September 01, 2026

TechCrunch Top 3

Apple shares 'shocking evidence' against former employee accused of stealing company data for OpenAI: Apple says it has evidence that a former employee destroyed evidence of data theft after learning he was under investigation. Read More

Waymo accelerates robotaxi expansion with launches in Denver, San Diego and Tampa: Waymo will begin inviting riders on a rolling basis and slowly ramp up access in the three cities, following its usual commercial playbook. Read More

India's Unacademy sells to rival upGrad for $206M, about 94% less than its peak valuation: "We raised at a peak, but sold at a fraction of that," Unacademy co-founder and CEO Gaurav Munjal wrote. "I'm not going to dress these facts up." Read More

Join OpenAI, Anthropic and More at Disrupt

AI has made it faster than ever to bring an idea from concept to launch.

But it hasn't made it easier to build something durable.

Disrupt 2026's programming is built around that challenge, delivering practical sessions on what actually holds up and how to build it with leaders from OpenAI, Anthropic, Replit, Amazon, and more.

Morning Must-Reads

The Pentagon now has its own version of ChatGPT and Grok: Versions of OpenAI's ChatGPT and SpaceXAI's Grok will join Google's Gemini on the Pentagon's central portal for AI tools. Read More

This startup is fuel-injecting hydrogen to make cargo ships more efficient: Newlight has raised a $9 million seed round and completed an 8,500-nautical-mile test run from Singapore to Ghana. Read More

Polymarket reportedly raises $300 million from Donald Trump Jr.'s investment fund: The firm, 1789 Capital, led the funding round that reportedly will total around $1 billion. Read More

If space data centers feel far-fetched, why not interstellar travel?: The team behind Starcloud's orbital data centers has a new high-risk space project: Sending a probe to Alpha Centauri. Read More

Lachy Groom backs Indian startup aiming to keep aircraft aloft for a year: Founded by a 20-year-old, Alteon is developing autonomous aircraft that hopes to harvest wind energy to stay aloft for several months. Read More

Get Your Startup in Front of the Disrupt Crowds

Not everyone needs a keynote slot to make noise at Disrupt 2026. Sometimes the best way to meet investors, customers, and partners is by exhibiting directly in the Expo Hall.

And by exhibiting, you get 10 passes to Disrupt to share with your team!

Learn More

Last but Not Least

Instagram puts new limits on undisclosed AI profiles: As frustration over AI influencers has been growing, Instagram is limiting the reach of undisclosed AI profiles. Read More

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