After Factory’s public spat with Khosla, Menlo proudly invests

Days after Vinod Khosla called Factory a struggling also-ran, Menlo has shown up with a check and a glowing blog post.

Reflection debuts Beam, an open-weight AI model to rival Chinese models at lower compute cost

Reflection is aiming Beam and future models at enterprises and sovereign nations. The pitch is to build “AI factories,” a product that would let institutions build their own customized, local AI system by training Reflection’s AI models on their own proprietary data.

Instinct brings its AI agent to group chats, even for friends without an account

Instinct is launching group chats that let friends use its AI agent together for tasks like planning trips, organizing carpools, and coordinating events. The company says personal accounts remain separate, with permission required before personal agents share information or take action.

TikTok rolls out an AI shopping assistant and one-click checkout

TikTok describes its new Shopping Assistant as a conversational AI agent designed to help users discover and purchase products.

At 19, founder raises $11M for Ghost, maker of a $3,499 computer for personal AI

Ghost’s first product is Core, a personal computer designed specifically for AI agents that can take actions on a person’s behalf.

Hot Girl Hotline is like ‘Dear Abby’ for the AI era

Founded by two sisters, Hot Girl Hotline uses AI to give young women personalized dating and relationship advice, with an emphasis on safety and avoiding emotional dependency.

Hackers steal 8 million citizens’ records from Danish government database

The Danish government said the breach of names, addresses, and state-issued ID numbers affects 8 million people, including people living abroad and the deceased.

Trump unveils his new Super Intelligence Force

This new task force is Trump’s latest response to the debate over AI safety.

TechCrunch Mobility: Reining in robotaxis

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, your hub for the future of transportation and now, more than ever, the role AI is playing in it.

Google froze its open source bug bounty program due to a ‘significant rise’ in AI submissions

AI slop seems to be overwhelming bug bounty programs.