Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch:
Harness, which uses AI to automate code testing, verification, security, and governance, raised a $240M Series E led by Goldman Sachs at a $5.5B valuation  —  AI DevOps tool Harness, founded in 2017 by serial entrepreneur Jyoti Bansal, is on track to exceed $250 million in annual recurring revenue in 2025, Bansal tells TechCrunch.

Julie Jargon / Wall Street Journal:
OpenAI faces a wrongful death lawsuit from the estate of an 83-year-old woman killed by her son who had engaged in delusion-filled conversations with ChatGPT  —  The estate of victim Suzanne Eberson Adams is suing OpenAI for wrongful death, and her grandson is speaking out for the first time

Tim Dettmers:
An Ai2 research scientist argues that AGI, as commonly conceived, will not emerge because it ignores, among other things, the physical realities of computation  —  If you are reading this, you probably have strong opinions about AGI, superintelligence, and the future of AI.

Patrick O'Shaughnessy / Invest Like The Best on YouTube:
Q&A with investor Gavin Baker of Atreides Management on the economics of AI, data centers in space, mistakes SaaS companies are making in adopting AI, and more  —  In this episode of Invest Like The Best, Patrick O'Shaughnessy sits down with investor Gavin Baker to explore the rapidly evolving AI landscape.

Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch:
Unacademy CEO Gaurav Munjal says the Indian edtech startup's valuation has fallen from its $3.5B peak three years ago to less than $500M, and confirms M&A talks  —  Unacademy, once one of India's best-known edtech startups, may now be worth less than $500 million, 85% less …

Hayden Field / The Verge:
A look at the Model Context Protocol and how it went from a passion project made by Anthropic employees to an industry standard managed by the Linux Foundation  —  Over the past 18 months, the largest AI companies in the world have quietly settled on an approach to building the next generation …

Wall Street Journal:
China's power grid, the world's largest, gives it an edge in the global AI contest, helping Chinese companies develop AI models more cheaply than US competitors  —  Push for power supremacy transforms Inner Mongolia; tech leaders worry about U.S.-China ‘electron gap’

Sam Reynolds / CoinDesk:
a16z crypto says it is expanding to Asia and opening an office in Seoul, calling South Korea the world's second-largest crypto market  —  What to know: … A16z crypto, a venture capital fund of Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), said it is expanding into Asia, opening an office Seoul and hiring Sungmo Park to head operations in the region.

The Economic Times:
Uber launches its B2B logistics service Uber Direct in India with ONDC integration, starting in Bengaluru with grocery deliveries for Zepto and KPN Farm Fresh  —  Uber is broadening its B2B logistics portfolio in India with the introduction of Uber Direct, in partnership with ONDC.

Wall Street Journal:
US investors are boosting Chinese AI-related tech stocks and adding cash to ETFs tracking China's tech sector, as US lawmakers push for tighter capital curbs  —  Lawmakers' push to restrict funding runs into Wall Street's hope of making money from the boom  —  U.S. investors are plowing money …

Ben Elgin / Bloomberg:
Uber discontinues monthly EV bonuses as it scales back key climate efforts after embracing Trump's Big Beautiful Bill, which slashed clean-energy incentives  —  After long pushing for government policies to speed adoption of electric cars, Uber embraced Trump's EV-battering legislation.

Reuters:
JD.com's JingDong Industrials, a supply chain tech and services provider, opened down 7.8% after the company raised ~$383M in its Hong Kong IPO  —  Shares of Jingdong Industrials Inc (7618.HK), a unit of Chinese online retailer JD.com (9618.HK), opened down 7.8% in their Hong Kong Stock Exchange debut …

Cyrus Farivar / Ars Technica:
Operation Bluebird, a Virginia-based startup planning to launch a “Twitter.new” social network, petitions the USPTO to cancel X Corp.'s “abandoned” trademarks  —  A Virginia startup calling itself “Operation Bluebird” announced this week that it has filed a formal petition …

Megan Morrone / Axios:
A Microsoft analysis of 37.5M Copilot conversations from January to September 2025 finds health, career, and relationship topics dominated users' questions  —  People are increasingly turning to Microsoft's Copilot chatbot for advice about their health, careers and relationships, according to data Microsoft first shared with Axios.

Melissa Heikkilä / Financial Times:
Google DeepMind plans to open its “first automated science laboratory” in the UK in 2026, focused on using AI tools to develop new materials for chips and more  —  Big Tech group will work with Sir Keir Starmer's government to enhance AI use across public sector

Reuters:
Sources: the US is working on a settlement that could see ZTE pay $1B+ over alleged foreign bribery from 2018 and earlier; a deal would require China's approval  —  Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE Corp may pay more than $1 billion to the U.S. government to resolve years-old allegations …

Francisco Rodrigues / CoinDesk:
Sei partners with Xiaomi to pre-install its crypto wallet and discovery app on all new Xiaomi phones sold outside mainland China and the US, starting in 2026  —  The app will enable peer-to-peer payments, access to decentralized apps, and Web3 exploration, as well as stablecoin payments in retail stores.

Courtney Rozen / Reuters:
A group of state AGs sent a letter to Meta, Microsoft, Google, Apple, and others warning their chatbots' “delusional outputs” could be violating state laws  —  Microsoft, Meta, Google and Apple were among the 13 companies that received a warning from a bipartisan group of state attorneys general …

Daniel Kuhn / The Block:
The US CFTC grants crypto exchange Gemini a DCM license, allowing it to launch its prediction markets platform Gemini Titan  —  Partner offers  —  Quick Take  — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission granted Gemini a Designated Contract Market license that will support …

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Google tests AI-powered overviews on some publications' Google News pages; publishers like Der Spiegel, El País, and WaPo in commercial partnerships get paid  —  Google is testing AI-powered article overviews on participating publications' Google News pages as part of a new pilot program, the search giant announced on Wednesday.