​Renowned AI scientist Yann LeCun confirmed on Thursday the worst-kept secret in the tech world: that he had indeed launched a new startup. Although he did say he will not be running the new company as its CEO.  

​Netflix is making exclusive deals with podcast studios to compete with YouTube, but podcasters have mixed feelings.  

​OpenAI updated its guidelines for how its AI models should behave with users under 18, and published new AI literacy resources for teens and parents. Still, questions remain about how well policies translate into practice.  

​In its test phase in San Francisco, Known said it observed 80% of its introductions led to physical dates, which is much higher than swipe-based dating apps.  

​The gaming startup will allow Netflix subscribers to create avatars that can extend across gaming titles.  

​The company is working on an image and video model and new text-based model, which aids with coding.  

​Called the Unicorn Growth Fund, the investment vehicle is a collaboration between Krafton and South Korean internet conglomerate Naver, and investor Mirae Asset. It aims to deploy around $669.3 million over four years.  

​TechCrunch looks back at the biggest data breaches, disruptive cyberattacks, and damaging hacks of 2025, from the raiding of U.S. government databases to a hack every month in South Korea.  

​The ChatGPT maker is aiming to raise the funding by the end of the first quarter in 2026, and the company may ask sovereign wealth funds to invest in the round.  

​The hardware world had a brutal week, with iRobot, Luminar, and Rad Power Bikes all filing for bankruptcy.  Each company faces its own mix of tariff pressures, supply chain issues, and shifting markets, but together they tell a larger story about the challenges of building physical products in an era of global trade tensions and cheap overseas competition. From […]