A round up of the top tech news of the day from TechCrunch.

Plus - Automattic files counterclaims against WP Engine in WordPress lawsuit, alleging trademark misuse; Can steroids combat population collapse? The Enhanced Games wants to find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Microsoft's Mico is a ‘Clippy' for the AI era; Microsoft launches an AI browser nearly identical to OpenAI's Atlas Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tinder will require new users in the US to verify their identity with a selfie; Instagram rolls out custom icons…but only for teens Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus - X is testing a pay-per-use pricing model for its API; OpenAI launches an AI-powered browser: ChatGPT Atlas Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus - U.S. and Australia sign $3B critical minerals deal; Spotify now lets you follow venues to get details on upcoming concerts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus, OpenAI pauses Sora video generations of Martin Luther King Jr. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus - Amazon launches pay-per-visit virtual healthcare service for kids; Pinterest adds controls to let you limit the amount of ‘AI slop' in your feed Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus - OpenAI has five years to turn $13 billion into $1 trillion; Facebook brings back job listings in the US Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus - The latest in startup business news Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus - Grindr's owners may take it private after a financial squeeze; Apple says goodbye to the Clips app Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus: Spyware maker NSO Group confirms acquisition by US investors Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus - YouTubers who were kicked off the platform for rule violations can now request a ‘second chance'; Netflix is letting users play games on their TV screens Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus - OpenAI's Nick Turley on transforming ChatGPT into an operating system; Sora's downloads in its first week was nearly as big as ChatGPT's launch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus - Facebook updates its algorithm to give users more control over which videos they see; California bans loud commercials on Netflix, Hulu, and other streaming services Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus - Taylor Swift fans accuse singer of using AI in her Google scavenger hunt videos; Instagram introduces new ‘Ring' award for top creators Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus, a hacking group claims they've stolen a billion records from Salesforce customer databases. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus - The latest in startup business news Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus - OpenAI's new social app is filled with terrifying Sam Altman deepfakes; Spotify now lets you exclude tracks from your taste profile, improving recommendations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus - Spotify's founder and CEO Daniel Ek is stepping down; Ring cameras can now recognize faces and help to find lost pets Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus - Snapchat caps free Memory storage, launches paid storage plans; OpenAI rolls out safety routing system, parental controls on ChatGPT Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus, Sierra Space's spaceplane faces a reinvention after NASA contract change. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus - OpenAI says GPT-5 stacks up to humans in a wide range of jobs; Threads is developing a tool that lets you ‘tag' its algorithm to configure your feed Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus - Google Photos users on Android can now edit their photos by talking to or texting the AI; Disney is raising the price of Disney+ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus - Facebook is getting an AI dating assistant; eBay to acquire social marketplace platform Tise Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus: Mastodon has a new plan to make money. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus - Uber is trying drone delivery again; Google now lets you share your custom Gemini AI assistants known as Gems Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus - Google revamps Discover page to show content from creators; Amazon launches AI agent to help sellers complete tasks and manage their businesses Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

YouTube on Tuesday announced a suite of new features coming to YouTube Studio, the platform over 30 million creators use to manage their channels and track their analytics and revenue every month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

OpenAI upgrades Codex with a new version of GPT-5; Spotify will now let free users pick and play tracks; PayPal adds new one-to-one payment links that will soon support crypto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus, Elon Musk's Boring Company suspends work on Vegas airport tunnel after ‘crushing injury.' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus - HBO Max is going to get more expensive; Google is shutting down Tables, its Airtable rival Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Meta adds new features to Community Notes fact checks; YouTube's multi-language audio feature for dubbing videos rolls out to all creators Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus - Microsoft to lessen reliance on OpenAI by buying AI from rival Anthropic; OpenAI denies that it's weighing a ‘last-ditch' California exit amid regulatory pressure over its restructuring Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

X enthusiast and Reddit shareholder Sam Altman had an epiphany on Monday: Bots have made it impossible to determine whether social media posts are really written by humans, he posted. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mark Zuckerberg sues Mark Zuckerberg; Google Photos upgrades its image-to-video feature with Veo 3 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus - OpenAI announces AI-powered hiring platform to take on LinkedIn; Threads challenges X by offering free support for up to 10K characters, plus prominent links Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Trump administration wants the United States to be the dominant force when it comes to artificial intelligence, and one way the administration hopes to achieve primacy is by bringing semiconductor manufacturing back to the U.S. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus - Instagram tests Picture-in-Picture viewing for reels; Anthropic raises $13B Series F at $183B valuation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus - Taco Bell is having second thoughts about relying on AI at the drive-through; Nvidia says two mystery customers accounted for 39% of Q2 revenue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plus, Uber and Lyft drivers in California win a path to unionization Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

‘They can't react as quickly' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

ChatGPT rivals like Google's Gemini, xAI's Grok, and, to a lesser extent, Meta AI, are closing the gap to ChatGPT, OpenAI's popular AI chatbot, according to a new report focused on the consumer AI landscape from venture firm Andreessen Horowitz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
