The Big Four, tracked.
The live wire from the labs, refreshed every 15 minutes. Our verified read on the big launches lives in Phantom Notes.
§ Lab spotlight
AnthropicNOV 03, 2026 ↗Anthropic is still grappling with the economics of computeAt a moment when Anthropic's compute margins should be getting better, they’re getting worse.OpenAINOV 03, 2026 ↗Heimstaden is changing residential real estate management with AIDiscover how Heimstaden uses OpenAI’s ChatGPT Enterprise and Codex to transform property management, cut costs, and empower employees across Europe.Google DeepMindNOV 03, 2026 ↗Agentic cheminformatics with Google AntigravityLearn how Google Antigravity and our Cheminformatics Skills accelerate drug discovery workflows, search compounds, and propose novel rigidified macrocycles.xAINOV 02, 2026 ↗Elon Musk throttles Grok Bot limits due to ‘unsustainably high’ costsMusk recently referred to Grok Bot as having "the fastest growth of a product that I've ever seen in my life."
§ Our verified coverageAll of Phantom Notes →
NOV 02, 2026OpenAI Launched LifeVal on November 2. The 80.6% Astra Score Going Around Is a Relay; the Page Prints Only Example Cards.→NOV 01, 2026Meituan's LongCat-2.5 Is a 1.6-Trillion-Parameter MoE With About 48 Billion Active. The $0.30 and $1.20 API Price Is Limited-Time, With No End Date.→OCT 30, 2026OpenAI's New Biology Model Is GPT-6 Astra With Fewer Refusals. It Costs 50% More.→OCT 30, 2026Clover-35B-A3B Claims 73.6 on SWE-bench Verified. Every Number Is the Vendor's, and the Decision Model Is Not Out.→OCT 29, 2026Pika H3 Flex Ships Open Weights for 768p. 4K, Five Audio Stems, and Fast Serving Stay on Pika's Hosted Stack.→
§ The full wire· 18 items
NOV 03, 2026The TechCrunch Founder Summit agenda is only half the reason to be in Boston on Nov. 4On Nov. 4, TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026 brings founders and VCs to Boston's SoWa Power Station for practical insights and connections. Register before prices increase at the door.TechCrunch · industry↗NOV 03, 2026Tomorrow: TechCrunch Founder Summit takes over Boston and when pass rates increaseSecure your TechCrunch Founder Summit pass savings before prices increase tomorrow at 9 a.m. ET. Save up to $100 on your pass, and get a second for free.TechCrunch · industry↗NOV 03, 2026Finding my thingNobody knows anythingBen's Bites · industry↗NOV 03, 2026AI inference startup Fal doubles its valuation to $16B as demand surgesThe five-year-old startup raised a $1.3 billion round led by Bessemer.TechCrunch · industry↗NOV 03, 2026Netflix’s new AI Discover tab helps you find something to watch based on your moodThe first experimental feature under the tab will allow users to get recommendations based on what they're currently in the mood for.TechCrunch · industry↗NOV 03, 2026Google will let schools disable its AI tools, but not without sacrificing SearchSchools choosing to restrict AI altogether will no longer be able to access Google Search, as AI features are now integrated into the search engine.TechCrunch · industry↗NOV 03, 2026Google takes Dreambeans to India in bid to bring AI-generated personal stories to the massesGoogle's Dreambeans, its latest AI experiment, now supports 13 Indian languages.TechCrunch · industry↗NOV 03, 2026Apple may try to increase revenue by doing…something with third-party AI appsApple hinted at ways that it could spur revenue through third-party "opportunities" during its Monday night earnings call.TechCrunch · industry↗NOV 03, 2026I discovered a sound that leaks your exact location (and it's everywhere) - YouTubeI discovered a sound that leaks your exact location (and it s everywhere) - YouTube
Genius piece of OSINT by Colsto, who demonstrates how you can take almost imperceptible background noise of planes f...Simon Willison · industry↗NOV 03, 2026October sponsors-only newsletterI sent out the October edition of my sponsors-only monthly newsletter. If you are a sponsor (or start a sponsorship now) you can access it here. This month:
The October inflection point for vibe game...Simon Willison · industry↗NOV 02, 20262 days till TechCrunch Founder Summit: Boston founders don’t need a Silicon Valley address to build something bigTechCrunch Founder Summit happens on November 4 in Boston for a founder-focused agenda and impactful connections. Save up to $100 or get discounts with group passes.TechCrunch · industry↗NOV 02, 2026The U.S. Census Bureau and “Super Intelligence”I was reminded today of AI Adoption Rate Trending Down for Large Companies, a chart produced by Apollo Global Management in September 2025, which appeared to show a slowdown in U.S. corporate AI adopt...Simon Willison · industry↗NOV 02, 2026Trajectory raises $45M to make AI model training accessible to nontechnical expertsThe one-year-old startup is now valued at $300 million.TechCrunch · industry↗NOV 02, 2026Anthropic warns that it’s very close to RSI capability, aka self-building AIRSI is the point at which AI grows so good at training itself that it spawns a dramatic acceleration of AI capabilities. To the AI doomers, RSI represents the cataclysm from which there is no return.Anthropic · industry↗NOV 02, 2026Web host Squarespace lays off 19% of its employeesThe website builder said that the job losses are part of a broader restructuring of its organization.TechCrunch · industry↗NOV 01, 2026AI can make tech CEOs’ lives easier. What about everyone else?On Equity, we discuss why tech CEO statements can seem so tone deaf.TechCrunch · industry↗NOV 01, 2026If in doubt, delete the uv.lock fileI've been getting the occasional confusing Python dependency error since switching over to Python 3.15 and the rule I'm having to remember is:
If in doubt, delete the uv.lock file
Most of my projects ...Simon Willison · industry↗NOV 01, 2026Quoting Kyle KingsburyMore broadly, the use of LLMs erodes trust in documentation, in software, and in the organizations which produce them. Perhaps engineers will begin to treat any new software project with suspicion—the...Simon Willison · industry↗