Tesla reveals two Robotaxi crashes involving teleoperators

Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories this afternoon

View this email online in your browser  May 15, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Tesla reveals two Robotaxi crashes involving teleoperators: Newly unredacted crash reports reveal some of the troubles Tesla has had as it tries to scale its robotaxis. Read More A hotel check-in system left a million passports and driver's licenses open for anyone to see: The tech company that maintains the hotel check-in system set its cloud storage to public, allowing anyone to access customers' data without a password. Read More Silicon Valley’s vacationland needs a new energy provider just as AI is driving prices up: Lake Tahoe, Silicon Valley's favorite vacation spot, is about to get hit with higher energy prices as AI drives demand for electricity. Read More A message from Alumni Ventures StrictlyVC Exclusive: You Could Be an Investor in High-Potential Startups Like These Don’t miss out! This week only, Alumni Ventures is offering readers early access to high-potential startup opportunities, including some of today’s most exciting AI, Deep Tech, Quantum Computing, Cybersecurity, and Space companies co-invested alongside top VC firms like Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Sequoia, & Y Combinator. You get: Curated deal flow of high-potential startups AV is already investing alongside elite lead venture firms in these deals No cost to see deals No obligation to invest Don’t miss your chance before access closes. Join Alumni Ventures Syndicate Today → Afternoon Must-Reads General Catalyst posted VC rage bait and it worked, especially on a16z: Compulsive X user Marc Andreessen himself couldn't resist responding, many, many times. Read More US orders travelers on Air Force One to throw away gifts, pins, and burner phones after China trip: While the summit appeared cordial, China remains a key adversary of the United States, given its advanced intelligence and espionage capabilities. Read More Even GoPro is pivoting to defense: The action camera maker, like so many other companies these days, is looking to defense applications as it evaluates a possible sale. Read More OpenAI launches ChatGPT for personal finance, will let you connect bank accounts: Once users connect their accounts, they will see a dashboard of their portfolio performance, spending, subscriptions, and upcoming payments. Read More RJ Scaringe has raised more than $12B across three startups and investors still want more: Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe has a knack for raising money. So far, his three startups have raised more than $12.3 billion. Read More Last but Not Least Runway started by helping filmmakers — now it wants to beat Google at AI: AI video-generation startup Runway is betting that video generation is the path to world models. And that being an AI outsider is an advantage, not a liability. 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

Even GoPro is pivoting to defense

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

View this email online in your browser  May 15, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Even GoPro is pivoting to defense: The action camera maker, like so many other companies these days, is looking to defense applications as it evaluates a possible sale. Read More Cerebras IPO makes billions for Benchmark but VC Eric Vishria almost didn't take the meeting: Benchmark almost never backs hardware startups. So Eric Vishria dragged his feet 10 years ago before agreeing to hear Cerebras' pitch. Read More OpenAI is reportedly preparing legal action against Apple; it wouldn't be the first partner to feel burned: OpenAI is so frustrated with Apple over a ChatGPT integration that failed to deliver the subscribers and prominence it expected that the company is now actively exploring legal action against the iPhone maker. Read More Disrupt 2026: Where deals and ideas ignite Oct 13–15 at San Francisco's Moscone West, 10,000 founders, investors, and operators gather for high-signal insights, curated connections, and real momentum. Register Now! A message from Deck AI that runs your software as-is No connectors. No migration. No changes to your stack. Deck operates your existing tools the way an employee would — logging in, clicking through, getting the job done. If a human can use it, Deck can too. Try It Free Morning Must-Reads What happens when AI starts building itself?: Richard Socher's new $650 million startup wants to build an AI that can research and improve itself indefinitely — and he insists it will actually ship products. Read More Runway started by helping filmmakers. Now it wants to beat Google at AI.: AI video generation startup Runway is betting that video generation is the path to world models. And that being an AI outsider is an advantage, not a liability. Read More Indian Uber rival Rapido raises $240M at $3B valuation: Rapido has driven its growth by enabling ride-hailing for lower-cost and more flexible modes of transport such as motorbikes and autorickshaws. Read More Lovable just backed a company that's looking to bring vibe coding to hardware: Hardware company Atech raised $800,000 in pre-seed funding, including from a16z’s scout fund, Sequoia Scout Fund, and Nordic Makers.  Read More Clawdmeter turns your Claude Code usage stats into a tiny desktop dashboard: A new open source gadget called Clawdmeter turns Claude Code usage stats into a tiny desktop dashboard for AI coding power users. Read More A message from Fidelity Your Pitch Isn’t the Only Thing Investors Are Evaluating.   Investors don’t just listen to what you say - they look at how your company operates. Is ownership clear? Do your numbers match your story? Can you answer follow-up questions without digging through spreadsheets? The Fundraise-Ready Startup Kit equips founders with the materials investors expect to see, before pressure is on. Because confidence in the room doesn’t come from slides. It comes from preparation.  Learn More Last but Not Least Meridian Ventures launched $35M fund to back MBA-deferred founders: Meridian Ventures, the venture firm founded by Devon Gethers and Karlton Haney, announced on Friday the raise of a $35 million second fund to back pre-seed and seed-stage companies founded by those who have deferred MBAs. 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