August 17, 2026

TechCrunch Top 3

Stripe will reportedly acquire AI gateway startup OpenRouter for $7B+: OpenRouter's CEO recently described the startup as Stripe for AI. Read More

Wispr raises $280M at $2B valuation as it looks beyond dictation: Wispr’s total funding is now over $361 million. Read More

Uber adds Zipline drones to its Eats delivery network: Uber is also making investing in Zipline as part of the tie-up. Read More

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Morning Must-Reads

Anthropic CEO says AI backlash is ‘fundamentally a crisis of trust’: Dario Amodei is pushing back against the idea that he's been painting an overly pessimistic picture of AI. Read More

Why people aren't buying Mark Zuckerberg’s AI future: On the latest episode of Equity podcast, we discuss why not everyone is buying Zuckerberg’s vision. Read More

SpaceX officially closes its Cursor acquisition: AI coding startup Cursor is now officially a part of SpaceX. Read More

Anthropic shares more details about how Claude’s new watermarks will work: How will the watermarking actually work? Can it be hidden with editing? And how does this affect code? Read More

7 desk gadgets that can make your workday better: The right desk gadgets can help you reduce clutter, stay focused, and add a little extra convenience to your day. Read More

Last but Not Least

Woman claims her stepfather used Grok to transform childhood photo into explicit imagery: The woman claimed that AI tools are "taking everyday life and turning it into child sexual abuse." Read More

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