Surveillance company Flock cuts staff as privacy backlash grows

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

View this email online in your browser  October 09, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Surveillance company Flock cuts staff as privacy backlash grows: Flock would not say if CEO Garrett Langley would take a pay cut following the reduction in workforce. Read More Pretend you're sitting at Elizabeth Holmes' desk on this weirdly detailed website: With over a thousand emails, slides, texts, and documents from the United States v. Elizabeth Holmes trial, Extend engineer Bo Lau created a website that simulates what it might have been like to rifle through the Theranos founder's desk. Read More Ben Affleck is an AI nerd, and the internet is impressed: Ben Affleck is going viral for his deep knowledge of AI, from neural networks and transformers to open weights. The actor, who sold his AI filmmaking startup to Netflix earlier this year, is proving he's more than just a Hollywood star. Read More A message from R1 Healthcare's Revenue Black Box, Decoded The biggest opportunity for AI in healthcare isn't automation, it's observability. R1’s Payer Atlas analyzes payer behavior across millions of interactions to uncover hidden patterns and detect reimbursement risk, helping health systems move from reactive recovery to predictive action.  Discover Payer Atlas  Our biggest event of the year is coming next week, and now's the time to lock in your ticket to learning how to build successfully in the AI era. You'll get expert insights from leaders from Anthropic, Nvidia, OpenAI, Google Cloud, and hundreds of other sessions across three days.  Save 50% on a second ticket, or if you've been laid off recently, get an Expo+ Pass for just $75. Register Now Morning Must-Reads Fired OpenAI safety researchers dispute misconduct claims, warn of chilling effect: Three fired OpenAI safety researchers dispute allegations of mishandling sensitive information, warning in an open letter that their dismissals are creating a chilling effect on the company’s AI safety culture. Read More Xona's commercial GPS alternative is about to go live: Xona's precision timing and navigation service will enter beta testing after SpaceX launches six satellites designed by the company. Read More Google brings agentic AI to Gemini, starting with businesses: Google is turning Gemini into an AI agent that can plan, execute tasks, and work across business apps and systems. The agent can delegate work to subagents, use multiple AI models, and even gets its own workplace identity, complete with an email address. Read More OpenAI's revenue is reportedly $20 billion less than previously projected: It had previously been reported that the AI lab's annualized revenue was some $70 billion, but a new report claims it's a whole lot less than that. Read More President Trump awards Big Tech donors with nation's highest science prizes: Together, the awardees have donated nearly $6 billion to efforts tied to Trump and his administration. Read More A message from RoMADE Fall detection through the WiFi already in the room One in three UK adults over 65 falls each year, yet patients reject cameras and take off wearables. BodySense, from Fan Studio's team in Iasi, turns a room's WiFi into a fall and breathing monitor: no lens, nothing to wear, alerts straight to nurses. Built for the new WiFi sensing standard, it's raising a $2.5M seed for its first pilots. Button CTA: See BodySense See BodySense Last but Not Least OpenAI's math solutions aren't meeting the field's standards yet: OpenAI's flood of proofs deviated from the guidelines set by a group of mathematical researchers consulted by the frontier lab. 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

US bars Microsoft, Adobe, and major IT firms from green card program for skilled foreign workers

Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories this afternoon

View this email online in your browser  October 08, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 US bars Microsoft, Adobe, and major IT firms from green card program for skilled foreign workers: The other firms being suspended from the program include Capgemini, Cognizant, HCL, Infosys, Tata, and Wipro. Read More Ben Affleck is an AI nerd, and the internet is impressed: Ben Affleck is going viral for his deep knowledge of AI, from neural networks and transformers to open weights. The actor, who sold his AI filmmaking startup to Netflix earlier this year, is proving he's more than just a Hollywood star. Read More Elon Musk questions Ambani’s influence as Starlink India launch stalls: “Is Ambani the real boss of India?” Elon Musk asked as he questioned why Starlink has yet to launch its satellite internet service in the country. Read More A message from Virginia Tech Work With Real Industry Partners Virginia Tech M.Eng students join project teams solving a live problem sourced from a real industry partner. Recent teams have worked with real partner organizations on drone detection systems, AI language tools, and defense analytics platforms. Real deadlines, real portfolio. Learn About the M.Eng Our biggest event of the year is coming next week, and now's the time to lock in your ticket to learning how to build successfully in the AI era. You'll get expert insights from leaders from Anthropic, Nvidia, OpenAI, Google Cloud, and hundreds of other sessions across three days.  Save 50% on a second ticket, or if you've been laid off recently, get an Expo+ Pass for just $75. Register Now Afternoon Must-Reads Cal AI's 19-year-old founder just raised $10M for his new AI startup: Zach Yadegari, the teen co-founder of popular Cal AI calorie tracking app, has launched a new personal AI agent startup that competes with Instinct, Muse, and Bee. Read More Natura’s $99 smart ring puts AI agents on your finger: Natura’s $99 Interface smart ring lets you summon AI agents with the press of a finger to complete tasks, capture thoughts, and control devices — while doubling as a health tracker. Read More Pretend you're sitting at Elizabeth Holmes' desk on this weirdly detailed website: With over a thousand emails, slides, texts, and documents from the United States v. Elizabeth Holmes trial, Extend engineer Bo Lau created a website that simulates what it might have been like to rifle through the Theranos founder's desk. Read More OpenAI's revenue is reportedly $20 billion less than previously projected: It had previously been reported that the AI lab's annualized revenue was some $70 billion, but a new report claims it's a whole lot less than that. Read More Google releases a new local-first Granola competitor: Google’s new AI Edge Foresight app takes on Granola with an offline meeting note-taker that can transcribe conversations, generate notes, and answer questions using on-device AI. Read More A message from RoMADE A full back office for creatives, in one subscription Going independent turns artists into accountants, lawyers and marketers overnight. Stay Creative, a Romanian venture, bundles accounting, legal, IP, PR and marketing by partner Brand Agency Media into one subscription: AI agents do the volume, specialists sign off anything risky. The creative stays the CEO. Raising a $1.5M pre-seed at Disrupt. Meet Stay Creative Last but Not Least A startup founder who served time in prison is looking to court an untapped market: ex-cons: Richard Bronson, a former Stratton Oakmont partner who served time in federal prison for securities violations, has launched Commissary Club, a startup that uses AI to help people leaving prison find jobs, housing, community, and even dates. 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