Month: August 2026

Harvard’s $699 startup bootcamp offers AI avatars of its instructors In the HBS Foundry program, AI avatars provide feedback during practice pitches and board meetings. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/22/harvards-699-startup-bootcamp-offers-ai-avatars-of-its-instructors/

Will the DOJ’s investigation into a16z spook other VCs? On the latest episode of Equity, we wonder why the DOJ is investigating startup board seats. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/22/will-the-dojs-investigation-into-a16z-spook-other-vcs/

Inherent, founded by DeepMind alumni, says its AI ‘teammate’ just outperformed Anthropic and OpenAI at replicating research Built by DeepMind alumni, British AI lab Inherent released Faraday, an AI agent whose ability to replicate scientific papers could be a stepping stone for innovation. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/22/inherent-founded-by-deepmind-alumni-says-its-ai-teammate-just-outperformed-anthropic-and-openai-at-replicating-research/

OpenAI says California should strengthen its AI safety bill OpenAI is calling for California to strengthen SB 53, an AI safety bill that the company previously opposed. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/22/openai-says-california-should-strengthen-its-ai-safety-bill/

At 14, Sasha Bagrov is building a safer marketplace for teenage odd jobs When I was a young teenager, I was in Girl Guides — essentially the Australian equivalent of Girl Scouts — and went to a school that strongly encouraged civic participation. So I duly knocked on strangers’ doors,

Michael Polansky is training an AI model on skin that’s still alive Michael Polansky — better known publicly as Lady Gaga’s partner and a former top deputy to Sean Parker — has quietly spent years building an AI-driven startup that keeps living human skin tissue alive for weeks outside the

Japanese space tech startup Letara expands beyond satellite thrusters with $16M Japanese space startup Letara is betting its hybrid rocket technology can move beyond small satellite thrusters into a broader market for space, defense and security, after raising ¥2.6 billion ($16 million). Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/21/japanese-space-tech-startup-letara-expands-beyond-satellite-thrusters-with-16m/

Anthropic’s Opus 4.6 is a smut-machine Anthropic forbids its Claude models from generating sexually explicit content. But a series of tests conducted by TechCrunch found that it didn’t take much to get past the restriction. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/21/anthropics-opus-4-6-is-a-smut-machine/

Nvidia partners with data center developer Cloverleaf Nvidia continues to pour money into data center development — just as AI data centers bring lots of money into Nvidia. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/21/nvidia-partners-with-data-center-developer-cloverleaf/

How AI accounting startup Rillet raised $100M and became a unicorn in 48 hours Rillet CEO Nicolas Kopp shared growth numbers at a board meeting and set off a fundraising frenzy from Iconiq, Sequoia and others. Without even trying. Powered by WPeMatico https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/21/how-ai-accounting-startup-rillet-raised-100m-and-became-a-unicorn-in-48-hours/