Techin' Geek

Here we go. The timer is nearly up. You now have until tonight at 11:59 p.m. PT to secure Early Bird discounts of up to $410 for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 before rates rise.

If Disrupt has been on your agenda, this is your last opportunity to lock in the lowest rates available before the next price increase. After this deadline, the savings will also be gone.

Sign up now and join over 10,000 founders, investors, operators, and innovators at Moscone West in San Francisco from October 13–15 for three days filled with networking, startup exploration, and dialogues shaping the tech industry’s future. Bring a guest at 50% off, or form a group to receive up to 30% off.

Why Disrupt is a Must-Attend Event Year After Year

TechCrunch Disrupt is the place where startup energy intensifies. The gathering connects individuals actively creating, financing, and expanding what’s next in AI, fintech, SaaS, climate, cybersecurity, consumer tech, and more.

Participants attend Disrupt for:

• Direct engagement with investors, founders, and operators making impactful moves.
• Discussions that foster partnerships, funding opportunities, and recruitments.
• Practical advice from leaders of high-growth companies.
• A sneak peek at cutting-edge technologies before they go mainstream.

With over 300 exhibiting startups, Startup Battlefield 200, tailored networking opportunities, and several programming stages, Disrupt is structured to assist attendees in forming significant connections and making real business advancements.

Crafted for those shaping the future

Disrupt caters to founders seeking investment, investors on the lookout for opportunities, operators scaling their firms, and innovators aiming for an advantage. Whether you’re launching the next big idea, enlarging your network, or following technological advancements, Disrupt connects you with industry leaders.

Gain insights directly from industry-leading tech figures

Every year, Disrupt unites hundreds of significant voices from the startup and venture capital landscape. Previous speakers have represented organizations and firms influencing the future of AI, enterprise software, fintech, consumer tech, and additional fields.

This year’s event will continue the tradition of excellence, featuring over 200 sessions on six industry-specific stages, along with roundtables and breakout sessions addressing scaling, AI, fintech, infrastructure, robotics, and emerging tech. Discover the evolving agenda for the latest updates on sessions and speakers.

Confirmed speakers include:

Up to $410 in savings end tonight at 11:59 p.m. PT

Early Bird discounts of up to $410 end tonight at 11:59 p.m. PT. Following this, ticket prices will rise.

Register now to obtain your TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 pass at a reduced price before the cutoff time. Bringing more than just yourself? Receive a 50% discount on a second ticket, or save up to 30% on community passes.

At the beginning of this month, I acquired the Kiwibit Bird Feeder Pro 4K AI Camera, and it has quickly turned into my favorite accessory for the backyard. 

The setup process is quite simple. Several mounting choices enable you to position the feeder on a pole, the edge of a window, or a tree. The two seed compartments are engineered for simple refills and easy cleaning. The solar panel on top guarantees that you won’t have to stress about battery life.

Strength and camera performance are also noteworthy highlights. Additional specifications include compatibility with 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, cloud storage, integrated two-way audio complete with a microphone and speaker, and a 130-degree wide-angle lens.

Once I set it up in the yard, I linked the feeder to the corresponding Kiwibit app on my smartphone. In this app, you can receive notifications when a bird appears, view recordings, and monitor all the visits.

A few weeks into the trial period is when the real enjoyment began. My phone chimed with a notification each time a new bird arrived, and I found myself excitedly anticipating updates. Even during very rainy days, I managed to attract a handful of birds, including a beautiful northern cardinal that I now look forward to seeing every morning. At the time of writing this, the device has successfully documented visits from six different species. 

Since then, I’ve been hooked. I find myself eagerly checking the app every morning to see which little bird has visited. I share the videos with nearly everyone I know as if they were my own pets. One funny notification I frequently receive is “a nuisance animal detected” whenever squirrels raid my birdseed supply (which occurs as regularly as you’d think). 

The app employs Kiwibit’s exclusive bird-identification algorithm to recognize over 10,000 bird species, including blue jays, ravens, and mourning doves. The Activity tab is especially beneficial, as it logs the number of “visits” recorded, videos saved, and total species seen. You can also browse through the calendar to check specific days. The Birds tab provides extensive information on each species, including detailed descriptions sourced from Wikipedia.

However, I did observe that the system — which usually is priced between $179.99 to $249.99, based on the model — sometimes struggles with accurately counting “visits.” For instance, if a house sparrow feeds in front of the camera for several minutes, the AI might mistakenly log it as numerous visits, even if the bird hasn’t moved considerably. 

In conclusion, using the Kiwibit Bird Feeder Pro has been a joy. If you’re searching for a method to engage with nature while having fun collecting bird species like Pokémon, give this intelligent feeder a try. Just be ready for all the squirrels to show up as well. 

AI’s biggest champions have argued for some time that the technology will usher in an era of unprecedented productivity gains, richly rewarding workers who harness it while displacing those who don’t.

Zeb Evans, CEO of the collaboration software startup ClickUp, claims that this shift is imminent. Last Thursday, Evans announced on X that the company, which was last valued in 2021 at $4 billion, had laid off 22% of its workforce yet characterized that reduction as not a cost-cutting measure, but rather a radical embrace of AI that will propel the company to the next level.

“Most savings from this change will flow directly back into the people who stay. We’ll be introducing million-dollar salary bands. If you create outsized impact using AI, you’ll be paid outside of traditional bands,” Evans wrote.

ClickUp recently introduced roughly 3,000 internal AI agents to handle a wide range of complex tasks on behalf of its employees, according to a Fortune article published several days ago. Instead of performing the work themselves, staff members are now expected to direct these agents and ultimately review the output to ensure it meets the company’s standards.

Evans’s goal, according to his X post, is for AI to turbocharge ClickUp into a “100x org.”  

ClickUp is not alone in its hope that AI agents will provide massive productivity gains.

In fact, according to a recent Gartner survey, about 80% of companies using autonomous tech have cut jobs. However, the study found that workforce reductions aren’t necessarily translating into meaningful financial returns.

While Gartner’s findings suggest some companies use unproven AI as an excuse to downsize, ClickUp maintains it is not one of them.

Evans told TechCrunch via email that the startup is indeed seeing productivity gains from AI agents. Not only is ClickUp measuring those efficiencies internally, but it’s also apparently gearing up to include them in a forthcoming product for its customers.   

“Instead of gamifying token cost, we gamify value created and time saved,” Evans wrote.

In recent months, a growing number of companies have started monitoring employee token consumption, using it as a metric to see who is actually adopting AI tools. But critics argue that “tokenmaxxing”—as this concept is known—is the wrong metric because it simply racks up AI expenses.

“The people that automate their jobs with AI will always have a job,” Evans claimed in his post. But if AI keeps taking over more tasks, ClickUp will eventually need fewer and fewer people, eliminating those who fail to automate their functions well.

Tech circles have long theorized about this scenario.

One extreme example of a high-profile startup using AI automation to the max already exists. Polsia, a one-year-old startup that claims to handle all software operations for solopreneurs, is run by just one person: its founder and CEO, Ben Broca. That efficiency is apparently paying off: Polsia just raised $30 million at a $250 million valuation.

This week, attorneys for Elon Musk and OpenAI delivered their final statements, leaving it to the jurors to determine if OpenAI misstepped while evolving into a more-for-profit entity. 

As highlighted by Kirsten Korosec, Sean O’Kane, and me during the latest TechCrunch Equity podcast episode, a central theme in the concluding days of the trial was the trustworthiness of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. For instance, Musk’s legal representative, Steve Molo, intensely questioned Altman regarding the veracity of his remarks made during his congressional testimony.

Kirsten pointed out that Musk himself has been known to issue several misleading statements, indicating that trust is not solely an issue for Altman.

“This raises a fundamental question [for] a multitude of tech journalists, policymakers, and increasingly, consumers regarding all AI labs,” she remarked. “It really boils down to trust, as we lack insightful perspectives — these companies are privately held, and much remains obscured.”

Continue reading for insights from our dialogue, modified for brevity and clarity.

Anthony Ha: [The conclusion of the trial] prompted a striking headline from our writer, Tim Fernholz, which simply asks, “Who trusts Sam Altman?” Does anyone have thoughts on this? 

Kirsten Korosec: Yeah, Anthony, I’ll return that question to you. Do you have trust in Sam Altman? 

Anthony: It’s quite a compelling question because it seems like a bold one to explore in a journalistic setting, but in many ways, it really lies at the heart of the trial. 

Sean O’Kane: That’s not a definitive yes.

Anthony: Moreover, it appears to be [at the] center of comprehending much of OpenAI’s situation, especially regarding the significant power tussle now dubbed The Blip.

Numerous individuals who’ve collaborated with Altman seem to lack trust in him. He has acknowledged this somewhat, as he mentions being conflict-averse and tends to tell people what they want to hear, and he’s working on that.

I find this credible, and I can see how it might lead to misunderstandings in various scenarios. [However] I, too, am quite conflict-averse, and I hope that if any of this were to go to trial, folks wouldn’t be questioning, “Is Anthony Ha trustworthy?”

Sean: Still not a yes! 

Kirsten: I believe people would consider you trustworthy. While that question is captivating, it doesn’t just encapsulate the essence of this trial. I would broaden the view and assert it’s a fundamental question [for] many tech journalists, policymakers, and growing numbers of consumers regarding AI labs. It fundamentally centers on trust, given that we lack insight — these are private entities, and there’s still much hidden beneath the surface.

Perhaps after they all go public, we might gain some clarity, but it ultimately revolves around trust and misuse, and whether we believe in their intent. What I’d counter with is that sometimes the intent can appear worthy and noble, yet still be misapplied. The situation can devolve into quite a mess. This transcends the question of who trusts Sam Altman — although that was a significant aspect of the trial — pointing to a broader inquiry relevant to the entire sector. 

Sean: I’ll be frank: I don’t trust him. But then again, I don’t have trust in most individuals, so that’s my default stance. 

We’ll observe the developments. The trial wraps up today. I’m quite eager to see the jury’s verdict. I believe initially, a driving force behind this was Musk attempting to tarnish the image of a perceived competitor whom he feels has wronged him. Whether he has succeeded in that or has a chance of winning remains uncertain. However, it seems everyone involved comes out of this slightly worse off. 

Anthony: To clarify, this week’s discussion stems from [Altman] being on the stand, where he faced scrutiny over previous statements made during his testimony to [Congress], claiming he held no equity in OpenAI. That statement is false since he maintained a stake via Y Combinator, which he previously managed. He attempted to downplay this by asserting, “I assume everyone grasps what being a passive investor in a VC fund entails.” Musk’s lawyer, quite reasonably, asked, “Really? Do you believe the congressman who questioned you was aware of that?”

Kirsten: Indeed, he was playing a semantics game. I found it compelling to observe [this] regarding the contrasting ways Sam Altman and Elon Musk responded on the stand. 

In many situations, Elon Musk has been noted for disseminating misinformation or exaggerations on Twitter, yet he corrected the record while under oath. There’s a pattern of, I would argue, dishonesty or lying, flagrant or subtle, in Musk’s sphere, but his approach was notably confrontational, contrasting with Altman’s demeanor of “I’m addressing it,” which seemed more affable, though it’s uncertain if it will benefit him.

Ultimately, it hinges on the fundamental facts, and hopefully, that’s what the jury will focus on. But I found it quite remarkable — both were misleading, yet their responses were entirely different.

Commencement time has arrived once more — and this year, a few speakers have realized that it’s challenging to engage graduating students about a future influenced by artificial intelligence.

Last week, Gloria Caulfield, a leader at real estate firm Tavistock Development Company, delivered a speech at the University of Central Florida, noting that we are experiencing a period of “significant transformation,” which can be both “thrilling” and “intimidating.”

“The emergence of artificial intelligence marks the next industrial revolution,” Caulfield stated — prompting the audience of students to begin booing, with their noise growing progressively louder until Caulfield chuckled, looked at the other speakers, and inquired, “What just happened?”

“Alright, I struck a nerve,” she remarked. Caulfield then attempted to continue her speech, stating, “Just a few years back, AI played no role in our existence” — only to be interrupted again by the audience, this time with their enthusiastic cheers and applause.

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Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt experienced a comparable reaction when he mentioned AI during a speech at the University of Arizona on Friday.

In Schmidt’s situation, the backlash actually began prior to the speech, with various student groups advocating for his removal as a commencement speaker due to a lawsuit in which a former girlfriend and business partner accused Schmidt of sexual assault. (He has denied the charges.) A local news report indicated that booing started even before Schmidt took the stage.

However, Schmidt also faced loud boos when he told students, “You will shape the future of artificial intelligence.” The booing was so persistent that Schmidt attempted to talk over it, asserting, “You can now put together a team of AI agents to assist with tasks that you could never handle alone. When someone invites you to join the rocket ship, you don’t question which seat, you simply get aboard.”

To be fair, AI isn’t generating a negative reaction at every graduation event. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently addressed Carnegie Mellon’s commencement, and he didn’t seem to encounter any audible dissent when he claimed that AI has “reinvented computing.”

Nevertheless, it’s not particularly surprising to see some students reacting negatively. In a recent Gallup survey, only 43% of Americans aged 15 to 34 felt it was a favorable time to find a job locally, a significant decline from 75% in 2022. 

This pessimism isn’t entirely a reaction to the rise of AI (a change that even some software developers are concerned about), but journalist and tech commentator Brian Merchant suggested that for many students, AI has become “the harsh new face of hyper-scaling capitalism.”

“I too would express my discontent vocally at the notion of this next industrial revolution if I were in my early twenties, unemployed, and had aspirations for my future beyond inputting commands into an LLM,” Merchant expressed.

Even when commencement speeches did not explicitly mention AI, “resilience” was a common theme this year. Schmidt himself recognized that there is “a fear among your generation that the future is already predetermined, that the machines are arriving, that the jobs are disappearing, that the climate is deteriorating, that politics are divided, and that you are inheriting a situation that you did not create.”

Caulfield, for her part, may have also misinterpreted her audience of arts and humanities graduates. One student remarked that prior to mentioning AI, Caulfield had already begun losing their attention with her “generic” commendation of corporate figures like Jeff Bezos.

Another graduate, Alexander Rose Tyson, mentioned to The New York Times, “It wasn’t just one individual that sparked the booing. It was more of a collective, ‘This is disappointing.’”

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your go-to destination for news and perspectives on the transportation industry’s future. To receive this directly in your inbox, sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility!

A noticeable pattern is developing in the realm of transportation — and indeed in all sectors: AI is generating employment for some while displacing others. 

General Motors, for example, terminated more than 10% of its IT workforce, approximately 600 salaried positions — as part of a strategic skills transition. This won’t equate to a direct one-to-one replacement, suggesting a probable overall job loss. Nonetheless, GM asserts it is actively hiring, and these layoffs have created opportunities to onboard IT professionals with expertise in AI.

The most in-demand skills include AI-centric development, data engineering and analytics, cloud engineering, agent and model formulation, prompt crafting, and novel AI workflows. Essentially, GM seeks individuals capable of building with AI from the foundational level — crafting systems, training models, and engineering pipelines — rather than merely utilizing AI as a productivity enhancer.

Job reductions associated with AI are growing within the automotive industry. CNBC reported that Ford, GM, and Stellantis collectively have eliminated over 20,000 salaried positions in the U.S., accounting for 19% of their total workforce, since employment peaks earlier in the decade. Although various factors contribute to these reductions, they are generally linked to technological advancements, including AI.

Businesses are increasingly embracing AI, even if anecdotes from certain engineers and founders indicate that not all these companies fully grasp its application yet. 

Samsara stands out as a company that appears to have developed a viable revenue-generating model. Over the past decade, the firm has provided its clients with cameras to install in millions of trucks for driver oversight, theft deterrence, and assisting with liability matters. This extensive data collection has enabled the company to train its own model to identify potholes and assess their rate of deterioration. They are marketing this product to municipalities and have disclosed contracts with cities, including Chicago. 

A little bird

Nothing to report this week, though I’m working on something entertaining! Feel free to reach out with insights, tips, or just to chat. You can contact us via email or Signal.

Email Kirsten Korosec at [email protected] or my Signal at kkorosec.07, or drop an email to Sean O’Kane at [email protected].

Deals!

You may have noticed that Rivian’s spinoff entity Mind Robotics secured an additional $400 million, just two months after its previous $500 million round. This rapid funding pace had me reflecting on founder RJ Scaringe’s remarkable talent in attracting VC and institutional investors for his concepts and ventures.

I assessed that investors have allocated a staggering total of $12.3 billion to Scaringe’s three ventures — Also, Mind Robotics, and Rivian. This total does not encompass the nearly $12 billion generated from Rivian’s IPO, nor does it include the recent strategic partnerships with Volkswagen Group and Uber — which might together contribute almost $7 billion to Rivian’s financial reserves. 

You can read my entire analysis on this matter here. However, if you prefer not to click, an intriguing detail stood out. I conversed with several insiders and investors, and they all highlighted Scaringe’s skill in providing undivided attention to whoever he engages with — whether an investor, supplier, or executive — making them feel like the most significant individual in the room. 

This provides further support for my longstanding argument against multitasking. Challenge me!

Additional deals that caught my eye …

Arkeus, an Australian startup specialized in developing perception technology for autonomous drones and aircraft, raised $18 million in a Series A funding round led by QIC Ventures. Other participants include R+VC, Folklore Ventures, DYNE Ventures, Main Sequence Ventures, Salus Ventures, and Beaten Zone.

Aseon Labs, a startup based in Redwood City, California, has launched a depot-in-a-box for charging, cleaning, and inspecting autonomous fleets, emerging from stealth with undisclosed backing from Y Combinator. 

Rapido secured $240 million in a funding round spearheaded by Prosus, valuing the Indian ride-hailing platform at $3 billion. Existing backers, including WestBridge Capital and Accel, participated in the round, which was part of a larger $730 million financing scheme.

Quantum Systems, a drone startup based in Germany and backed by Peter Thiel, is reportedly in negotiations to raise roughly €600 million ($703 million), with companies like Airbus and Blackstone showing interest as investors, according to Bloomberg.

Notable reads and other tidbits

Is Redwood Materials poised for an IPO? Senior reporter Sean O’Kane spoke with the company’s new CFO, Deepak Ahuja, whose name should ring a bell for Tesla followers. Ahuja previously served as Tesla’s finance chief and most recently held a similar role at drone firm Zipline. 

Tesla Robotaxis have been involved in at least two crashes since July 2025 while a teleoperator was remotely controlling the vehicles, according to recently disclosed information submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Uber is expanding its footprint in India with the establishment of two new engineering campuses that can accommodate around 9,600 employees, along with a data center partnership aimed at enhancing its overall product development and infrastructure capabilities.

Waymo implemented a software update across its fleet of nearly 4,000 vehicles to assist them in avoiding flooded roads, as part of a recall announced by the NHTSA. Note: The company has not yet fully addressed the issue of how its vehicles perform under these conditions.

One more thing …

Disrupt, our flagship annual tech conference in San Francisco, is scheduled for October. Though that is some time away, I wanted to share one piece of news. This year, we will feature six stages, detailed further here. Particularly noteworthy for this audience is our AI in the Real World Stage, where we’ll explore robotics, autonomous systems, manufacturing, defense, and industrial operations.