Digg's re-launch emphasizes trusted AI social communities, Solana's co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko's support for agentic coding and Box CEO Aaron Levie's views on AI transforming enterprise SaaS highlight AI's growing impact, while **Nvidia's historic $5 trillion valuation underscores its market dominance despite Meta's AI training data controversy and Character.AI ending its chatbot for kids**.

• Digg founder Kevin Rose on the need for trusted social communities in the AI era — TechCrunch -
• Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko is a big fan of agentic coding — TechCrunch -
• Meta denies torrenting porn to train AI, says downloads were for “personal use” — Ars Technica -

• Box CEO Aaron Levie on how AI is changing the enterprise SaaS landscape — TechCrunch -
• ElevenLabs CEO says AI audio models will be ‘commoditized’ over time — TechCrunch -
• How AI labs use Mercor to get the data companies won’t share — TechCrunch -
• Nvidia becomes first public company worth $5 trillion — TechCrunch -
• Nvidia hits record $5 trillion mark as CEO dismisses AI bubble concerns — Ars Technica -
• US signs collaboration agreements with Japan and South Korea for AI, chips, and biotech — TechCrunch -
• Character.AI is ending its chatbot experience for kids — TechCrunch -
• Grammarly rebrands to ‘Superhuman,’ launches a new AI assistant — TechCrunch -
• Phia’s founders on how AI is changing online shopping — TechCrunch -

NPM's flood of malicious packages and LG Uplus's confirmed cybersecurity incident raise software supply chain and telecom security alarms, while ICE's forced face scans and Republican plans to deanonymize census data spark major privacy concerns, alongside a former L3Harris boss pleading guilty to selling zero-day exploits and Tata Motors fixing security flaws.

• NPM flooded with malicious packages downloaded more than 86,000 times — Ars Technica -
• ICE’s forced face scans to verify citizens is unconstitutional, lawmakers say — Ars Technica -
• Former L3Harris Trenchant boss pleads guilty to selling zero-day exploits to Russian broker — TechCrunch -

• New physical attacks are quickly diluting secure enclave defenses from Nvidia, AMD, and Intel — Ars Technica -
• Republican plan would make deanonymization of census data trivial — Ars Technica -
• CEO of spyware maker Memento Labs confirms one of its government customers was caught using its malware — TechCrunch -
• LG Uplus is latest South Korean telco to confirm cybersecurity incident — TechCrunch -
• Tata Motors confirms it fixed security flaws, which exposed company and customer data — TechCrunch -

YouTube's voluntary exit program and GM's thousands of EV and battery factory worker cuts reflect workforce shifts, as Microsoft Azure experiences a significant outage and Google plans to reactivate a nuclear power plant for data centers, amidst Bending Spoons acquiring AOL and Fubo combining with Hulu Live TV.

• YouTube announces ‘voluntary exit program’ for US staff — TechCrunch -
• Microsoft Azure is down, affecting 365, Xbox, Minecraft, and others — TechCrunch -
• GM cuts thousands of EV and battery factory workers — TechCrunch -

• Google to bring shuttered nuclear power plant back from the dead — TechCrunch -
• Bending Spoons to acquire AOL — TechCrunch -
• It’s official: Fubo is combining with Hulu Live TV — TechCrunch -
• Etsy names former head of Depop, Kruti Patel Goyal, as its new CEO — TechCrunch -

Glĭč wins Startup Battlefield at Disrupt 2025 for streamlining cargo logistics, while 2024 runner-up geCKo Materials debuts new products, reflecting the vibrant TechCrunch Disrupt event that also featured actor Thomas Middleditch and announced its finalists and winner.

• And the winner of Startup Battlefield at Disrupt 2025 is: Glīd — TechCrunch -
• 2024’s Startup Battlefield runner-up geCKo Materials reveals four new products at TechCrunch Disrupt — TechCrunch -
• TechCrunch Disrupt 2025: How to watch the Startup Battlefield finale, Cluely, Solana, SF’s mayor — TechCrunch -

• TechCrunch Disrupt 2025: Day 3 — TechCrunch -
• Here are the 5 Startup Battlefield finalists at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 — TechCrunch -
• ‘Silicon Valley’ star Thomas Middleditch makes a surprise appearance at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 — TechCrunch -

NBA champion Tristan Thompson launches community-owned network Uplift with World Mobile, YouTube updates its TV app with AI upscaling and shopping QR codes, while Uber plans a premium robotaxi service in San Francisco and MoviePass opens its film fantasy league Mogul to the public.

• NBA champion Tristan Thompson and World Mobile launch community-owned network Uplift — TechCrunch -
• TV-focused YouTube update brings AI upscaling, shopping QR codes — Ars Technica -
• YouTube looks to improve its TV app with QR codes for shopping, AI-powered upscaling — TechCrunch -

• MoviePass opens fantasy league game Mogul to the public — TechCrunch -
• Uber to launch a premium robotaxi service in Waymo’s turf of San Francisco — TechCrunch -

FCC Republicans' decision to increase prisoner phone call costs faces criticism, while San Francisco's mayor advocates for the city as a testbed for emerging tech, including autonomous vehicles.

• FCC Republicans force prisoners and families to pay more for phone calls — Ars Technica -
• San Francisco mayor: ‘We should be the testbed for emerging tech’ — TechCrunch -

Astronauts on the space station are eager to open a "golden treasure box" from Japan, while NASA races to keep Artemis II on schedule despite worker payment issues, and Mazda showcases a rotary hybrid concept with advanced design and sustainable fuel ideas.

• Space station astronauts eager to open “golden treasure box” from Japan — Ars Technica -
• NASA races to keep Artemis II on schedule, even when workers aren’t being paid — Ars Technica -
• Mazda shows a rotary hybrid concept for Tokyo with evolved design language — Ars Technica -

Flipkart's Super.money partners with Kotak811 to monetize India's free UPI payments by issuing fixed-deposit-backed credit cards.

• Flipkart’s Super.money teams up with Kotak811 to make India’s free UPI payments pay — TechCrunch -