timef 01/08/2026
- Why this VC thinks 2026 will be ‘the year of the consumer’ techcrunch.com2026-01-08 22:46:16
AI adoption in enterprise is stalling as companies don't know where to start. Vanessa Larco of Premise VC thinks 2026 will be the year of the consumer.
- Hands on with a prototype of Clicks’ Communicator, a new BlackBerry-like smartphone techcrunch.com2026-01-08 22:22:48
TechCrunch goes hands-on at the CES 2025 show with the new Clicks Communicator, a new Android smartphone with a physical keyboard.
- Former Bolt CEO Maju Kuruvilla’s startup triples to $100M valuation techcrunch.com2026-01-08 21:00:00
Spangle has raised $15 million in a Series A round to expand its AI-generated shopping experiences.
- Gmail debuts a personalized AI Inbox, AI Overviews in search, and more techcrunch.com2026-01-08 21:00:00
Gmail is also bringing several AI features that were previously available only to paid users to all users.
- JPMorgan Chase becomes the new issuer of the Apple Card techcrunch.com2026-01-08 14:31:55
Apple expects the transition to take 24 months
- Waymo is rebranding its Zeekr robotaxi techcrunch.com2026-01-08 10:43:12
It sounds like "Oh hi."
- Google and Character.AI negotiate first major settlements in teen chatbot death cases techcrunch.com2026-01-08 09:32:00
The settlements are among the first tied to lawsuits accusing AI companies of harming users.
- Ford has an AI assistant and new hands-free BlueCruise tech on the way techcrunch.com2026-01-08 08:00:00
Ford says the new generation of BlueCruise will be 30% cheaper to build than the current technology.
- Discord and Mercor investor Niko Bonatsos departs General Catalyst, plans new VC firm techcrunch.com2026-01-08 07:31:29
Bonatsos spent 15 years at GC, and until last year led the firm's seed investing strategy.
- Larry Page loosens business ties to CA amid state’s proposed wealth tax, report techcrunch.com2026-01-08 07:23:45
Larry Page is reportedly moving assets out of California over concern the state will vote in a tax on billionaires.
- Yes, LinkedIn banned AI agent startup Artisan, but now it’s back techcrunch.com2026-01-08 06:04:30
Several viral posts noticed that Artisan was banned. But the CEO tells us it wasn't for the reasons many thought.
- Roku’s $3 streaming service Howdy will be coming to other platforms, CEO says techcrunch.com2026-01-08 05:38:22
At CES 2026, Anthony Wood, Roku's founder, chairman, and CEO, offered a hint about the future of the company's newest streaming channel, Howdy, and its ambition to become a broader competitor in the market.
- OpenAI unveils ChatGPT Health, says 230 million users ask about health each week techcrunch.com2026-01-08 05:08:23
The feature, which is expected to roll out in the coming weeks, will offer a dedicated space for conversations with ChatGPT about health.
- Lux Capital lands $1.5 billion for its largest fund ever techcrunch.com2026-01-08 04:09:07
The 25-year-old firm is an early investor in Anduril, Applied Intuition and Runway AI.
- AMC previews its new show, ‘The Audacity,’ focused on Silicon Valley techcrunch.com2026-01-08 03:43:45
As one of the show's actors, Billy Magnussen, noted, "Silicon Valley is one of those times in our modern era which is defining humanity. And what better place to make a dark comedy than in that place that develops our society at this point?"
- Discord’s IPO could happen in March techcrunch.com2026-01-08 03:18:22
Discord reportedly filed confidential IPO paperwork and has pinned its hopes on a debut in March.
- Shopify competitor Swap raises $100M six months after raising $40M techcrunch.com2026-01-08 03:10:33
VC firms DST Global and Iconiq are piling into e-commerce startup Swap Commerce, which is going up against Shopify.
- Where VCs think AI startups can win, even with OpenAI in the game techcrunch.com2026-01-08 02:53:35
Vanessa Larco, partner at Premise and former partner at NEA, thinks 2026 will finally be the year of consumer AI. Larco, who’s been investing in consumer and prosumer for years, thinks we’re about to see a shift in how consumers spend time online, with AI powering “concierge-like” services. The question is, will legacy consumer products like WebMD and […]
- Anthropic reportedly raising $10B at $350B valuation techcrunch.com2026-01-08 02:36:53
Anthropic is reportedly in talks to raise $10 billion at a $350 billion valuation, marking its third mega-round in a year.
- Skylight debuts Calendar 2 to keep your family organized techcrunch.com2026-01-08 02:00:00
Skylight, known for its digital picture frame, has a new digital product that puts software and AI at the center.
- Google Classroom’s new tool uses Gemini to transform lessons into podcast episodes techcrunch.com2026-01-08 01:55:35
Google Classroom now offers a Gemini-powered tool that generates podcast-style audio lessons for teachers to deepen engagement with students.
- Caterpillar taps Nvidia to bring AI to its construction equipment techcrunch.com2026-01-08 01:00:00
Caterpillar is piloting Cat AI, a system of AI agents in one of its excavators built on Nvidia's physical AI platform.
- How Quilt solved the heat pump’s biggest challenge techcrunch.com2026-01-08 00:00:00
Quilt's heat pumps are built containing a suite of sensors, which have delivered mountains of data that allow its engineers to wring added performance out of its systems.
