Just 5 years in, interactive chatbot platform Character.AI files for bankruptcy

The startup will sell some of its assets to Disney for $20 million.

Bumble reportedly in talks to go private at a valuation of about $1bn
Bumble reportedly in talks to go private at a valuation of about $1bn

Ithaca Holdings is in advanced talks to buy Bumble and take the dating app private, in a deal that would value it at about $1 billion. Reuters reported the talks, citing one source familiar with the matter. We have not independently confirmed the repor…

WhatsApp may soon let users schedule messages
WhatsApp may soon let users schedule messages

WhatsApp is testing a feature that lets users schedule messages between ten minutes and two weeks ahead, spotted in an Android beta by WaBetaInfo. The main business use for it, sending work messages outside hours, is regulated across much of Europe, an…

TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 starts tomorrow: Your final chance to secure up to $100 ticket savings

Tomorrow at 8 a.m. PT, it all begins. 10,000+ founders, investors, and tech operators will gather at San Francisco’s Moscone West for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 for three days of ideas, connections, and startups shaping what comes next. This is your last …

Google moves free Gemini to Flash-Lite and launches Nano Banana 2.1
Google moves free Gemini to Flash-Lite and launches Nano Banana 2.1

From today, Gemini app users without a paid Google AI plan start losing two of its three models. Free personal accounts move to Gemini Flash-Lite only, according to Google’s Gemini Apps Help page. The change comes three days after Google released Nano …

Zuckerberg called Muse ready despite the risks, New York Times reports
Zuckerberg called Muse ready despite the risks, New York Times reports

In August, Mark Zuckerberg met Meta’s chief AI officer, Alexandr Wang, and its head of AI product, Nat Friedman, Eli Tan reported for The New York Times on Friday. They discussed Instinct, a 14-person start-up whose AI agent was taking off. Zuckerberg …

Amazon replaces Fire tablets with Android Alexa Tablets from $229.99
Amazon replaces Fire tablets with Android Alexa Tablets from $229.99

Amazon is replacing its Fire tablets with a new line of Alexa Tablets. They are the first Amazon tablets to run Android with full access to the Google Play Store. The company announced three models on Thursday, from $229.99 to $549.99. All three ship o…

Google’s AI note-taking app transcribes your meetings completely offline
Google’s AI note-taking app transcribes your meetings completely offline

Google has released an experimental note-taking app that can transcribe meetings and audio files entirely offline, as reported earlier by TechCrunch. The app, called Google AI Edge Foresight, is free to use and runs on macOS using the company’s on-device EmbeddingGemma 2 model. Similar to AI note-taking apps like Granola and Wispr Flow, Foresight summarizes […]

New York alleges TikTok gave teens, children a placebo safety feature instead of a real one

New York’s lawsuit against the company is one of more than two dozen cases brought by states accusing the social media giant of designing its platform to encourage addictive use among children.

Just Eat Takeaway orders grow again after 55 months of decline, Prosus says
Just Eat Takeaway orders grow again after 55 months of decline, Prosus says

Just Eat Takeaway’s orders grew year on year in September for the first time in 55 months, its owner Prosus said on Thursday. Chief executive Fabricio Bloisi gave the figure in a letter to shareholders that also covers iFood, Prosus’s food delivery bus…