AI coding tools are shifting to a surprising place

Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories this afternoon

View this email online in your browser  July 15, 2025 TechCrunch Top 3 AI coding tools are shifting to a surprising place: The terminal: For years, code-editing tools like Cursor, Windsurf, and GitHub's Copilot have been the standard for AI-powered software development. But as agentic AI grows more powerful and vibe-coding takes off, a subtle shift has changed how AI systems are interacting with software. Read More Google Discover adds AI summaries, threatening publishers with further traffic declines: As publishers fret about decreased traffic from Google, the search giant has begun rolling out AI summaries in Discover, the main news feed inside Google's search app on iOS and Android. Read More Mistral releases Voxtral, its first open source AI audio model: French startup Mistral has jumped into the audio race with Voxtral, its first open model, aiming to challenge the dominance of walled-off corporate systems with open-weight alternatives.  Read More A message from Amazon Sustainability Accelerator Fast-Track Your Climate Tech Innovation: Pilot with Amazon! Embark on a 4-week journey with Amazon Sustainability Accelerator Climate Tech Pilot Challenge. Access Amazon's expertise, tailored mentorship, AWS credits, and pitch your innovation to seize a pilot opportunity directly with Amazon. Don't miss your chance to take your sustainable innovation to the next level and make a real difference. Apply Now! Apply Now Afternoon Must-Reads A former OpenAI engineer describes what it's really like to work there: A senior engineer describes the thrill, chaos, and exhaustion of working at OpenAI this past year while launching its coding agent Codex. Read More Meta fixes bug that could leak users' AI prompts and generated content: The tech giant fixed the security flaw, netting a security researcher $10,000 for privately disclosing the bug. Read More AV startup Pronto.ai acquires off-road autonomous vehicle rival SafeAI: Pronto.ai CEO Anthony Levandowski said the move is meant to help bolster his company's ranks with like-minded talent and complementary technology. Read More Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab is worth $12B in seed round: Former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati says that her new startup, Thinking Machines Lab, was valued at $12 billion in its seed round. Read More Lucid Motors will roll out hands-free highway driving this month: Lucid Motors joins the likes of Ford, General Motors, and Tesla in offering an advanced driver assistance system that allows for hands-free driving. Read More A message from Onshape Design Fast. Stay Compliant. Build Big with Onshape for Startups Join thousands of hardware startups using Onshape Professional or Onshape Government to streamline design, foster collaboration, and bring better products to market faster. Sign Up Now Last but Not Least The rights to Fyre Festival sold on eBay for $245K: Billy McFarland, the convicted criminal behind Fyre Festival, sold the rights to the infamous brand on eBay. 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 © 2025 TechCrunch Media LLC 501 2nd Street, Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94107

Google inks $3B deal to buy hydropower from Brookfield

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

View this email online in your browser  July 15, 2025 Welcome to TechCrunch AM! This morning, we've got notes on Google spending billions to secure power for its data centers; Tesla's long-awaited entry into India; and xAI claiming it's "fixed" Grok's issues. There's also a bunch of stories fresh off the presses, so let's get reading! TechCrunch Top 3 Google inks $3B deal to buy hydropower from Brookfield: Google will pay more than $3 billion to source carbon-free hydropower from Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners' plants in Pennsylvania. Read More Tesla finally enters India — nine years after Elon Musk first teased its debut: Tesla has made its long-awaited entry into India with the opening of its first showroom in Mumbai. Read More xAI says it has fixed Grok 4's problematic responses: xAI says it fixed the issue with Grok 4 where the model said its surname was "mechahitler." Read More A message from Persona Build Revenue and Trust, Not Just Users Every new user is a risk — or a revenue opportunity. From marketplaces to fintech, fast-growing startups use Persona's low-code identity verification platform to onboard and verify customers, fight fraud, and deliver safer user experience. Learn More Morning Must-Reads Cognition, maker of the AI coding agent Devin, acquires Windsurf: Cognition, the startup behind the viral AI coding agent Devin, announced in a blog post on Monday that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire AI coding startup Windsurf. The announcement comes just days after Google hired away Windsurf's CEO Varun Mohan, co-founder Douglas Chen, and research leaders in a $2.4 billion deal, a […] Read More Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe's voting control slips following divorce settlement : Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe has transferred a portion of his ownership stake and voting power as part of a newly-settled divorce proceeding, according to a regulatory filing.  Scaringe moved about 4 million in shares and 6 million in options to his ex-wife, Meagan Scaringe, on July 9 as part of the settlement, the […] Read More Mark Zuckerberg says Meta is building a 5GW AI data center: Meta is currently building out a data center, called Hyperion, which the company expects to supply its new AI lab with five gigawatts (GW) of computational power, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a Monday post on Threads. The announcement marks Meta's latest move to get ahead of OpenAI and Google in the AI race. After […] Read More Elon Musk's Grok is making AI companions, including a goth anime girl: Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok has pivoted from antisemitism to anime girl waifus. Musk wrote in an X post on Monday that AI companions are now available in the Grok app for "Super Grok" subscribers who pay $30 per month. According to posts that Musk has shared, it seems that there are at least two […] Read More Meta is reportedly using actual tents to build data centers: Meta and Mark Zuckerberg are in a hurry to build their superintelligence tech. The company has been poaching AI researchers, while CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Monday that Meta is building a 5-gigawatt data center called Hyperion. The urgency is palpable. As SemiAnalysis reported last week and Business Insider noted, Meta is so eager to […] Read More A message from TechCrunch Events TC All Stage doors now open at SoWa Power Station TechCrunch All Stage is happening right now! Don't miss Charles Hudson (Precursor Ventures), Jahanvi Sardana (Index Ventures) & more as they share tactical tips to scale smarter, fund faster, and grow stronger. Build powerful connections through curated 1:1 and small-group networking. Event ends at 4 p.m. ET — join now! Register Now Last but Not Least DOGE staffer with access to Americans' personal data leaked private xAI API key: The researcher who found the exposed key said it "raises questions" about how DOGE handles sensitive data. 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 © 2025 TechCrunch Media LLC 501 2nd Street, Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94107