Instinct’s powerful AI assistant is raising privacy and security concerns

Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories this afternoon

View this email online in your browser  August 24, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Instinct’s powerful AI assistant is raising privacy and security concerns: Early testers are raving about what Instinct can do, but some say the AI assistant’s sweeping access, broad terms, and ability to act on users’ behalf come with uncomfortable trade-offs. Read More Amazon hikes hardware prices by 60%, blaming memory shortage: As the memory shortage continues to cause trouble for hardware makers, Amazon says it is now being forced to pass on the costs to its consumers. Read More Alabama launches investigation into OpenAI's hack of Hugging Face: Weeks after OpenAI disclosed that one of its cybersecurity models had gone rogue and hacked AI dataset company Hugging Face, Alabama’s attorney general announced an investigation into the incident. Read More Afternoon Must-Reads Zillow and Redfin settle FTC antitrust case: Zillow and Redfin reached a settlement with the FTC, which requires Redfin to reenter the rental advertising business. Read More Hugging Face reportedly in talks to be acquired for $13B: Hugging Face has reportedly been fielding acquisition offers that would value the company at around $13B. But with the founders' feeling of responsibility to community, doubts arise as to whether a sale will happen. Read More Amjad Masad, CEO and co-founder of Replit, joins the Disrupt Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 : At TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, Replit CEO Amjad Masad will share his perspective on the future of programming and Replit's role in developing it. Read More Apply now to host a Side Event at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026: Apply before September 4 to be a part of the TechCrunch Disrupt community by hosting your own Side Event. Read More Who's behind the new ‘stealth model’ Ox Alpha?: A mysterious new AI model called Ox Alpha has driven certain corners of the internet into a frenzy of speculation. Read More A message from ThoughtSpot Why Traditional Analytics Are Failing Modern Teams Your customers want answers inside your product, not another dashboard. Join ThoughtSpot on August 27 to see how top teams build AI-native analytics that tell users what to do next. Register Now Last but Not Least OpenAI is building AI agents for everything. Will everyone use them?: Inside the frontier lab’s push to bring AI agents from software engineers to the masses. 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

Tesla’s solar roof is dead — here’s what went wrong

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

View this email online in your browser  August 24, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Tesla’s solar roof is dead — here’s what went wrong: Tesla's solar roof was an experiment that never really caught on for the company. But does that mean the concept of roof-integrated solar is dead? Read More Nvidia just showed that the harness, not the AI model, is now the real hero: Nvidia research shows that AI agents can perform well, and not go off the deep end, through fine-tuning, even if the AI model isn't that great at the task. Read More Waymo hands over documents in NHTSA's child collision probe: The responses to the NHTSA's questions so far are redacted entirely, citing "confidential business information." Read More The Best Disrupt 2026 Discount Ends Soon AI has made it faster than ever to bring an idea from concept to launch.   But it hasn't made it easier to build something durable.     Disrupt 2026's programming is built around that challenge, delivering practical sessions on what actually holds up and how to build it. Ticket prices increase at midnight PT Friday, so grab yours before then!  Register Now Morning Must-Reads Two years after launch, Walmart's Flipkart is closing in on India's quick-commerce leaders: Flipkart's quick-commerce venture is delivering 1.1 million to 1.2 million orders a day, nearly triple its November volume. Read More Inherent, founded by DeepMind alumni, says its AI 'teammate' just outperformed Anthropic and OpenAI at replicating research: Built by DeepMind alumni, British AI lab Inherent released Faraday, an AI agent whose ability to replicate scientific papers could be a stepping stone for innovation. Read More Hugging Face reportedly in talks to be acquired for $13B: Hugging Face has reportedly been fielding acquisition offers that would value the company at around $13B. But with the founders' feeling of responsibility to community, doubts arise as to whether a sale will happen. Read More Flock CEO calls for ‘compromise’ as surveillance company faces growing backlash: Flock Safety faces a growing public outcry over concerns that its surveillance technology could be misused. Read More Brake problems in GM EVs draw greater federal scrutiny: In one crash, the driver of a 2024 Blazer EV said they had to "deliberately steer the vehicle into a concrete curb" to slow it down and avoid a "catastrophic intersection collision." Read More Get Your Startup in Front of the Disrupt Crowds Not everyone needs a keynote slot to make noise at Disrupt 2026. Sometimes the best way to meet investors, customers, and partners is by exhibiting directly in the Expo Hall. And by exhibiting, you get 10 passes to Disrupt to share with your team! Learn More Last but Not Least Uber faces fine of nearly $1B over automated driver suspensions: The Dutch Data Protection Authority is fining Uber €825 million in the second largest penalty issued under Europe’s GDPR. 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