Supabase doubles valuation to $10B in 8 months
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Google and FBI warn of ransomware group that sends fake IT workers to hack victims in person

Plus - Cash App launches a wand for tap-and-pay
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Is Silicon Valley ready to put robots in people’s homes? Hello Robot is.

Plus - TikTok launches TikTok Pro Events, an app for cultural moments like the FIFA World Cup
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Meet Wander, a StumbleUpon-inspired tool for discovering the ‘small web’

Plus - Anthropic scales Claude Mythos to critical infrastructure in 15+ countries
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Meta tests ‘Series’ for episodic Reels on Instagram and Facebook

Plus - Unastella, a South Korean rocket startup that launched from home, raises $24M
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Strava declares war on scrapers ahead of IPO

Plus - Anthropic raises $65 billion, nears $1T valuation ahead of IPO
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This chip startup just raised $135M on a bet that AI’s biggest bottleneck isn’t compute — it’s memory

Plus - Sesame, the conversational AI startup from Oculus founders, launches its iOS app
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Google engineer charged with insider trading after making $1.2M on Polymarket

Plus - Robinhood now lets your AI agents trade stocks
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YouTube will now automatically label AI videos

Plus - Amazon fulfillment competitor Stord raises $250M at $3B valuation
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Spotify now lets you stream narrated magazine articles, too

Plus - Smart ring maker Oura files to go public
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Spotify’s AI bet: more of everything, less of what you want

Plus - Waymo expands pause to four cities
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Meta quietly launches Forum

Spotify will reserve tickets for top fans of an artists in a bid to drum up engagement; Spotify launches an ElevenLabs-powered audiobook creation tool
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Spotify takes on Google’s NotebookLM

Plus - AI search startups are blowing up; Intuit to lay off over 3,000 employees to refocus on AI
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Youtube adds ‘Ask YouTube’

The era of the “ten blue links” is officially over
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Google Search as you know it is over.

Plus - If you’re giving a commencement speech in 2026, maybe don’t mention AI; Elon Musk has lost his lawsuit against Sam Altman and OpenAI
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Amazon’s new Alexa+ powered feature can generate podcast episodes

Plus - Even GoPro is pivoting to defense
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YouTube viewers watch 2 billion hours of Shorts on TVs each month

Plus - Cisco cuts nearly 4,000 jobs to spend more on AI; Instagram’s new ‘Instants’ feature combines elements from Snapchat and BeReal
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Spotify to adopt Apple’s new video podcast tech

Amazon launches an AI shopping assistant for the search bar; WhatsApp adds an incognito mode in Meta AI chats
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Anthropic now has more business customers than OpenAI

Plus - Amazon launches 30-minute delivery across the U.S.; Spotify launches a Wrapped-style recap of your entire listening history
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TikTok launching TikTok GO

Plus - TikTok launches an ad-free subscription plan in the UK; Bravo is creating unscripted microdramas for the Peacock app
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Venmo’s biggest makeover in years comes at a very interesting time

Plus - Lime, the Uber-backed micromobility company, files for IPO; Airbnb says AI now writes 60% of its new code
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Disney looking to make a unified ‘super app’

Kalshi doubles valuation in 5 months, hitting $22B; Jeff Bezos rep leaves Slate Auto’s board
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Spotify wants to become the home for AI-generated personal audio

Plus - The AI boom pushes Samsung to $1T; Bumble’s paying users are slipping as it bets on an overhaul later this year; Marc Lore says that AI will soon enable anyone open a restaurant
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The AI boom pushes Samsung to $1T

Plus - Pennsylvania sues Character.AI after a chatbot allegedly posed as a doctor; Etsy launches its app within ChatGPT as it continues its AI push
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Threads finally brings messaging to the web

Plus - A TikToker rallies pledges to buy Spirit Airlines after its abrupt weekend collapse; In Harvard study, AI offered more accurate emergency room diagnoses than two human doctors
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Doordash adds new AI tools

Plus - ChatGPT Images 2.0 is a hit in India; Apple was surprised by AI-driven demand for Macs
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People are finally using Reddit’s search

Plus - Spotify introduces verified artist badges to help distinguish humans from AI; Meta says its business AI now facilitates 10 million conversations a week
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Netflix wants you to watch  its TikTok-like vertical video feed ‘Clips’

Plus - Jack Dorsey-backed Vine reboot Divine launches to the public; Google Translate now lets you practice pronunciation
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Uber is in the hotel business now

FTC reports consumers lost $2.1B to social media scams in 2025; Snapchat brings AI-powered conversational advertising to its app
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YouTube is testing an AI-powered search feature

Plus - Data center demand drives 66% surge in natural gas power plant costs; Amazon’s new podcast strategy is Monetize everything
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Spotify’s next frontier: Fitness content

Plus - Bob Iger rejoins Thrive Capital as advisor after Disney exit; Meta signs deal for millions of Amazon AI CPUs
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Google to invest up to $40B in Anthropic

Plus - X is shutting down Communities because of low usage and lots of spam; Microsoft offers buyout for up to 7% of U.S. employees
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Meta is revamping its cross-app management system

Plus - Meta will record employees’ keystrokes and use it to train its AI models; Amazon Music partners with Bandsintown for concert listings
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Google Maps is about to get a big dose of AI

Plus - YouTube expands its AI likeness detection technology to celebrities
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Who is John Ternus, the incoming Apple CEO?

Plus - WhatsApp is testing a premium subscription; Robots beat human records at Beijing half-marathon
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NSA spies are reportedly using Anthropic’s Mythos

Plus - Google’s AI Mode can now help you find products in stock nearby; Netflix plans to add a vertical video feed, use AI for recommendations
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Uber will now pick up your returns from your doorstep

Plus - Google now lets you explore the web side-by-side with AI Mode; AI traffic to US retailers rose 393% in Q1
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Google is now targeting bad ads over bad actors

Plus - After sale of its shoe business, Allbirds pivots to AI; Snap is cutting 1,000 jobs, 16% of its workforce.
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Anthropic’s rise is giving some OpenAI investors second thoughts

Plus - Instacart acquires Instaleap to expand its enterprise platform internationally; Google adds AI Skills to Chrome to help you save favorite workflows
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YouTube livestreams will now hold back ads during peak engagement

Plus - IBM pays $17M fine to end DOJ suit over DEI programs; Booking.com confirms hackers accessed customers’ data
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Microsoft is working on yet another OpenClaw-like agent

Plus - Stalking victim sues OpenAI, claims ChatGPT fueled her abuser’s delusions and ignored her warnings; YouTube Premium and YouTube Music are getting more expensive
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France to ditch Windows for Linux to reduce reliance on US tech

Plus - Collide Capital raises $95M fund to back fintech, future-of-work startups; Waymo robotaxis are tracking potholes and sharing that data with Waze users
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This founder helped build SpaceX’s most powerful rocket engine. Now he’s building a ‘fighter jet for orbit’

Plus - Google quietly launched an AI dictation app that works offline; Intel signs on to Elon Musk’s Terafab chips project
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X is rolling out automatic translation and photo editing powered by Grok

Plus -Binge is a movie tracking app that warns you of jump scares in real time; Google Maps can now write captions for your photos using AI
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