January 22, 2026

TechCrunch Top 3

Tesla launches robotaxi rides in Austin with no human safety driver: Not all of Tesla's fleet in Austin will be fully driverless. Per Tesla's AI lead Ashok Elluswamy, the company will be "starting with a few unsupervised vehicles mixed in with the broader robotaxi fleet with safety monitors, and the ratio will increase over time." Read More

Microsoft 365 hit by outage, preventing access to emails and files: An hours-long outage is preventing Microsoft's enterprise customers from accessing their inboxes, files, and video meetings. Read More

Google now offers free SAT practice exams, powered by Gemini: Students can prompt Gemini by typing "I want to take a practice SAT test," and the AI will provide them with a free practice exam. Gemini then analyzes the results, highlighting strengths and identifying areas that need further review. It also offers detailed explanations for any incorrect answers. Read More

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Afternoon Must-Reads

Google DeepMind CEO is 'surprised' OpenAI is rushing forward with ads in ChatGPT: Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis says the tech giant isn't pressuring him to insert ads into the AI chatbot experience. Read More

Google snags team behind AI voice startup Hume AI: Google has hired the CEO and top engineer behind voice AI startup Hume AI, signaling that voice is increasingly becoming the preferred interface over screens. Read More

Snapchat gives parents new insights into teens' screen time and friends: With these new features, Snap is likely looking to appease regulators and parents over concerns about safety and screen time on its platform. Read More

Google's AI Mode can now tap into your Gmail and Photos to provide tailored responses: The company notes that AI Mode doesn't train directly on your Gmail inbox or Google Photos library. Instead, it trains on specific prompts and the model's responses. Read More

Here's what you should know about the US TikTok deal: A number of investors are competing for the opportunity to purchase the app, and if a deal were to go through, the platform's U.S. business could have its valuation soar to upward of $60 billion. Read More

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Disrupt 2026 tickets are live and at the lowest rates

Disrupt tickets are officially on sale at the lowest rates of the year. Lock in Super Early Bird pricing plus 50% off a second ticket of the same type, available to the first 500 registrants or until Jan 31. Join 10,000+ founders, investors, and operators for curated networking, hear from 250+ speakers across 200+ sessions, and demo innovations for 300+ startups Oct 13–15 in San Francisco.

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.

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Last but Not Least

Anthropic has to keep revising its technical interview test as Claude improves: The issue of AI cheating is already wreaking havoc at schools and universities around the world, so it's ironic that AI labs are having to deal with it too. But Anthropic is also uniquely well-equipped to deal with the problem. Read More