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5 天前

CES 2026 was all about “physical AI” and robots, robots, robots

After years of chatbots and image generators, AI is finally leaving the screen. At CES 2026, that shift became impossible to ignore. The annual tech showcase in Las Vegas was dominated by "physical AI" and robotics, from Boston Dynamic's newly redesigned Atlas humanoid robot to AI-powered ice makers (yes, really). The companies in attendance clearly want consumers to know: AI isn't just capable of answering questions anymore. It's ready to movecar parts in factories, catchcatching drones with net guns, and dance in automaker booths. Today on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O’Kane break down everything we saw at CES 2026 and more deals from the week that caught our eye. Listen to the full episode to hear about: Discord’s rumored IPO, years after shutting down a Microsoft acquisition xAI's massive $20 billion raise and the dark side of Grok's content moderation failures How Mobileye is getting into the humanoid robotics game with its acquisition of Mentee Robotics OpenAI's potential shift toward audio-first, screenless AI experiences Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 00:38 - Discord's surprise IPO filing 03:24 - xAI's $20B raise amid CSAM controversy 11:06 - Mobileye's pivot to humanoid robotics 14:41 - Physical AI takes over CES 18:31 - Why humanoid robots still don't make sense 24:26 - OpenAI's war on screens and ambient computing 29:56 - Wrap-up Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

5 天前

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34 分鐘
1月2日

How AI is reshaping work and who gets to do it, according to Mercor's CEO

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1月2日

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25 分鐘
1月7日

Investing in the consumer AI products OpenAI ‘won’t want to kill’

Vanessa Larco, partner at Premise and former partner at NEA, thinks 2026 will finally be the year of consumer AI. Larco, who's been investing in consumer and prosumer for years, thinks we're about to see a shift in how consumers spend time online, with AI powering “concierge-like” services. The question is, will legacy consumer products like WebMD and TripAdvisor continue to exist as standalone apps, or will they just get absorbed into ChatGPT or Meta AI? And where can startups carve out an AI-powered niche for themselves? Today on TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan sat down with Larco to talk about why consumer is back, what OpenAI won't kill, and where the real opportunities are hiding. Listen to the full episode to hear about: Why Larco thinks OpenAI won't build marketplace businesses that require managing real humans. Larco’s take on "disposable software" and why AI apps “should be treated like Word docs.” How Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses turned Larco into a believer in voice interfaces (and why she thinks screens are optional for most tasks). More predictions for 2026, including another huge year for M&A. What new business models stablecoins could unlock. 00:00 - Introduction 00:53 - Why founders are excited about consumer again 04:40 - The moat against OpenAI: Managing real humans 09:22 - Apps as disposable as Word docs 12:48 - Social media in the AI era 18:48 - Meta Ray-Bans and why wearables are actually good 23:35 - Stablecoins and consumer fintech opportunities 26:54 - M&A predictions for 2026 Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1月7日

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32 分鐘
2025/12/19

Hardware's brutal week: iRobot, Luminar, and Rad Power go bankrupt

The hardware world had a brutal week, with iRobot, Luminar, and Rad Power Bikes all filing for bankruptcy. Each company faces its own mix of tariff pressures, supply chain issues, and shifting markets, but together they tell a larger story about the challenges of building physical products in an era of global trade tensions and cheap overseas competition. From the Roomba maker that almost got acquired by Amazon to the e-bike company that couldn't escape its Chinese supply chain, this week's bankruptcies are a warning sign for hardware startups everywhere. Today on TechCrunch's Equity podcast, hosts Anthony Ha, Rebecca Bellan, and Sean O'Kane discuss what went wrong for three once-promising hardware companies, plus Amazon's massive OpenAI bet and Trump's new approach to AI regulation. Listen to the full episode to hear more news from the week, including: How "slop" became Merriam-Webster's word of the year — and why it's become bigger than just AI-generated content Why Databricks raised $10 billion at a $134 billion valuation (in a Series L!) instead of just going public already The Coursera-Udemy merger and whether online course platforms can survive the AI era Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction 00:24 - AI slop is Merriam-Webster's word of the year 06:07 - Amazon's $10 billion OpenAI investment 10:43 - Databricks raises $10 billion in a Series L 14:14 - Coursera acquires Udemy 19:17 - Hardware bankruptcies: iRobot, Luminar, and Rad Power Bikes 26:21 - Trump's AI executive order targets state regulation Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025/12/19

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33 分鐘
2025/12/24

Why the operating room is ripe for AI, according to Akara

There's plenty of hype around AI and robots in healthcare, but the problem that's actually costing hospitals money right now is operating room coordination. Two to four hours of OR time is lost every single day, not because of the surgeries themselves, but because of everything in between from manual scheduling and coordination chaos to guesswork about room turnover. Today on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, we're bringing you a conversation that TechCrunch AI Editor Russell Brandom had with Conor McGinn, co-founder and CEO of Akara, the startup that recently landed a spot on Time's Best Inventions of 2025 and is building what’s essentially air traffic control for hospitals using thermal sensors and AI. Listen to the full episode to hear: Why Akara pivoted from cleaning robots to ambient sensing, and how thermal sensors document surgeries without privacy concerns How NHS vetting became McGinn's backdoor into US hospitals The real bottleneck holding back medical robotics. (Spoiler: it's not the robots, it's the infrastructure) Why 40% of the nursing workforce could leave in the next five years, and what that means for automation Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction 00:54 - Air traffic control for ORs 02:35 - Where hospitals lose hours daily 03:54 - Selling into risk-averse hospitals 06:21 - Thermal sensors and edge AI 09:11 - NHS as proof of concept 13:16 - The AI under the hood 18:12 - Privacy benefits of thermal 21:22 - Infrastructure before robots Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025/12/24

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27 分鐘
2025/12/26

Equity's 2026 Predictions: AI Agents, Blockbuster IPOs, and the Future of VC

TechCrunch's Equity crew is bringing 2025 to a close and getting ahead on the year to come with our annual predictions episode! Hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Rebecca Bellan were joined by Build Mode host Isabelle Johansson to dissect the year's biggest tech developments, from mega AI funding rounds that defied expectations to the rise of "physical AI," and make their calls for 2026. The group tackles everything from why AI agents didn't live up to the hype in 2025 (but probably will in 2026), to how Hollywood will push back against AI-generated content, to why VCs are facing a serious liquidity crisis. Listen to the full episode to hear: Why world models are the next big thing in AI and how they're different from large language models The death of "stealth mode" for AI startups and the rise of alternative funding sources Predictions on regulatory chaos around AI policy and what Trump's recent executive order means for startups Hot takes on IPOs: Will OpenAI and Anthropic actually go public in 2026? Rapid-fire predictions including Johnny Ive and Sam Altman's inevitable public breakup, the return of dumb phones, and why everyone will be calling themselves "AI native" What's coming in Build Mode season 2: A deep dive into team building, hiring, and finding co-founders Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction 01:43 - Rating our 2025 predictions 04:19 - Funding in the bubble era 06:35 - World models and the future of AI 09:05 - The year of AI agents (for real this time) 11:58 - Physical AI everywhere 15:19 - AI meets Hollywood 16:25 - Regulatory chaos and federal preemption 18:34 - The liquidity crisis and LP direct investing 22:19 - IPO predictions for 2026 23:57 - Startup trends for 2026 27:06 - Buzzwords we're sick of hearing 28:15 - Rapid fire predictions 32:50 - What's next for Build Mode Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025/12/26

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35 分鐘
2025/12/31

Fizz CEO on why anonymous social is winning with Gen Z

Fizz is betting that Gen Z is tired of performing their lives on Instagram and TikTok. What started as a pandemic-era group chat frustration has turned into the dominant social platform on college campuses across the US, focused on the 99% of life that doesn't make it into a highlight reel. Capturing the attention of a demographic typically glued to Instagram and TikTok, the app's hybrid anonymous model and hyperlocal focus has made it what Solomon calls "the biggest college social app since Facebook.” Today we're bringing you a conversation that Dominic Madori Davis had with Fizz’s co-founder and CEO Teddy Solomon from this year's Disrupt, digging into why he thinks social media stopped being social. Listen to the full episode to hear: Why Solomon thinks Instagram and TikTok became pure entertainment platforms, and why that created an opening How Fizz uses 7,000 volunteer student moderators plus AI to keep the platform safe The company's expansion strategy beyond college and what "Global Fizz" actually means Solomon’s case for why New York is a better place to build a consumer company than San Francisco Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction 01:34 - What broke in social media 04:03 - Building for the 99% of life 07:29 - Content moderation at scale 11:16 - The risks of anonymous social 13:22 - Pandemic origins and IRL community 16:49 - Why the company moved to New York 19:45 - Scaling with "arguably the most retentive social product in history" 21:32 - Almost getting arrested at Pepperdine…for donuts 26:09 - The future of social media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025/12/31

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33 分鐘
2025/10/17

From SB 243 to ChatGPT: Why it's ‘not cool to be cautious’ about AI

Silicon Valley’s rule? It’s not cool to be cautious. As OpenAI removes guardrails and VCs criticize companies like Anthropic for supporting AI safety regulations, it’s becoming clearer who the industry thinks should shape AI development. On this episode of Equity, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Max Zeff discuss how the line between innovation and responsibility is getting blurrier, plus what happens when pranks go from digital to physical. Listen to the full episode to hear about: The real-world DDoS attack that blocked Waymo service for a day near a dead-end San Francisco street Goldman Sachs acquiring Industry Ventures for up to $965 million, signaling Wall Street's growing interest in the secondary venture market FleetWorks' $17 million Series A to modernize trucking with AI Why advocating for AI safety has become "uncool" in Silicon Valley from Anthropic facing backlash to California's SB 243 regulation of AI companion chatbots and the success of companies like Character.AI Which startups are using an SEC workaround to file for IPOs during the shutdown Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday. Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025/10/17

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30 分鐘
2025/10/24

OpenAI wants to power your browser, and that could be a security nightmare

The browser wars are heating up again, this time with AI in the driver’s seat. OpenAI just launched Atlas, a ChatGPT-powered browser that lets users surf the web using natural language and even includes an “agent mode” that can complete tasks autonomously. It’s one of the biggest browser launches in recent memory, but it's debuting with an unsolved security flaw that could expose passwords, emails, and sensitive data. On TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Max Zeff, Anthony Ha and Sean O’Kane break down Atlas’s debut, the broader wave of alternative browsers, and more of the week’s startup and tech news. Listen to the full episode to hear about: Why Rivian spinoff Also just landed a massive deal with Amazon for thousands of pedal-assist cargo vehicles (and why the name is a nightmare to say in conversation) How Sesame, the conversational AI startup from Oculus founders, raised $250M for a product that doesn't really exist yet The AWS outage that broke much of the web, turned Eight Sleep mattresses into temperature nightmares, and exposed just how fragile the internet really is The alternative browsers that either embrace or push back against AI-everything, from privacy-focused options like DuckDuckGo and Brave to "mindful" browsers like Opera Air Subscribe to Equity on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025/10/24

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31 分鐘
2025/10/22

Sam Altman’s eye-scanning startup wants to prove humanity in the age of AI bots

Ever wonder if you’re talking to a real person online or just another bot? As bots increasingly outnumber humans online, leading to an explosion of deepfakes and AI-driven fraud, one company has a solution straight out of sci-fi: scanning your iris to verify your identity. Today on TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan spoke with Adrian Ludwig, Chief Security Officer and Chief Architect at Tools for Humanity, the company behind World’s eye-scanning Orbs appearing around the globe. Bellan and Ludwig discuss building privacy-first identity verification, the open-source approach to biometric tech, and why proving humanity matters now more than ever. Listen to the full episode to hear: How zero-knowledge proofs verify that you're over 18 (or human) without revealing your location, browsing history, or other identifying information. Why Tools for Humanity open-sourced the entire Orb — from hardware to firmware and software. How Match Group, Event Pop, and other major platforms are partnering up to combat bot abuse. Subscribe to Equity on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025/10/22

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27 分鐘

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CES 2026 was all about “physical AI” and robots, robots, robots

How AI is reshaping work and who gets to do it, according to Mercor's CEO

Investing in the consumer AI products OpenAI ‘won’t want to kill’

Hardware's brutal week: iRobot, Luminar, and Rad Power go bankrupt

Why the operating room is ripe for AI, according to Akara

Equity's 2026 Predictions: AI Agents, Blockbuster IPOs, and the Future of VC

Fizz CEO on why anonymous social is winning with Gen Z

From SB 243 to ChatGPT: Why it's ‘not cool to be cautious’ about AI

OpenAI wants to power your browser, and that could be a security nightmare

Sam Altman’s eye-scanning startup wants to prove humanity in the age of AI bots

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