Nvidia-backed Reflection AI unveils Beam, its first open-weight model, which it says rivals GLM-5.2 on reasoning with far less inference compute. Weights are due this month.
Instinct brings its AI agent to group chats, even for friends without an account
Instinct is launching group chats that let friends use its AI agent together for tasks like planning trips, organizing carpools, and coordinating events. The company says personal accounts remain separate, with permission required before personal agents share information or take action.
TikTok rolls out an AI shopping assistant and one-click checkout
TikTok describes its new Shopping Assistant as a conversational AI agent designed to help users discover and purchase products.
At 19, founder raises $11M for Ghost, maker of a $3,499 computer for personal AI
Ghost’s first product is Core, a personal computer designed specifically for AI agents that can take actions on a person’s behalf.
Hot Girl Hotline is like ‘Dear Abby’ for the AI era
Founded by two sisters, Hot Girl Hotline uses AI to give young women personalized dating and relationship advice, with an emphasis on safety and avoiding emotional dependency.
5 startups that caught VCs’ attention at the latest PearX demo day
TechCrunch attended Pear’s latest demo day and discovered which startups generated the most buzz, from spatial models to chips for local AI.
HackerRank’s AI interviewer offers a glimpse into what job interviews could become
HackerRank’s AI interviewer has already conducted more than 500,000 interviews, with Snowflake, Snorkel, and Capgemini among its early testers.
OpenAI launches visual ads that appear alongside image generation results
OpenAI said the new visual ads will show up after your image generation results appear in the U.S. only for now.
Space Week: exploring the final frontier
[[{“value”:” Space Week: exploring the final frontier The Universe is vast and holds many mysteries. What could you discover in space? October 4th-10th is World Space Week, which celebrates all things related to space. At Futurum, we have worked with many researchers who are uncovering the secrets of our incredible Universe from here on Earth: Discover how planetary geologists, geomaticians…
Open or closed AI? How founders are choosing what to build on at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026
Learn how founders are choosing between building on open or closed AI at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. Register now to save up to $100 and get a second pass at 50% off.