TechCrunch Top 3

Palantir posts mini-manifesto denouncing inclusivity and ‘regressive’ cultures: Palantir's ideological bent has come under more scrutiny as it's worked with ICE and positioned itself as a defender of "the West." Read More

Rivian's factory hit by tornado ahead of R2 launch: Nobody was hurt after an EF-1 tornado hit the part of the factory where the R2 SUV is supposed to be built. Read More

Blue Origin's New Glenn put a customer satellite in the wrong orbit during its third launch: The first major failure of Blue Origin's new heavy-launch system could create delays to its ambition to help NASA and the Trump administration return to the Moon. Read More

Disrupt 2026: Where deals and ideas ignite

Oct 13–15 at San Francisco's Moscone West, 10,000 founders, investors, and operators gather for high-signal insights, curated connections, and real momentum.

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

Cracks are starting to form on fusion energy’s funding boom: Fusion startups and investors risk deepening fissures if some key disagreements aren't settled amicably. Read More

Deezer says 44% of songs uploaded to its platform daily are AI-generated: Deezer says consumption of AI-generated music on the platform is still very low, between 1-3% of the total streams, and that 85% of these streams are detected as fraudulent and are demonetized. Read More

App host Vercel says it was hacked and customer data stolen: Vercel blamed its breach on an earlier hack at Context AI, which allowed hackers to hijack a Vercel employee's account to steal customer data. Read More

Blue Origin successfully re-uses a New Glenn rocket for the first time ever: It's a major milestone for the company's new mega-rocket system, putting it in position to challenge SpaceX's dominance of the global launch market. Read More

The 12-month window: A lot of AI startups exist partly because the foundation models haven't expanded into their category yet. As many jokingly acknowledge, that won't last forever. Read More

Last but Not Least

OpenAI’s existential questions: On the latest episode of Equity, we discuss OpenAI's latest acquisitions and whether they address "two big existential problems" for the company. Read More