Anduril raises $5B, doubles valuation to $61B

After achieving $2.2 billion in revenue in 2025, the defense tech startup has raised another massive round, led by Thrive and a16z, it says.

US lawmakers demand answers from Instructure after Canvas data breaches

U.S. House lawmakers want to know how hackers broke into education tech giant Instructure twice and stole reams of data from students who use the company’s flagship student data software Canvas.

Introducing the 6 stages at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 — built for today’s tougher startup market

From October 13-15, TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 will feature 200+ sessions across six stages, led by 250+ tech leaders shaping the industry today. Register now to save up to $410, plus 50% off a second pass.

Kevin Hartz’s A* just closed its third fund with $450M

The firm takes a generalist approach, backing companies across categories such as AI applications, fintech, healthcare, and security. The average check size for this fund will be between $3 million and $5 million, with the aim to back at least 30 startups.

Former Tesla exec and Heron Power CEO Drew Baglino has founded a heat pump startup

Sadi Thermal Machines is Drew Baglino’s second startup since leaving Tesla in 2024.

Medicare’s new payment model is built for AI, and most of the tech world has no idea

There is no governmental mechanism to pay for an AI agent that monitors a patient between visits, calls to check in, coordinates a housing referral, or makes sure someone picks up their medication. ACCESS creates that mechanism for the first time.

Poppy debuts a proactive AI assistant to help organize your digital life

Poppy is an AI-powered app that connects your calendar, email, messages, and other services to surface reminders, suggestions, and tasks based on what’s happening in your life.

Adaption aims big with AutoScientist, an AI tool that helps models train themselves

Adaption’s new AutoScientist tool is designed to let models adapt to specific capabilities quickly through an automated approach to conventional fine-tuning.

Musk mulled handing OpenAI to his children, Altman testifies

Altman said that Musk’s focus on controlling the initial for-profit gave him pause because OpenAI was dedicated to keeping advanced AI out of the hands of a single person, and Altman, with his experience running the prominent startup accelerator Y Combinator, knew “founders who had control usually did not give it up.”

Anthropic warns investors against secondary platforms offering access to its shares

“Any sale or transfer of Anthropic stock, or any interest in Anthropic stock, offered by these firms is void and will not be recognized on our books and records,” the company’s support page reads.