Prepare for pitch battle: Startup Battlefield 200 nominations are open

Nominations for TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 200 are open. Pitch at Disrupt 2026 in October in front of top VCs and the full TechCrunch audience. Nominate your startup or for one that’s deserving.

Lucid Motors slashes 12% of its workforce as it seeks profitability

The layoffs affect hundreds of full-time workers in the US, according to an internal memo obtained by TechCrunch.

AI’s promise to indie filmmakers: Faster, cheaper, lonelier

AI expands access to filmmaking for resource-constrained creators. But as efficiency becomes the industry’s north star, creativity risks being overwhelmed by a deluge of low-effort, AI-generated content.

‘Toy Story 5’ takes aim at creepy AI toys: ‘I’m always listening’

Addictive, AI-enabled tablets are taking over, and also, Woody is balding in the new Toy Story movie, out June 19.

Meta’s metaverse leaves virtual reality

Meta said it’s shifting focus for Horizon Worlds to be “almost exclusively mobile” and that it will separate its Quest VR platform from the virtual world.

Tesla loses bid to overturn $243M Autopilot verdict

“The grounds for relief that Tesla relies upon are virtually the same as those Tesla put forth previously during the course of trial.”

Threads posts can now be shared directly to your Instagram Story without leaving the app

The new Threads feature lets you share your posts — or anyone else’s — to your Instagram Story without leaving the Threads app.

Great news for xAI: Grok is now pretty good at answering questions about Baldur’s Gate

A new report from Business Insider reveals that high-level engineers at xAI were pulled off other projects to make sure Grok could answer detailed questions about the video game Baldur’s Gate.

Ukrainian man jailed for identity theft that helped North Koreans get jobs at US companies

A Ukrainian man has been sentenced for helping North Koreans gain fraudulent employment at dozens of U.S. companies and funnel that money back to the regime to fund its nuclear weapons program.

InScope nabs $14.5M to solve the pain of financial reporting

The startup, founded by accountants who worked at Flexport, Miro, Hopin and Thrive Global, automates the difficulties of prepping financial statements.