August 20, 2026

TechCrunch Top 3

Grok keeps sending gibberish responses to users: Affected users told TechCrunch they were using Grok Lite, and noticed the issues as early as Wednesday morning. Read More

Mark buys a castle: Mark Zuckerberg just bought a cozy abode somewhat close to Meta’s international headquarters in Ireland. Read More

A third of web pages published since ChatGPT's launch show signs of AI authorship, study finds: ChatGPT and other AI models are now authoring and editing much of the new web. Read More

Afternoon Must-Reads

Meta brings Pocket, an app that lets you vibe-code and share games, to US users: Meta is bringing Pocket, its experimental AI-powered app for creating and sharing interactive games, to users across the U.S. after quietly testing it in Brazil. Read More

OK, can we actually cool data centers with our pee?: Jason Kelce joked that people should cool data centers with their pee, rather than potable water -- but his suggestion is not completely ludicrous. Read More

Castelion hits $13B valuation to mass-produce hypersonic missiles: Founded in 2022, Castelion set out to manufacture hypersonic weapon systems at a lower cost and at faster speeds than traditional defense primes. Read More

Google gives publishers a new way to fight AI-driven traffic losses: Google is giving publishers a new button that lets readers make them a preferred source across Search, Discover, and Google News, potentially boosting their traffic as AI search sends fewer clicks to the web. Read More

Runlayer, Rippling drop lawsuits — but the brouhaha is still a cautionary tale for founders: Runlayer and Rippling have dropped their lawsuits. No money was paid. Rippling celebrated by releasing a competing product. Read More

Last but Not Least

Apollo Atomics wants to make nuclear power cheaper by shrinking an overlooked part: Y Combinator alumnus Apollo Atomics is shrinking a key nuclear reactor part, which promises to slash the cost of electricity below natural gas. Read More

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