Amazon launches an AI-powered audio Q&A experience on product pages

Amazon’s new “Join the chat” feature lets you ask questions about products and receive AI-powered audio responses.

Drizzle on top: a new high-end dog food brand is coming for the 1%

Golden Child is launching with two “five-star” products: a fresh frozen meal system and, more intriguingly, a “drizzle.” It has also raised $37 million in funding.

Amazon’s new podcast strategy: Monetize everything

Amazon’s podcasting business seems to have transformed over the past six months.

Anthropic created a test marketplace for agent-on-agent commerce

In a recent experiment, Anthropic created a classified marketplace where AI agents represented both buyers and sellers, striking real deals for real goods and real money.

Apple’s Cal AI crackdown signals it’s still policing the App Store

Apple tells TechCrunch Cal AI was removed not for web payments alone, but for deceptive billing, manipulative tactics, and App Store rule violations.

Uber will now pick up your returns from your doorstep

The new returns feature is the company’s latest effort to become an everything app.

AI traffic to US retailers rose 393% in Q1, and it’s boosting their revenue too

Adobe says AI traffic to U.S. retail sites also jumped 269% in March, with visitors converting better and generating more revenue than non-AI shoppers.

Fashion retailer Express left customers’ personal data and order details exposed to the internet

Retail giant Express was publicly spilling customer information to the open web. The bug is now fixed after TechCrunch alerted Express, but the company would not say if it plans to notify customers.

Instacart acquires Instaleap to expand its enterprise platform internationally

The acquisition will allow the company to expand its business into international markets without needing to launch a delivery network in those regions.