TechCrunch Top 3

AI agents now have a place to snitch: The AI Contact Hotline is designed to be a discreet place where agents that have witnessed misbehavior can tip off authorities. Read More

US military says it has launched weapons into space: This is the first public acknowledgment that the U.S. military put a space weapon in Earth's orbit. Read More

Health benefits platform Thatch reaches $1B valuation as healthcare costs surge: Thatch helps employers keep healthcare costs manageable by offering an individual plan marketplace through an Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement — a model that lets companies fund employees' own individual insurance plans instead of enrolling everyone in one company-wide plan. Read More

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Afternoon Must-Reads

Salesforce and Nvidia's new reasoning model is everything the AI labs should fear: Salesforce Koa is built on Nvidia's open-weight Nemotron model and is trained to do sales, marketing, and customer-support tasks. Read More

AEO startup Profound hits unicorn valuation, raises $180M Series D 7 months after last round: Profound has raised a $180 million Series D at a $1.8 billion valuation, less than seven months after it raised a $96 million Series C. Read More

Early Anthropic hire, former METR COO have found a way to rein in rogue AI agents: Their startup, Artificial Intelligence Underwriting Company (AIUC) has raised $40 million in a Series A round led by Ribbit Capital, with participation from First Harmonic. Read More

The AI graveyard: a running list of projects and startups that didn't make it: From Apple's repeatedly delayed Siri AI to OpenAI's messy "super app" launch, here's a look at the AI projects that shut down or missed expectations. Read More

New Italian unicorn Exein rides the physical AI wave: Italian startup Exein has raised a $270 million round of funding led by Headline at a $1.7 billion valuation. Read More

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Last but Not Least

OpenAI, Anthropic, Google have been in talks on AI safety for weeks: OpenAI confirms weeks of AI safety talks with Anthropic and Google DeepMind, as Trump's team dismisses safety concerns and pushes to keep pace with China. Read More