Self-driving trucks are officially testing on California highways

Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories this weekend

View this email online in your browser  August 16, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Self-driving trucks are officially testing on California highways: Aurora Innovation and Kodiak AI, two companies developing self-driving trucks, have received permits from the California Department of Motor Vehicles. Read More Woman claims her stepfather used Grok to transform childhood photo into explicit imagery: The woman claimed that AI tools are "taking everyday life and turning it into child sexual abuse." Read More SpaceX officially closes its Cursor acquisition: AI coding startup Cursor is now officially a part of SpaceX. Read More Sunday Must-Reads Anthropic shares more details about how Claude’s new watermarks will work: How will the watermarking actually work? Can it be hidden with editing? And how does this affect code? Read More Talks to sell PayPal to Stripe and Advent are heating up: PayPal is still reportedly negotiating a potential sale to Stripe and private equity firm Advent, as the fintech firm's new CEO attempts to turn the company around. Read More Google will now allow users to remove visible watermark from its AI generations: Turning off this setting won't affect invisible benchmarks used to identify an AI generated file. Read More How to tell if your AI platforms’ accounts have been hacked: A guide on how to check if hackers have broken into your accounts on the most popular AI platforms. Read More 7 desk gadgets that can make your workday better: The right desk gadgets can help you reduce clutter, stay focused, and add a little extra convenience to your day. 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. Register Now! Last but Not Least Read-it-later app Pocket shut down — here are the best alternatives: Pocket users have until October 8, 2025, to export their saved articles and other items, including lists, archives, favorites, notes, and highlights. 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

Apple proposes to take a 15% cut of purchases made outside the App Store

Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories this afternoon

View this email online in your browser  August 14, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Apple proposes to take a 15% cut of purchases made outside the App Store: Apple is asking a federal judge to allow it to charge commissions of up to 15% on purchases made through external links in iOS apps. Read More If Apple sends you a push notification alerting you to a spyware attack, take it seriously: Apple now sends out push notifications to iPhone lock screens when the company identifies government spyware targeting someone's devices. Read More Hyperscalers might regret embracing natural gas if new forecast proves correct: Natural gas prices could triple in some parts of the U.S., which could saddle hyperscalers with massive bills to power their AI data centers. Read More Afternoon Must-Reads Read-it-later app Pocket shut down — here are the best alternatives: Pocket users have until October 8, 2025, to export their saved articles and other items, including lists, archives, favorites, notes, and highlights. Read More Uber and Pony.ai plan to bring 2,000 robotaxis to Europe: The partnership is expanding beyond the initial market of Zagreb, Croatia to four additional European cities. Read More Google will now allow users to remove visible watermark from its AI generations: Turning off this setting won't affect invisible benchmarks used to identify an AI generated file. Read More Thrive's Joshua Kushner chides Silicon Valley VCs over AI euphoria: The AI opportunity is huge, but "it would also be a grave error in our minds to let excitement weaken our investment discipline," Kushner warns in his first-ever investment letter. Read More What we know about the alleged Iranian hacks on US water utilities: Over the last couple of weeks, hackers have targeted and broken into the systems of several water plants in the United States. Here’s what we know and don’t know about this wave of attacks allegedly carried out by the Iranian government. Read More Last but Not Least US courts will start publishing how often the government uses spyware: The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts told TechCrunch that it will start disclosing how many times judges authorized the use of spyware to wiretap suspected criminals. 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