TechCrunch Top 3

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1. The answer is Elon: A TechCrunch investigation found that Grok 4 – xAI's newest "maximally truth-seeking AI model" – is consulting Elon Musk's social media posts before trying to answer questions on controversial topics. In other words, it looks like Grok 4 is designed to provide answers based partly on its founder's politics. Read More

2. Agents for sale: TechCrunch got the scoop that AWS is launching an AI agent marketplace next week, and Anthropic is one of its partners. The marketplace will let startups offer their AI agents directly to AWS customers, with the cloud service taking a cut of each sale. Read More

3. The AI bloodbath continues: Recruit Holdings, parent of Indeed and Glassdoor, is laying off about 1,300 employees across the two companies. Recruit isn't shying away from the fact that the layoffs are a byproduct of its increased focus on AI. Read More

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Morning Must-Reads

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🚕 Tesla has applied to test and operate AVs — both with and without human safety drivers — in Arizona as it works to bring robotaxis to the Metro Phoenix area. Elon Musk has also said Tesla will launch in the Bay Area in a "month or two," but regulatory hurdles await. Read More

🪦 RIP: Belkin is ending technical support for its older Wemo smart devices as of January 31, 2026, as well as the app used to control the devices. That impacts a range of products, including smart plugs, light switches, baby monitors, and kitchen appliances. Read More

☸️ What do you bench? Former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger capped off his 40-year stint at the semiconductor giant late last year. For his next act, he's working on a benchmark to measure AI alignment and ensure AI models support humanity. Read More

📷 Spinning out: After 14 years of developing inside Intel, 3D imaging company RealSense is striking out on its own. The company sells cameras to help machines like robots, drones and AVs gain better perception of the physical world around them. Read More

🤝 AI for public policy: Helios raised $4 million in seed funding to build an AI-native operating system for public policy professionals. Its product, Proxi, is an all-in-one platform that deploys a web of secure AI agents to support anything from strategic advisory and writing policy to data analysis and stakeholder mapping. Read More

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Around the Web

🧘 Meet the Jaguar: Visionary Apple engineer Bill Atkinson passed away in June, leaving behind a legacy that extends beyond the original Macintosh. Members of OneLight, a private psychedelic community, knew Bill as "Grace Within," per The Pattern Project blog. Atkinson spent his final years refining and sharing the tech behind LightWand, a vape pen for administering the psychedelic called Jaguar. Read More

🧐 To AGI, or not to AGI: Wired explores a key clause in Microsoft and OpenAI's deal that gives Microsoft exclusive access to OpenAI's technology until OpenAI achieves AGI. At the clause's core is a "raging divide between AGI true believers and those who think it's still a long way off. Read More

Before You Go

💬 Gottem! Developer Maurice Kleine has shipped an app called Mockly that generates believable images of fake conversations on apps like iMessage, Discord, Instagram, X, Tinder and WhatsApp. As TC's Amanda Siberling writes, it's "either a boon for meme-making or the bane of your existence." Read More