TechCrunch
June 2026
Amazon launches new $1 billion FDE org, following OpenAI and Anthropic
As companies struggle to integrate AI, they’re increasingly ready to bring in outside help — and service providers are launching new purpose-built groups to make sure they get it
Customers leave AWS FDE deployments with both new solutions and new engineering capabilities,
X now offers an MCP server to make its platform easier for AI tools to use
On Monday, the Elon Musk-owned social network unveiled a hosted Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that lets AI tools communicate with the X API using a user’s own account permissions
Tesla starts testing Cybercab without pedals or a steering wheel in Austin
Blue Origin still doesn’t know why its New Glenn rocket blew up last month
Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin is doubling down on using its New Glenn mega-rocket again this year after last month’s explosion
Anthropic’s Claude Science bets on workflow, not a new model, to win over scientists
Anthropic introduced Claude Science on Tuesday, an AI workbench that gives scientists one environment to do computational research, sparing them the hassle of bouncing between databases, pipelines, and tools
We are looking for postdoctoral and graduate projects that span domains and explore the boundaries of science, with an early focus on fields across biomedical research. Applications are open through July 15, 2026, with award notifications sent out by July 31. Projects will run from September 1 to December 1, 2026.”
Anthropic launches Claude Sonnet 5 as a cheaper way to run agents
At Lovable, we’re putting powerful tools in the hands of millions of builders,
We handed Claude Sonnet 5 a two-part job—update Salesforce account tiers, send a launch announcement to enterprise contacts—and it finished end to end,
Opus 4.8 is still the model of choice for higher accuracy on these tasks, but Sonnet 5 provides developers with lower-priced options that are of much higher quality than what was previously available,
It can make plans, use tools like browsers and terminals, and run autonomously at a level that, just a few months ago, required larger and more expensive models,
Evaluations also show that it has a much lower ability to perform dangerous cybersecurity tasks than our current Opus models,
Nvidia competitor Etched hits $5B valuation, $1B in sales for AI chip
Google introduces a faster, cheaper image generator with Nano Banana 2 Lite
Building with generative media is often about creative iteration,
Rocket Lab continues buying spree by acquiring satellite company Iridium
It also bought optical sensor defense contractor Geost last year
WhatsApp not lets you reserve usernames
However, WhatsApp will still require a phone number to make an account on the chat app
When you meet someone new, whether it’s a classmate, a neighbour, or someone you met at an event, sharing your phone number can feel like a big step. Your phone number is personal, and it’s tied to so many other parts of your life,
In major privacy win, Supreme Court rules geofence warrants are protected by privacy rights
If that was the case, then the “third party doctrine,” which generally says people have no expectation of privacy when it comes to data they willingly share with others, would apply
Trump administration threatens 92 GW of new electricity supply with red tape
Permitting delays pushed by the Trump administration threaten to derail 92 gigawatts of clean power, even as electricity demand from AI data centers skyrockets
Anthropic and Gov. Newsom forge deal allowing California government to use Claude at half price
This agreement comes at a time when businesses are struggling to manage the hefty costs of enterprise subscriptions to AI tools
AI should not replace the human work of government; it should help our workers move faster, solve problems more effectively, and deliver better results for Californians,
While others in Washington are designing policy and creating contracts in the shadow of misuse, we’re focused on doing this the right way,
South Korean tech giants commit over $550B to ease ‘RAMageddon’
The world’s two largest memory chip companies plan to invest $518 billion (~800 trillion won) to build four new memory fabs in southwestern South Korea, a region that has historically attracted little semiconductor investment
The government’s role is to invest its capabilities so that companies can invest without losses and with better prospects,
Semiconductors, physical AI, and AI data centers are the triple axis for South Korea’s next industrial era,
We must secure overwhelming production capacity in advance,
Waymo and Uber quietly part ways in Phoenix
Waymo’s vehicles are still available on Uber in Austin and Atlanta, for instance
This was a productive pilot that paved the way for future expansions and partnerships across the globe. After hundreds of thousands of trips with Uber, we have integrated these vehicles back into our Phoenix fleet, where they will continue to serve riders through Waymo, including our public transit integration with Via, and delivery with DoorDash,
Chamath Palihapitiya raises $135M Series A for his AI coding startup, takes CEO role
The company, 8090 Labs, closed a $135 million round led by Salesforce Ventures with participation from Jeffrey Katzenberg’s WndrCo, David Sacks’ Craft Ventures, fellow All-In hosts and “besties” David Friedberg’s The Production Board and Jason Calacanis’ Launch, as well angel investors like Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora and Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo
Since I left Facebook, I was waiting for a moment like this to return to a full-time operating role,
The AI jobs debate just got messier
A recent report from Ramp and Revelio Labs, which track enterprise AI spend and workforce records from nearly 22,000 companies, respectively, complicates that gloomy narrative
Firms without those channels may fall behind.”
This paper does not show that AI universally creates jobs,... but it does counter claims that AI will lead to broad job losses.”
For software and technology firms, AI can make core output cheaper or faster to produce: writing code, debugging, building internal tools, producing technical documentation, and supporting product development,
Why Wall Street thinks US memory maker Micron is the next Nvidia
And Wall Street has become a believer, helping Micron briefly surpass the market valuation of Meta and Tesla for the first time on Thursday, though it floated back down by Friday to nearly match them
Given the strong likelihood of continued ASP growth in the coming quarters and improving revenue visibility thanks to a rapidly expanding set of long-term agreements (SCAs) with key customers, we see potential for more durable earnings growth and reiterate our Outperform rating,
TechCrunch Mobility: All eyes on Tesla FSD
A series of stories this week highlight the continued — and apparently growing — scrutiny of Tesla’s automated driving system known as Full Self-Driving (Supervised)
California law targeting loud streaming ads takes effect on July 1
Asian AI startups launch Mythos-like models as Anthropic’s export ban drags on
That’s the cybersecurity-focused AI model that is reportedly so powerful, the Trump Administration has currently banned it and its more restricted version, Fable 5, from the hands of non-Americans
U.S. models remain important to Asia,
Sakana Fugu is something we have been building since last year — the research behind it was presented at ICLR this spring, and it reflects an approach that is central to how we deliver frontier-level value at Sakana AI. We were confident in the product on its own merits; the timing simply happened to coincide with a moment that brought it more attention than we expected,
Access to top models can disappear overnight,
Apple Vision Pro exec is reportedly leaving for OpenAI
OpenAI, meanwhile, is already working with Apple’s former chief design officer Jony Ive on an AI device that CEO Sam Altman has claimed will be more peaceful and calm than an iPhone, though reports last fall suggested the company was struggling to get the details right
Why everyone from OpenAI to SpaceX is building their own chips (and turning up the heat on Nvidia)
OpenAI’s Jalapeño chip is Big Tech’s spiciest move away from Nvidia
Custom silicon means more control, hardware tuned to specific needs, and the kind of performance gains Apple unlocked when it ditched Intel
Tesla settles FSD crash lawsuit as federal investigations continue
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into Tesla’s FSD (Supervised) automated driving software in 2024 after four reported crashes in low visibility conditions — including the one involving Story
Available incident data raise concerns that Tesla’s degradation detection system, both as originally deployed and later updated, fails to detect and/or warn the driver appropriately under degraded visibility conditions such as glare and airborne obscurants.”