Google just gave Sundar Pichai a $692M pay package

Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories to start your morning

View this email online in your browser  March 09, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Google just gave Sundar Pichai a $692M pay package: Most of it is tied to performance, including new stock incentives linked to Waymo and Wing, its drone delivery venture. Read More Palmer Luckey's retro gaming startup ModRetro reportedly seeks funding at $1B valuation: The company launched its first product, a Game Boy-style handheld device called the Chromatic, in 2024. Read More A roadmap for AI, if anyone will listen: The Pro-Human Declaration was finalized before last week's Pentagon-Anthropic standoff, but the collision of the two events wasn't lost on anyone involved. Read More Disrupt 2026: Where deals and ideas ignite Oct 13–15 at San Francisco's Moscone West, 10,000 founders, investors, and operators gather for high-signal insights, curated connections, and real momentum. Sign up! A message from UK Office for Investment UK Quantum – Accelerating healthcare prevention The UK's National Health Service is already placing quantum at the centre of its preventative healthcare strategy. By 2030, the UK aspires to use quantum sensing to improve early diagnosis and treatment, from cancer screening to enhanced MRI scanning. Learn More Morning Must-Reads Ring's Jamie Siminoff is still trying to calm privacy fears, but his answers may not help: The facial recognition question is where things get more tangled. Read More The 2027 Chevy Bolt is the McRib of the automotive world: TechCrunch drove the 2027 Chevy Bolt and found that incremental improvements build on a solid basic recipe to deliver an affordable EV. Read More OpenAI hardware exec Caitlin Kalinowski quits in response to Pentagon deal: Hardware executive Caitlin Kalinowski announced today that in response to OpenAI's controversial agreement with the Department of Defense, she's resigned from her role leading the company's robotics team. Read More TechCrunch Mobility: Rivian's R2 gambit: Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, your hub for all things "future of transportation."  Read More Zoox starts mapping Dallas and Phoenix for its robotaxis: It's a precursor to launching robotaxis in those cities, though the Amazon-owned company is still waiting for federal approval to commercially operate its purpose-built AV. Read More A message from Stripe Complimentary pass to Sessions with code s26techcrunch100 Join Stripe at Sessions 2026—the internet economy conference—happening April 29–30 in San Francisco. Join fellow business leaders, founders, and developers to explore the latest in financial technology, global commerce, and strategies for growth. Register with code s26techcrunch100 for a complimentary pass. Register Now Last but Not Least Owner of ICE detention facility sees big opportunity in AI man camps: AI data center developers are increasingly relying on a style of camp popularized as housing for men working in remote oil fields. Read More Check out some of our other newsletters: StrictlyVC TechCrunch Events TechCrunch Mobility Want to adjust your daily newsletter schedule? You can do it right here Got a tip? Get in touch securely. Want to advertise on TechCrunch? advertise@techcrunch.com Has this been forwarded to you? Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. Unsubscribe Member Center Privacy Policy Copyright © 2026 TechCrunch Media LLC 501 2nd Street, Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94107

OpenAI robotics lead Caitlin Kalinowski quits in response to Pentagon deal

Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories this weekend

View this email online in your browser  March 08, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 OpenAI robotics lead Caitlin Kalinowski quits in response to Pentagon deal: Hardware executive Caitlin Kalinowski announced today that in response to OpenAI's controversial agreement with the Department of Defense, she's resigned from her role leading the company's robotics team. Read More Google just gave Sundar Pichai a $692M pay package: Most of it is tied to performance, including new stock incentives linked to Waymo and Wing, its drone delivery venture. Read More OpenAI delays ChatGPT's 'adult mode' again: The feature, which will give verified adult users access to erotica and other adult content, had already been delayed from December. Read More Sunday Must-Reads India PC shipments surpass pandemic peak as first-time users upgrade: Pandemic-driven lockdowns exposed many people in India to PCs for the first time, expanding the country's PC userbase and creating demand for upgrades as those devices age. Read More Anthropic's Claude found 22 vulnerabilities in Firefox over two weeks: In a recent security partnership with Mozilla, Anthropic found 22 separate vulnerabilities in Firefox — 14 of them classified as "high-severity." Read More Nintendo sues the US government for a refund on tariffs: This lawsuit comes after a Supreme Court decision struck down some of the president's sweeping tariffs, which had impacted Nintendo and thousands of other companies. Read More Microsoft, Google, Amazon say Anthropic Claude remains available to non-defense customers: Trump's Department of War feud with Anthropic won't impact other companies that are using Claude via Microsoft and Google products. Read More Robinhood's startup fund stumbles in NYSE debut: The fund currently offers retail investors exposure to eight startups, including Mercor, Ramp, and Stripe, with plans to expand its portfolio. Read More Disrupt 2026: Where deals and ideas ignite Oct 13–15 at San Francisco's Moscone West, 10,000 founders, investors, and operators gather for high-signal insights, curated connections, and real momentum. Sign up! Last but Not Least Claude's consumer growth surge continues after Pentagon deal debacle: Claude's app is now seeing more new installs than ChatGPT and is growing its daily active users. Read More Check out some of our other newsletters: StrictlyVC TechCrunch Events TechCrunch Mobility Want to adjust your daily newsletter schedule? You can do it right here Got a tip? Get in touch securely. Want to advertise on TechCrunch? advertise@techcrunch.com Has this been forwarded to you? Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. Unsubscribe Member Center Privacy Policy Copyright © 2026 TechCrunch Media LLC 501 2nd Street, Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94107