September 28, 2026

TechCrunch Top 3

Anthropic releases Sonnet 5.5, which it calls a significantly cheaper, faster work partner: Anthropic has released the newest version of its midrange model, boasting faster response times and less token burn. Read More

OpenAI still doesn't seem to have a handle on all of its rogue AI activity: On Friday, OpenAI published a new site devoted to “misalignment reports” and the breadth of the incidents is alarming. Read More

Google is killing off Gemini's Gems in favor of 'skills': As all-in-one AI agents like Meta's Muse and Instinct take off, Google is opting to end a feature that built task-specific agents. Read More

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Afternoon Must-Reads

AMD will acquire Fei-Fei Li's World Labs for $8.2 billion: The acquisition will see World Labs founder Fei-Fei Li join AMD as executive vice president and chief scientist. Read More

Viral AI agent Instinct raises $1B Series C at a $10B valuation: "This funding helps us bring Instinct to more people and continue building the future of personal AI. It’s an exciting, creative time, and we're just getting started," founder Noah Shinn said in a statement. Read More

SpaceX's Starship rocket reaches orbit for the first time: Reaching orbit is a critical milestone that could let SpaceX start using Starship for regular commercial missions and, importantly, inch closer to its goal of making the mega-rocket fully reusable. Read More

Tesla delays Roadster 2 event again due to bad weather: Tesla says the event "can only be held outdoors," as it's expected to show the car flying in some form using SpaceX thrusters. Read More

Meta launches enterprise AI platform, hires MongoDB CEO to lead new initiative: Meta says it will focus on bringing its full technology stack, including Muse, Meta Business Agent, Muse API, Muse Code, and more to businesses and developers. Read More

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Last but Not Least

The iPhone Duo may already have its first killer app: a virtual Walkman: The app imitates how Walkmans used to function: You can open up the Duo to pick your music and "insert" your cassette tape, then close the device shut to start listening. Read More

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