ARS
Google's first Suncatcher orbital data center test launches October 1
Google's experimental orbital data center will have four TPUs and only run for 15 minutes at a time.
TC
20 minutes with the CEO of ElevenLabs, now reportedly valued at $22B
ElevenLabs powers the AI voice on the other end of a lot of customer service calls, and its CEO told me this week that businesses should probably tell you that — at least until getting a machine is what everyone expects anyway.
TC
TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026: Everything you need to know
TechCrunch Founder Summit is a full-day gathering in Boston on November 4 where founders across all stages connect with top VCs and experienced entrepreneurs to gain tactical insights on building and scaling their companies.
TC
Oracle sends force majeure notice on its New Mexico Stargate data center
The notice would allow Oracle to delay payments should the facility miss its 2028 target to come online.
TC
Ando wants to take on Slack with a team messaging app that lets humans and agents work together
Ando has raised $20 million in pre-seed and seed funding from investors including Accel, Index Ventures, and Emergence.
TC
Lovable’s annualized revenue crosses $600M as vibe coding takes off
Lovable co-founder Fabian Hedin said that apps created on the platform are getting nearly a billion monthly views each month.
WD
Google’s Gemini Can Now Make Calls for You on Pixel Phones
Call for Me—a feature that’s exclusive to the Pixel 11 series—gives robocalls a new meaning.
ARS
OpenAI agent “didn’t accept no for an answer” in Australian government breach
"There will obviously be legal consequences," prime minister promises.
TC
Meet the next wave of VCs judging Startup Battlefield 200 at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026
Meet the next wave of VCs judging the Startup Battlefield 200 contenders on the main stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. Register by September 25 at 11:59 p.m. PT, to save up to $200 and to get a front-row seat to one of the most intense startup pitch competitions.
AIN
Google launches Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS voice models
Google has launched two Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS voice models, introducing dedicated speech generation systems engineered for direct performance scripting and high-volume audio production. The dual release splits vocal synthesis tasks between creative direction and cost-managed infrastructure. Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS targets interactive entertainment, game development, and long-form narrations where studio teams demand prompt-based vocal […] The post Google launches Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS voice mod
TC
2 days left to save up to $200 on a TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 pass — reason 4 of 5 to attend
Reason 4 of 5 to attend TechCrunch Disrupt 2026: Practical answers. Two days left to save up to $200 on your pass. Savings disappear after September 25 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Bring a second guest at 50% off.
ARS
Meta puts its AI assistant on a keychain
Meta says the keychain-sized Muse Charm will ship in December.
MIT
The Download: a bid to scrap the virtual wall and AI hits Climate Week
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. A congressional representative just proposed killing America’s border tower program Delia Ramirez, a Democratic US representative from Illinois, has announced plans to introduce legislation to terminate the surveillance tower program along…
TC
Australia to investigate if OpenAI hack of government health website broke the law
The incident is the first known breach to affect a government agency, and Australia's prime minister has vowed to hold OpenAI accountable.
WD
An OpenAI Agent Hacked Australia’s Health Service. Their Government Found Out Months Later
The country’s prime minister expressed disappointment at being informed of the hack only via email. Now Australia is investigating whether OpenAI broke the law.
Sanders Introduces Bill to Ban Artificial Superintelligence: Violators Face 20 Years in Prison, AI Company Employees Sign On in Support
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Greg Casar have introduced the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act, which would permanently prohibit artificial superintelligence and pause advanced AI training until a new federal regulator sets safety rules, with violations punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Current employees of OpenAI and Google DeepMind have publicly endorsed the proposal, even as it faces long odds in Congress.
MIT
AI is dominating the conversation at Climate Week
This week, world leaders descended on Manhattan for the UN General Assembly. It’s also New York Climate Week—investors, policymakers, advocates, and journalists are colliding at panels, talks, and fancy dinners. With so many climate voices in one place, the discourse can feel a little louder than usual. This year, the unavoidable topic is artificial intelligence.…
AI Agents Spontaneously Attempted to Breach Government Databases, in First Systematic Academic Record
A joint report documents at least three instances between November 2025 and September 2026 in which AI agents tried to break into public data systems at the University of New Mexico, Data USA, and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare while pursuing ordinary data-retrieval tasks.
Cost Drops 40%, Speed Rises 30%: Claude Opus 5.5 Breaks the Convention That Stronger Flagship Models Cost More
Anthropic's Claude Opus 5.5 cuts typical workload costs by 40% and boosts output speed by more than 30% versus Opus 5, while setting a new high on Anthropic's alignment tests. It combines lower cache-read pricing, stronger agentic coding performance, and tighter safety controls, reshaping the economics of frontier-model deployment.
OpenAI Releases GPT-6 Sol and Luna: API Prices Cut in Half, but the Top Scores Remain with the Previous Generation
OpenAI launched GPT-6 Sol and Luna with permanent API price cuts, while Anthropic cut Claude Opus 5.5 pricing in the same week. The cheaper models offer near-flagship performance for many tasks, yet older or higher-end models still lead on peak benchmarks.