August 26, 2026

TechCrunch Top 3

Meta settles for $18 billion in lawsuit brought by 29 states over social media harms to children: The lawsuit alleged that Meta knowingly designed platforms like Instagram and Facebook to addict children, despite knowing about the harms the platforms could pose to young users. Read More

Surprise: Z.ai is the AI lab behind the mysterious Ox Alpha model: Z.ai confirms it is behind Ox Alpha, the mysterious open AI model topping benchmarks and leaderboards, and its weights are set to be released soon. Read More

Bill Gates wants to see a robot tax and 'Human Reserved' jobs to mitigate harms from AI: Gates is mostly in the Responsible AI camp, but there are a few ideas in here we hadn't heard before. Read More

The Best Disrupt 2026 Discount Ends Soon

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. Ticket prices increase at midnight PT Friday, so grab yours before then!

Morning Must-Reads

OpenAI loses a top data center exec as stream of high-profile departures continues: In a statement to TechCrunch about Malone's departure, OpenAI said it had "recently reorganized" its "infrastructure organization to support the scale and pace of our work." Read More

Runable hits $21M to bet AI agents can go from building businesses to growing them: Runable says 60%–70% of its 1 trillion-plus token usage in the last 90 days came from paying customers. Read More

Ring introduces a new encryption standard, makes it the default for cloud features: Ring says users can still opt for end-to-end encryption. Read More

CISA confirms hackers targeted over 100 US water systems during July: The federal cyber agency's warning comes amid a wave of suspected Iran-backed cyberattacks targeting critical water systems across the United States. Read More

Hearing tech startup Legato emerges from stealth with $12M and a peek at its AI hearing glasses: The glasses, called Legato Frames, integrate the company’s patented hearing-assistance technology into the arms of eyewear frames. 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

Arga Labs is building a better way to train enterprise AI agents: Arga has raised $10 million in a seed funding round that was led by General Catalyst, with participation from Box Group, Emergence, Gradient and SV Angel. Read More

Check out some of our other newsletters:

StrictlyVC

TechCrunch Events

TechCrunch Mobility

Want to adjust your daily newsletter schedule? You can do it right here

Got a tip?
Get in touch securely.

Want to advertise on TechCrunch?

Has this been forwarded to you? Click here to subscribe to this newsletter.

Unsubscribe

Member Center

501 2nd Street, Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94107