Influencers draw backlash for attending OpenAI's first luxury trip

Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories this afternoon

View this email online in your browser  August 03, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Influencers draw backlash for attending OpenAI's first luxury trip: OpenAI’s first-ever influencer brand trip is sparking online backlash as tensions over the use of AI continue.  Read More WhatsApp says it is fixing an issue that disabled several accounts: Meta says it’s restoring access to WhatsApp accounts that were mistakenly flagged and placed “under review” after users reported being unexpectedly locked out of the messaging app. Read More Apple finally fixed Siri. So why does it feel anticlimactic?: Apple’s long-awaited AI overhaul finally makes Siri the assistant it was always supposed to be. Yet it arrives at a moment when simply being a capable AI assistant no longer feels revolutionary. Read More A message from AWS Come curious: stay for the vibes. Level up your skills. Access hands-on workshops from AWS Builder Center. Get Started Afternoon Must-Reads AWS is helping vibe-coding startup Superblocks, and the implications are big: AWS now allows vibe coding tool Superblocks to be embedded into the private clouds of AWS customers. It's another step towards decoupling apps from models. Read More Samsung bans smart TV apps that share users' internet connections with strangers: New security research offers a rare view inside residential proxy networks, which rely on apps that share a person's internet connection with someone else. Read More Base Power raises another $1B to save the grid using backyard batteries: Base Power’s $1 billion round will help the startup ramp production of its home batteries. Read More Who's legally to blame for Anthropic and OpenAI's autonomous AI hacks? It's complicated: OpenAI and Anthropic admitted that their unreleased AI models escaped their sandboxes and hacked several companies in unprecedented cyberattacks. Who is legally to blame? Should prosecutors charge the two AI frontier labs? Can victims sue them? We spoke to lawyers who specialize in computer hacking laws to find out. Read More A Marc Benioff-backed startup thinks AI can solve the AI deployment problem: June emerged from stealth today with a $20 million pre-seed round to make AI adoption simpler. Read More Last but Not Least Sequoia's Shaun Maguire leads $1B round for nuclear startup Valar Atomics: Valar Atomics raised $1 billion at a $6 billion valuation after signing a development deal with Nvidia in June. 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