June 19, 2026

TechCrunch Top 3

The CEO of Allbirds' new AI biz has a plan, but no employees: Call it a startup with a sole founder and a very large seed round, but what's next is less clear. Read More

The 11 standout startups from YC's Demo Day, according to VCs: TechCrunch spoke to investors to find the hottest startups in the Spring 2026 YC batch. Some of them commanded valuations of over $175 million, VCs said. Read More

The US says ASML's top chip tool may be in China. ASML says it isn't: There's a commercial logic that cuts against the idea that ASML would risk its export license to arm a Chinese customer. Read More

A message from Fidelity

Your Pitch Isn’t the Only Thing Investors Are Evaluating.

Investors don’t just listen to what you say - they look at how your company operates. Is ownership clear? Do your numbers match your story? Can you answer follow-up questions without digging through spreadsheets? The Fundraise-Ready Startup Kit equips founders with the materials investors expect to see, before pressure is on. Because confidence in the room doesn’t come from slides. It comes from preparation.

Learn More

Morning Must-Reads

OpenAI is bringing on some big guns in the lead-up to its IPO : OpenAI is bulking up before its IPO, landing Transformer co-inventor Noam Shazeer from Google DeepMind and former Trump AI policy official Dean Ball in the same week. Read More

Rivian owners file lawsuit alleging false promises on self-driving features: Plaintiffs in the class -action complaint allege Rivian falsely promised for years it would bring hands-free driving to its first-generation R1 vehicles. Read More

Snap spins off AI video team into new company, Dotmo, due to costs: The Snapchat maker is spinning off yet another internal unit. Dotmo will be composed of current Snap staff who are leaving the social media company to focus on AI video development. Read More

Amazon hopes to challenge Nvidia more directly by selling its AI chips: AWS is in talks to sell its chips to other data centers. CEO Andy Jassy has said this represents a $50 billion opportunity for the company. Read More

Source: Elastic agrees to buy CRV-backed DeductiveAI for up to $85M: DeductiveAI, a startup that uses AI to catch and resolve bugs in software, was founded just three years ago. Read More

A message from PwC

The next generation of tech companies is being built now.

From AI-native startups to next gen companies in industrials, healthcare and energy, today’s founders are navigating accelerated change and scaling faster than ever. PwC helps emerging companies prepare for growth through tailored audit, tax, and deals solutions. From fundraising and expansion to the public markets, be ready for what comes next.

Scale with confidence

Last but Not Least

AI inference startup Baseten reportedly raising $1.5B months after its last mega-round: Startup Baseten is reportedly close to finalizing a $1.5 billion round at a $13 billion as the “inference gold rush" marches on. 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