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TechCrunch

• Ram ends EV pickup truck plans 2025-09-12
  Stellantis, the parent company of Ram, said Friday that it will no longer develop a battery-electric full-size pickup. The company cited low demand for full-size battery-electric trucks as the primary reason.
  Kirsten Korosec
• Via shrugs off tepid open to end first day of trading slightly above IPO price 2025-09-12
  Transit tech software startup Via had its IPO debut on Friday, starting at below offering price before rising to close at nearly $50.
  Rebecca Bellan
• Pilot union urges FAA to reject Rainmaker’s drone cloud-seeding plan 2025-09-12
  Rainmaker wants to use flares to seed clouds — the airline pilots' union says it won't be safe.
  Aria Alamalhodaei, Tim De Chant
• Why the Oracle-OpenAI deal caught Wall Street by surprise 2025-09-12
  The $300B deal is a reminder that despite Oracle’s legacy status, it shouldn’t be overlooked when it comes to AI infrastructure. But key questions around power and how OpenAI will pay for this remain.
  Tim De Chant, Rebecca Szkutak
• Google is a ‘bad actor’ says People CEO, accusing the company of stealing content 2025-09-12
  People CEO Neil Vogel says Google's AI crawler can't be blocked because it would block the web crawler too. This lets the search giant steal its content for AI.
  Sarah Perez
• All of the iPhone 17 models compared 2025-09-12
  All four of the devices will be available to preorder on Friday and will be available on September 19.
  Aisha Malik
• Micro1, a competitor to Scale AI, raises funds at $500M valuation 2025-09-12
  A three-year-old startup providing data for AI labs is trying to fill the gap in the market left by Scale AI.
  Maxwell Zeff
• New FAA program will let eVTOL startups test some operations before full certification 2025-09-12
  It's a major change that paves the way for electric air taxi startups to perform more robust demonstrations of their technology before they begin any commercial flights.
  Sean O'Kane
• Mastodon rolls out quote posts with protections to prevent ‘dunking’ 2025-09-12
  Decentralized X alternative Mastodon adds support for quote posts, but with additional controls.
  Sarah Perez
• Preparing for your later-stage raise: Insider strategies from top investors at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 2025-09-12
  Planning your Series C and beyond? Hear from IVP’s Zeya Yang, Generation’s Lila Preston, and Diligent Robotics’ Andrea Thomaz on the Builders Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, October 27–29 in San Francisco.
  TechCrunch Events
• Last day to amplify your brand: Host your Side Event at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 2025-09-12
  The application to host a Side Event at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 closes tonight at 11:59 p.m. PT. Boost your brand during Disrupt Week in October. Apply now.
  TechCrunch Events
• How an over-the-air update made Quilt’s heat pumps more powerful 2025-09-12
  Quilt's software update unlocked an additional 20% heating and cooling capacity for all of its heat pumps, including those installed in customers' homes.
  Tim De Chant
• Apple delays release of iPhone Air in China due to pending approval of eSIM 2025-09-12
  The eSIM-only iPhone Air's release is being delayed in China, likely due to regulatory issues around the approval of the embedded SIM.
  Ivan Mehta
• Microsoft slips unscathed through EU competition probe after promising to unbundle Teams 2025-09-12
  Microsoft will escape largely unscathed from a major antitrust investigation by the European Commission that could have resulted in billion-dollar fines for the tech giant.
  Ram Iyer
• We are entering a golden age of robotics startups — and not just because of AI 2025-09-12
  The robotics startup market has matured over the last decade and the cost to produce robots has gone down significantly.
  Rebecca Szkutak
• A California bill that would regulate AI companion chatbots is close to becoming law 2025-09-11
  If SB 243 is enacted, California would become the first state to require operators to implement safety protocols for AI companions and hold companies legally accountable if their chatbots fail to meet those standards.
  Rebecca Bellan
• OpenAI secures Microsoft’s blessing to transition its for-profit arm 2025-09-11
  OpenAI and Microsoft say they reached a nonbinding agreement on a revised partnership.
  Maxwell Zeff
• Apple’s latest iPhone security feature just made life more difficult for spyware makers 2025-09-11
  Apple launched a new security feature for iPhone 17 and iPhone Air designed to reduce the effect of memory corruption bugs, and in turn make spyware and zero-days more difficult to hack into iPhones.
  Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai, Zack Whittaker
• The music industry is broken: OpenWav’s new app aims to change that 2025-09-11
  OpenWav is building a direct-to-fan platform for music artists that lets them keep more of the profits.
  Sarah Perez
• Tesla’s robotaxi plans for Nevada move forward with testing permit 2025-09-11
  Tesla can now test its autonomous vehicle technology on public streets in Nevada, but it still has steps to take if it wants to offer paid rides like in Austin, Texas.
  Kirsten Korosec