Exclusive: Runway launches $10M fund, Builders program to support early stage AI startups

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

View this email online in your browser  March 31, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Exclusive: Runway launches $10M fund, Builders program to support early stage AI startups: Runway is launching a $10 million fund and startup program to back companies building with its AI video models, as it pushes toward interactive, real-time "video intelligence" applications. Read More Waymo starts robotaxi services at San Antonio International Airport: It's the fourth airport Waymo is serving, adding to Phoenix Sky Harbor, San Francisco, and San Jose International airports. Read More With its new app store, Ring bets on AI to go beyond home security: Ring's app store will allow the company to target broader use cases beyond security, like elder care or business needs. 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 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 Morning Must-Reads Roku launches a standalone app for Howdy, its $2.99 streaming service: With this new app, Roku says subscribers can access Howdy's library of content on the go. Read More Google is now letting users in the US change their Gmail address: Users will be able to change their username only once every 12 months. Plus, they won't be able to delete their new email address for that period of time. Read More Speechify's Windows app uses local models for transcription and dictation: Speechify just launched a native Windows app that employs locally stored models to enable dictation and transcription across apps. Read More Airbnb is introducing a private car pick-up service: Airbnb is partnering with transportation company Welcome Pickups to let users book a private car service during their trip. Read More Popular AI gateway startup LiteLLM ditches controversial startup Delve: LiteLLM had obtained two security compliance certifications via Delve and fell victim to some horrific credential-stealing malware last week. 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 Allbirds is selling for $39 million. It raised nearly 10 times that amount in its IPO.: The collapse of the brand, which was originally venture-backed and that went public in 2021, has been well-documented. 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

Meta starts testing a premium subscription on Instagram

Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories this afternoon

View this email online in your browser  March 30, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Meta starts testing a premium subscription on Instagram: Among the premium features on Instagram is the ability to view a Story without the poster seeing that you viewed it and the option to see how many people have rewatched your Story. Read More Delve whistleblower strikes again, with alleged receipts about 'fake compliance': Shortly after Delve's founder published a lengthy denial of allegations, while promising changes, the accuser came forward with more alleged details. Read More Bluesky's new AI tool Attie is already the most blocked account other than J.D. Vance: More than 125,000 Bluesky users have blocked Attie in just a few days, sending a strong message from the user base. 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 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 Afternoon Must-Reads As more Americans adopt AI tools, fewer say they can trust the results: AI adoption is rising in the U.S., but trust remains low, with most Americans concerned about transparency, regulation, and the technology's broader societal impact, according to a new Quinnipiac poll. Read More The Pixel 10a doesn't have a camera bump, and it's great: The Google Pixel 10a can lay flat on a table, but otherwise the company hasn't brought a ton of upgrades to its newest budget smartphone. Read More Why OpenAI really shut down Sora: OpenAI's decision last week to shut down Sora, its AI video-generation tool, just six months after releasing it to the public, raised immediate suspicions. The app had invited users to upload their own faces — so was this some kind of elaborate data grab? Read More Starcloud raises $170 million Series A to build data centers in space: Starcloud becomes the fastest Y Combinator startup to reach unicorn status, just 17 months after demo day. Read More AI chip startup Rebellions raises $400 million at $2.3B valuation in pre-IPO round: The startup, which is planning to go public later this year, designs chips specifically for AI inference, another challenger to Nvidia's dominance. 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 You missed these chats from Disrupt: Kindred talks home-swapping platform for travelers, Chef Robotics introduces AI into commercial kitchens, and Character.AI addresses chatbot safety with teens. Watch on Cheddar.com Watch on Streaming Last but Not Least ScaleOps raises $130M to improve computing efficiency amid AI demand: ScaleOps just raised $130M to tackle GPU shortages and soaring AI cloud costs by automating infrastructure in real time. 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