EU fines Google $3.5B over adtech ‘abuse’

This is the EU’s largest antitrust penalty ever — and Trump has already threatened to “nullify” it.

Why is an Amazon-backed AI startup making Orson Welles fan fiction?

This is a bad idea.

The blueprint for lasting companies and communities with Discord’s Jason Citron and Campuswire’s Tade Oyerinde at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025

When you design for people instead of institutions, you don’t just build a product. You build a movement. That’s the idea behind this Builders Stage session called “Creating Communities and Companies That Last.”

OpenAI hires the team behind Xcode coding assistant Alex

The team behind Alex, which built a popular tool that let devs use AI models within Apple’s development suite Xcode, is joining OpenAI.

X is now offering me end-to-end encrypted chat — you probably shouldn’t trust it yet

X’s new encrypted messaging feature, XChat, has some red flags.

Scale AI’s former CTO launches AI agent that could solve big data’s biggest problem

Isotopes, co-founded by Arun Murthy, launched a sophisticated analytics agent. Arun was one of the creators of Hadoop who later joined Scale AI.

Warner Bros. sues Midjourney for AI images of Superman, Batman, and other characters

Warner Bros. says that Midjourney knowingly engaged in wrongful conduct, noting that the company previously restricted subscribers from generating content based on infringing images but recently lifted those protections.

Natron’s liquidation shows why the US isn’t ready to make its own batteries

The sodium-ion battery startup went from announcing a $1.4 billion factory to filing for liquidation in just over a year. Natron’s troubled journey illustrates the challenges in making batteries in the U.S.

Tesla’s ad spend on X has shrunk to almost nothing

Tesla spent a fraction on X in early 2025 compared to 2024. It also paid $300,000 to Kimbal Musk’s drone company.

Cutting through the equity noise: Don’t miss this powerhouse panel at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025

Leaders from Pulley, 645 Ventures, and Epigram Legal join the Builders Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, happening October 27-29 in San Francisco. Register to join.