TechCrunch Top 3

T-Mobile 'chopped a cable' to expel Chinese hackers from its network: The U.S. phone provider escaped a large-scale breach of its network after identifying Chinese-backed hackers early on. Read More

AI was supposed to win people over by now -- it hasn't: As AI becomes harder to avoid, consumers are growing more wary of the technology — and Silicon Valley is discovering that widespread adoption doesn’t necessarily lead to acceptance. Read More

Google packs Search and Gemini with new AI study tools: The launch of the new study features marks Google's latest effort to make Gemini the AI assistant that students turn to when learning and studying, as it continues to compete with companies like OpenAI. Read More

Afternoon Must-Reads

Gambling on the Little League World Series? Sports bettors have gone too far: Have we tried turning off society and turning it back on again? Read More

Home batteries are suddenly cheap and everywhere. Here’s why.: Companies including Tesla and Base Power are vying for a piece of the rapidly growing market for home batteries. One technology has made it all possible. Read More

Cognition CEO denies report that SpaceX tried to acquire the startup: SpaceX was reportedly in talks to buy AI coding startup Cognition. SpaceX has already acquired Cursor as it races to catch up to rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic in enterprise AI. Read More

Amazon makes its AI-powered Alexa+ free on Fire TV, no Prime required: Amazon is making its AI-powered Alexa+ assistant free on all compatible Fire TV devices in the U.S., automatically upgrading users whether or not they subscribe to Prime. Read More

Gwyneth Paltrow allegedly set to throw dinner in honor of Sam Altman: The actress' firm Kinship Ventures is an investor in the company. Read More

Last but Not Least

Rillet raises $100M Series C at $1B valuation — 2 years after emerging from stealth: AI-native account startup Rillet became a unicorn, led by Iconiq, after it doubled its ARR in the past three months, it said. Read More