Tech

What happens when technology takes the wheel in our love lives? From dating apps and AI-powered matchmaking to full-on digital companionship, artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming a third party in our most personal relationships. But is it truly helping us find deeper connection — or just reshaping romance into an algorithmic illusion? Only on the AI Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt …

One day, Shashwat Murarka sat in his college apartment thinking about his relationship with food delivery. Sometimes, the order never arrived, and he had to wander through his apartment, looking for the misplaced food. Other times, he found himself giving step-by-step directions to confused deliverers who, it seemed, were just as annoyed as he.  “What started as frustration turned into …

Databricks said on Thursday that it is incorporating OpenAI’s models, including GPT-5, into its data platform as well as its AI product, Agent Bricks, as part of a $100 million multi-year deal that bets on the AI company’s ability to bring in enterprise customers. The deal highlights the accelerating race to bring generative AI into the enterprise stack, as companies …

Since it came into effect three years ago, the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) has sought to rein in major tech platforms’ anti-competitive behavior, largely by making it easier for users to switch platforms and move data between devices and apps. Big tech hasn’t been happy with that, of course, and now Apple’s come out swinging against the regulation. …

Spotify on Thursday announced a series of updates to its AI policy, designed to better indicate when AI is being used to make music, to cut down on spam, and to make it clearer that unauthorized voice clones are not permitted on its service. The company says it will adopt an upcoming industry standard for identifying and labeling AI music …

Hardware startup Nothing said Thursday that it plans to make its affordable device brand, CMF, into an independent subsidiary with India serving as its headquarters for manufacturing and R&D. The company first launched CMF in 2023 with a pair of earbuds and a smartwatch. Since then, it has introduced smartphones under the brand as well. Nothing said that it is …

The $100 billion partnership between Nvidia and OpenAI, announced Monday, represents – for now – the latest mega-deal reshaping the AI infrastructure landscape. The agreement involves non-voting shares tied to massive chip purchases and enough computing power for more than 5 million U.S. households, deepening the relationship between two of AI’s most powerful players. Meanwhile, Google Cloud is placing a …

For decades, Silicon Valley has valorized the college dropout. Founders like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg left school early to build companies and became billionaires.  That ethos was later institutionalized through initiatives like the Thiel Fellowship, which famously pays promising students $100,000 to leave college and start companies. For many years, the famed accelerator Y Combinator also quietly …

An Indian court has dismissed an attempt by Elon Musk’s X to challenge the Indian government’s content takedown orders, ruling that the social media platform, as a foreign company, does not have a constitutional right to free speech under Indian law. The Karnataka High Court ruled Wednesday in favor of the Indian government’s use of a centralized online portal to …

The Trump administration last Friday announced a new $100,000 annual levy on H-1B visas, which allow 85,000 skilled foreign workers to enter the U.S. each year. The fee applies to companies hiring these workers, primarily in tech. Veteran venture capitalist Michael Moritz isn’t having it. In a new, scathing Financial Times op-ed, the former Sequoia Capital honcho compares the White …