TechCrunch Top 3

Thinking Machines amps up its bet against one-size-fits-all AI with its first open model, Inkling: It's the company's first public proof point after a year and a half spent building AI infrastructure largely out of public view. Read More

Microsoft patches bug in video game Age of Empires II: The vulnerability in the decades-old game could have allowed hackers to take over victims’ computers with a malicious game invite. Read More

Amid hardware legal battle, OpenAI releases a $230 keyboard for Codex: OpenAI, which is in the middle of a legal battle with Apple over hardware trade theft allegations, just released a light-up keyboard designed to be paired with its agentic coding app. Read More

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Afternoon Must-Reads

Microsoft patches record number of security vulnerabilities, citing its use of AI: Microsoft's monthly release of security fixes, dubbed Patch Tuesday, resolved a record 570 security vulnerabilities across the company's product line, thanks to discoveries with AI. Read More

Anthropic, Blackstone bet the next trillion-dollar AI business is implementation, not just models: Anthropic-backed Ode launches as AI labs bet that embedding forward-deployed engineers inside enterprises is the key to accelerating enterprise AI adoption. Read More

Tesla driver in fatal Texas crash pressed accelerator 100%, NTSB confirms: The safety board confirmed Tesla's account of the crash, which the company shared days after it happened last month. Read More

A SpaceX vet raised $65M to pull wire harnesses out of the Cold War era: Someone has to bundle all the wires that go into rockets, missiles, and satellites. Read More

Backed by $60M in funding, Oak steps out of stealth to fix the identity mess that AI agents are making worse: Co-founded by serial entrepreneur Shai Morag, Israeli identity management startup Oak is emerging out of stealth with $60 million in seed funding. Read More

Last but Not Least

Whatnot acquires Shaped to power real-time live shopping recommendations: Livestream shopping platform Whatnot has acquired AI startup Shaped, a machine learning company focused on real-time recommendations and search. The deal will bolster Whatnot’s personalization and discovery features as it expands into new product categories. Read More