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Restate lands $20M as the need for durable infrastructure increases with AI agents

Founded by Apache Flink veterans, the startup is taking on workflow heavyweight Temporal.

3 days left to exhibit: Turn visibility into your next opportunity at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026

Three days left to exhibit at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. Book by October 2 at 11:59 p.m. PT to showcase your startup to 10,000+ founders, investors, operators, and tech leaders.

WhatsApp adds new parental controls for teen accounts

Parents can limit how teens use channels, whose Status they can see, who can see their Status updates, and control who can add teens to groups.

Amazon’s new Fire TV Stick 4K comes with an actually good remote

Amazon’s new Fire TV Stick 4K is slimmer and faster, but its biggest upgrade may be the thing you’ll actually hold in your hand: a redesigned remote that’s easier to use, especially in the dark.

Tinder adapts to a social, IRL dating future with ‘Group Hangouts’ feature

As younger users grow increasingly tired of the endless scroll, dating apps are scrambling to adapt to a generation that increasingly wants dating to feel more social and rooted in real-world experien…

Charter Space raises $5M to bring insurance to the stars

As Charter explains on its website, a common experience for space companies is that regular insurers "heard a bunch of scary science words and freaked out."

Airbnb adds AI search, more social features

Airbnb is also launching new services such as meal delivery and laundry in select locations

Two Google alumni raise $11.3M to back AI startups that enterprises will actually pay for

BAG Ventures announces close of a $11.3M Fund I to invest in all things AI.

America.gov gets really weird when you ask it about Minecraft, but it’s not a glitch

For the sake of national security, it's a relief to learn that America.gov is not hallucinating to the point that it's penning lengthy poetry.

The internet is convinced Elon Musk’s xAI trolled OpenAI’s ‘Dots’ launch

Before OpenAI launched its new AI agent, Dots, on Tuesday, Elon Musk's xAI had already acquired the domain name "dot.com," which now redirects to the Grok chatbot download page.

Your car and its mobile app are probably handing over all kinds of data to tech companies

Researchers at Northeastern University found vehicles and their companion apps regularly shared detailed data with some of the largest tech companies.

a16z-backed EliseAI raises $350M, doubles valuation to $4B

EliseAI raises $350M, doubles valuation in a year.

Tesla secures $30B in new credit lines as it looks to scale Cybercab, Optimus

The company says it won't draw on the new debt facilities this year, as it has already planned at least $25 billion in capital expenditures.

OpenAI’s latest features take direct aim at the app store model

OpenAI is building out the pieces of an alternative to the traditional app store model, turning ChatGPT into a place where software can be discovered and used by people and AI agents alike.

OpenAI repotedly in talks to raise $30B round at $1.4T valuation

The new round is anticipated to be the company's last before its delayed 2027 public debut.

More Ways to Disrupt: New 2026 Side Events from KOTRA, WayFounder, Enterprise Ireland, SafetyWing + Descope

Disrupt doesn’t end when you leave Moscone West. 👀 Founder dinners, investor meetups, happy hours, workshops, roundtables and more are taking over San Francisco during Disrupt Week. See what’s happeni…

Apple Pay set to launch in India with Axis Bank today, sources say

Some of India's largest banks are holding off on supporting Apple Pay initially.

Here’s why OpenAI is absent from Nvidia’s industry-wide effort to end rogue AI agents

OpenAI isn't a public supporter of Nvidia's Open Agent Safety Platform, but it is privately working with Nvidia, TechCrunch has learned.