Y Combinator’s Garry Tan wants U.S. open-weight AI labs to ‘distill’ frontier models, too
Tan argues that frontier models themselves trained on public human knowledge so access to capable AI should be “a form of public good.”
Tech
OpenAI’s feud with mathematicians is only escalating
Twenty-five leading mathematicians signed an open letter arguing that AI labs are threatening their intellectual work.
Lawyer fined $5K over AI-hallucinated witnesses in a murder case
New Mexico’s Supreme Court is punishing a lawyer for including AI-fabricated witnesses and fake police testimony in an appeal for his client’s murder conviction, according to a report from Reuters. In a filing on Wednesday, the court fined Stephen Aarons $5,000 and held him in contempt for failing to “verify the factual claims and legal […]
One week left to book your exhibit table at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026
Only one week left to secure your exhibit table. Tables are limited and can sell out before the September 18 deadline.
Final, final, final call for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 Side Events
The absolute last chance to apply to host an official Side Event during TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 is tonight, September 11, at 11:59 p.m. PT.
Kimi-maker Moonshot AI targets $2B in annual revenue
While K3’s usage figures have declined slightly in recent months, OpenRouter data currently shows as many as 300 billion tokens being generated each day by K3 models on the system.
Central Eurasia names its 2026 Road to Battlefield winners: Cerberus, WeGlobal AI, and LOOQ
Cerberus, WeGlobal AI, and LOOQ took the top three spots at the regional final of Road to TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 2026 and will represent Central Eurasia in the Startup Battlefield 200 at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco this October.
Matt Mullenweg reportedly returns as Automattic CEO two days after getting booted
Two days after being placed on a paid leave of absence, Matt Mullenweg says he has been reinstated as CEO of Automattic, according to a Slack message seen by TechCrunch. As 404 Media reported on Wednesday, Mullenweg had told staff in Slack that CFO Mark Davies “conspired” with the board of directors, who voted to […]
Nscale adds former OpenAI exec Fidji Simo to its board ahead of potential IPO
The No. 2 exec at OpenAI also led Instacart through its IPO in 2023.
We unfolded the iPhone Duo
You only get one chance at a first impression, and getting to introduce Apple’s first folding phone is certainly a strong way to start things off as Apple’s CEO. On The Vergecast today, we’re talking all about Apple’s launch event: how John Ternus did in his first appearance as CEO, what we make of the […]