TechCrunch Startup and Technology News
- Founders Fund hires former OpenAI exec Ryan Beiermeister (and not because of her ‘Mafia’ skills)by Julie Bort on July 16, 2026
Ryan Beiermeister, who demonstrated cool analysis in the Founders Fund YouTube series "Mafia," has joined the firm as a partner.
- Google Vids now lets you star in your own AI videosby Sarah Perez on July 16, 2026
Google is adding personalized AI avatars to Vids that let users create videos starring a digital version of themselves, alongside Gemini Omni-powered tools for generating and editing videos from prompts and reference images.
- Roblox launches an AI-powered game-creation feature in its mobile appby Lauren Forristal on July 16, 2026
Roblox's new "Build" feature lets users generate basic games using a single text prompt.
- Oil giant BP shutters its corporate venture arm after 20 yearsby Tim De Chant on July 16, 2026
BP Ventures is shutting down, ending a nearly 20-year run that was marked by reportedly lackluster returns.
- Uber’s $14.8B Delivery Hero deal would nearly double its global footprintby Kirsten Korosec on July 16, 2026
Uber has agreed to acquire Delivery Hero in a $14.8 billion all-stock deal that would nearly double the company’s global footprint and create one of the world’s largest food-delivery platforms outside China.
- Newsletter platform Beehiiv now lets subscribers chat with each other, adds AIby Ivan Mehta on July 16, 2026
Beehiiv is launching an AI Copilot to help publishers with user growth and analytics.
- X cracks down on creators who steal contentby Sarah Perez on July 16, 2026
X will use Grok AI to better detect stolen content, redirect payouts to original creators, and crack down on engagement bait.
- AI-powered travel agency Fora hits unicorn status, raises $60Mby Dominic-Madori Davis on July 16, 2026
Travel agency Fora announced a $60 million Series D round led by Forerunner and Tactile Ventures, valuing the company at $1 billion.
- Google continues its renaming streak by turning NotebookLM to Gemini Notebookby Ivan Mehta on July 16, 2026
Google said users can soon access their notebooks through AI Mode in Search.
- Google’s AI Mode now lets you link and interact with select appsby Aisha Malik on July 16, 2026
With this new update, Google is expanding AI Mode beyond answering questions and into completing tasks across the apps they use regularly.
- Yes, you can now order DoorDash from the command lineby Sarah Perez on July 16, 2026
DoorDash is opening a limited beta of dd-cli, a command-line tool that lets developers and AI agents search stores, build carts, and place orders from the terminal, marking another step toward software designed for AI agents instead of just humans.
- UK cops say arrest of two young hackers disrupted the operations of an infamous hacking groupby Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai on July 16, 2026
Owen Flowers and Thalha Jubair, two members of the prolific Scattered Spider hacking group, pleaded guilty and were sentenced to five years and six months in jail for hacking London’s metropolitan transit system.
- Period tracker Stardust shares users’ health data with analytics firm, says Mozilla researchby Zack Whittaker on July 16, 2026
One period tracker app tested by Mozilla was 'squeaky clean,' while another app was seen sharing users' health data with an analytics company, underscoring vast differences in user privacy among these apps.
- Why is OpenAI selling a ChatGPT basketball?by Amanda Silberling on July 16, 2026
You may have heard that OpenAI released its first piece of hardware this week. You may not have heard about the ChatGPT basketball.
- How a former DeepMind researcher raised at a $300M pre-seed valuation before launching a productby Maggie Nye on July 16, 2026
Drawing on more than a decade spent helping build some of the world's most influential AI systems, including research that later informed the development of ChatGPT, Andrew Dai explains why he believes visual AI is one of the next major frontiers in artificial intelligence.
- Sheryl Sandberg leads $10 million investment in AI-powered vehicle inspection serviceby Sean O'Kane on July 16, 2026
The startup, founded in 2021, lets enterprise customers use smartphones to scan and spot vehicle damage.
- Why AMI Labs’ Alexandre LeBrun won’t call his AI ‘AGI’ or ‘superintelligence’by Kate Park on July 16, 2026
While everyone in AI is chasing "superintelligence," Alexandre LeBrun, CEO of Yann LeCun’s world model startup, AMI Labs, dismisses the word.
- Moonshot’s upcoming Kimi 3 is expected to close the gap with Anthropic’s Opus 4.8by Dominic-Madori Davis on July 16, 2026
The FT reports Kimi K3 will be the largest open AI model from China, with a parameter count between 2 trillion and 3 trillion.
- Apple Intelligence approved for launch in China with Alibaba and Baiduby Sarah Perez on July 16, 2026
The deal, which was rumored to be in the works last year, marks an important step for Apple's AI ambitions in a key market.
- Ultrahuman’s former hardware VP raises $5.5M for devices that control AI agents, not just record youby Ivan Mehta on July 16, 2026
Aina is going to pilot a new device in the coming weeks.

