OpenAI’s Jev clone could help the frontier lab stop its swarming agents
OpenAI's "Decisions API" is a Jev clone that confirms the importance of fast, cheap intelligence.
AI news for builders and product teamsUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 20:01 UTC
TechCrunch · AI
Reporting and perspectives from TechCrunch · AI. Headlines and excerpts link to the original articles.
Latest stories
Newest firstAI voice startup ElevenLabs doubles valuation to $22B
The $300 million employee tender was co-led by Wellington and T. Rowe Price.
TechCrunch · AIIndustry
Reddit is killing RSS feeds and ending public API access because of AI bots
Reddit is ending support for RSS feeds on November 13 and will shut down its public API by March 2027, citing large-scale scraping and automated abuse. Moderators are advised to migrate to the Discord Relay Devvit app.
TechCrunch · AIIndustry
The ugly economics of consumer AI
TechCrunch reports that consumer AI products like Meta's Muse, OpenAI's Dots, and Instinct are drawing renewed attention, but the underlying economics remain challenging. As of May, 2.2% of consumers paid for AI at an average of $31 a month, per an Andreessen Horowitz report citing PNC research.
Meta disputes claim that Muse read a user’s private messages without permission
Meta says its Muse AI agent cannot access a user’s Messages without explicit permission, disputing a journalist’s account that the agent read his private messages while the required Mac setting was turned off.
DoorDash launches an AI agent you can text to order food
By launching an AI agent for food ordering, DoorDash is looking to gain an edge over rivals Uber Eats and Grubhub.
Destro AI’s secret sauce is getting robots and humans on the same page
"One of the biggest reasons we are winning against robotics companies is because we are not a robotics company."
Instinct’s new product recommendations are giving some users the ick
Instinct is rolling out human-curated product and travel recommendations, but some users aren’t happy about getting suggestions they never asked for.
Cerebras Systems’ Andrew Feldman on whether AI can keep scaling at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026
At TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, Cerebras Systems CEO and co-founder Andrew Feldman will explore the growing demand for compute, energy, and infrastructure, how Cerebras is approaching those constraints differently, and what comes next if today’s AI hardware reaches its limits.
Restate lands $20M as the need for durable infrastructure increases with AI agents
Instead of building its durable execution engine on top of an external database, the company developed its own storage, replication, and redundancy layers. This architecture allows Restate to be exceptionally fast and lightweight.
3 days left to exhibit: Turn visibility into your next opportunity at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026
Three days left to exhibit at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. Book by October 2 at 11:59 p.m. PT to showcase your startup to 10,000+ founders, investors, operators, and tech leaders.
Airbnb adds AI search, more social features
Airbnb is also launching new services such as meal delivery and laundry in select locations.
America.gov gets really weird when you ask it about Minecraft, but it’s not a glitch
For the sake of national security, it's a relief to learn that America.gov is not hallucinating to the point that it's penning lengthy poetry.
The internet is convinced Elon Musk’s xAI trolled OpenAI’s ‘Dots’ launch
Before OpenAI launched its new AI agent, Dots, on Tuesday, Elon Musk's xAI had already acquired the domain name "dot.com," which now redirects to the Grok chatbot download page.
OpenAI’s latest features take direct aim at the app store model
OpenAI is building out the pieces of an alternative to the traditional app store model, turning ChatGPT into a place where software can be discovered and used by people and AI agents alike.
OpenAI reportedly in talks to raise $30B round at $1.4T valuation
The new round is anticipated to be the company's last before its delayed 2027 public debut.
Here’s why OpenAI is absent from Nvidia’s industry-wide effort to end rogue AI agents
OpenAI isn't a public supporter of Nvidia's Open Agent Safety Platform, but it is privately working with Nvidia, TechCrunch has learned.
OpenAI takes on Microsoft with the launch of what feels a whole lot like ChatGPT’s own office suite
OpenAI's newly announced suite of office features puts it into more direct competition with more traditional software companies.
AI-powered app maker Wabi pivots to a messaging experience
Wabi is repositioning its prompt-based app builder as a personal AI agent that can create interfaces on demand, combining chat, apps, and ongoing tasks.
OpenAI launches Dots, its bubbly agentic avatar
Dots are meant to operate independent of any specific hardware or interface, pursuing user-defined goals continuously in the background with minimal oversight.