Batteries are now cheaper than natural gas turbines used at many data centers

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Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories this afternoon

View this email online in your browser  October 09, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Batteries are now cheaper than natural gas turbines used at many data centers: Batteries are now cheaper than natural gas turbines as the data center boom pushes prices up. Read More An Anthropic AI model sent a false homicide tip to Philadelphia police: Anthropic did not discover this behavior until over two months after its AI submitted the false tip. Read More LumenUs helps automate tedious paperwork in times of grief: "The day your loved one passes away, you also get this honorary badge of a project manager for a project you had no idea about," said founder Sara Tashakorinia. Read More A message from Virginia Tech Graduate With a Portfolio, Not Just a Transcript Shape a technical identity you design on purpose, built for a workforce that's changing faster than most degrees can adapt, with real-world partners embedded in the work you do. Learn more about M.Eng programs with Virginia Tech. See the ROI Our biggest event of the year is coming next week, and now's the time to lock in your ticket to learning how to build successfully in the AI era. You'll get expert insights from leaders from Anthropic, Nvidia, OpenAI, Google Cloud, and hundreds of other sessions across three days.  Save 50% on a second ticket, or if you've been laid off recently, get an Expo+ Pass for just $75. Register Now Afternoon Must-Reads Surveillance company Flock cuts staff as privacy backlash grows: Flock would not say if CEO Garrett Langley would take a pay cut following the reduction in workforce. Read More President Trump awards Big Tech donors with nation's highest science prizes: Together, the awardees have donated nearly $6 billion to efforts tied to Trump and his administration. Read More Remember Orkut? Its founder wants to bring it back: Orkut's founder is now taking aim at algorithms and AI-generated content. Read More Xona's commercial GPS alternative is about to go live: Xona's precision timing and navigation service will enter beta testing after SpaceX launches six satellites designed by the company. Read More Automattic interim CFO resigns just weeks after boardroom shakeup: Automattic's interim chief financial officer Jeremy Klaperman has left the company less than a month after taking the role, TechCrunch has learned. Sources say his departure followed a demotion back to his previous position, marking another executive exit amid the organization's leadership turmoil. Read More A message from RoMADE Every hospital device, its full history, one QR scan away Hospitals pay to service hundreds of devices yet can't say which were checked, where they are or who is responsible. MedTrackQR, from Romania's MedSys Innovation, puts a QR label on every device: any phone scans it, no app or account, and sees status, owner and full maintenance history. Audit registers build themselves. Meet them at Disrupt. Request a demo Last but Not Least Tesla renames 'Full Self-Driving' to 'Tesla Assisted Driving' in Europe: The name change is enough for Germany's transport minister to start advocating for Europe-wide adoption of the driver assistance software. 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? advertise@techcrunch.com Has this been forwarded to you? Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. Unsubscribe Member Center Privacy Policy Copyright © 2026 TechCrunch Media LLC 501 2nd Street, Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94107