WhatsApp will now charge AI chatbots to operate in Italy
WhatsApp plans to charge developers of AI chatbots per message.
AI
AI data labeler Handshake buys Cleanlab, an acquisition target of multiple others
The deal’s purpose is primarily to acquire talent, aka an acqui-hire, adding nine key Cleanlab employees to Handshake’s research organization.
Chrome takes on AI browsers with tighter Gemini integration, agentic features for autonomous tasks
Google Chrome is adding Gemini in sidebar and is rolling out an agentic feature for AI Pro and Ultra users
Tiny startup Arcee AI built a 400B open source LLM from scratch to best Meta’s Llama
30-person startup Arcee AI has released a 400B model called Trinity, which it says is one of the biggest open source foundation models from a US company.
With Apple’s new Creator Studio Pro, AI is a tool to aid creation, not replace it
Apple’s Creator Studio Pro leverages AI to help creators with tedious tasks—like finding clips or building slides—without trying to do the work for them
Modelence raises $3 million to smooth out the vibe-coding stack
How do you build tooling for the AI software stack? A company called Modelence has an interesting answer.
TechCrunch Disrupt 2026: Plus-one passes are almost gone and only 3 days remain
The TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 plus-one passes at 50% off are almost sold out, and this deal ends in 3 days. Register here before this deal ends on Friday, January 30 at 11:59 p.m. PT.
The AI infrastructure boom shows no sign of slowing down
ASML’s record orders show chipmakers are still betting big on AI data centers.
The conference where founders scale: TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026 tickets are now live at the lowest prices
TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026 unites 1,100 founders and investors in Boston on June 23 for a day focused on real-world scaling insights and networking that pushes the needle. Save up to $300 on your ticket.
Anthropic, Apple, OpenAI CEOs condemn ICE violence, praise Trump
Anthropic’s Dario Amodei and OpenAI’s Sam Altman spoke out against ICE enforcement tactics following Minneapolis violence, with one addressing concerns publicly and the other in an internal message.