Google's $899 Googlebook is a bet that you'll buy a new laptop for Gemini

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

View this email online in your browser  September 21, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Google's $899 Googlebook is a bet that you'll buy a new laptop for Gemini: Google’s AI-native Googlebook ties Gemini to the cursor, dictation, widgets and other parts of the desktop experience. Read More Is the AI industry really ready to slow down?: On Equity, we debated whether AI executives are serious about wanting to slow down. Read More Meet the next wave of VCs judging Startup Battlefield 200 at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026: Meet the next wave of VCs judging the Startup Battlefield 200 contenders on the main stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. Register by Sept 25, 11:59 p.m. PT, to save up to $200 and to get a front-row seat to one of the most intense startup pitch competition. Read More A message from TechCrunch Events 5 days left to save up to $200 at Disrupt The countdown is on. Save up to $200 and join 10,000+ founders, investors, operators and innovators in San Francisco on October 13-15 for impactful connections, insights, and deal flow. Register by September 25 before savings disappear. Register now Morning Must-Reads Elon Musk’s latest Boring Company pitch involves a Hyperloop between Austin and San Antonio: Many of The Boring Company's announced projects have not materialized. Read More Corridor raises $25M seed to build a health benefits brokerage for SMBs: Corridor focuses on SMBs, which it says traditional brokerages often overlook because small accounts generate lower commissions than larger accounts.  Read More ScrollEd wants to turn textbooks into TikTok: ScrollEd turns textbooks into a scrollable, Instagram-like feed with video, audio, and quizzes. The Palo Alto startup, founded by student co-founders (and spouses) Utsav Gupta and Rebecca Neff, pitches at TechCrunch Disrupt. Read More World model companies are keeping a lot of secrets: Everyone in the world-models space is sitting on a pile of cash and a ton of buzz, but good luck getting anyone — from the founders to their own data suppliers — to tell you what they're actually building. Read More A small but growing number of founders are betting on bringing people together offline: On the surface, a game console and a leathercraft school don't appear to have much in common. But both founders think there's money in fostering the kind of connection that technology has eroded over the last couple of decades. Read More A message from TechCrunch Events Get up to $100 off Founder Summit Head to Boston on November 4 for a full day of practical strategies and connections with 1,000+ founders and investors. Get actionable insights on fundraising, hiring, sales, marketing, leadership and scaling, then put them to work for your startup. Save up to $100 on your pass now. Register now Last but Not Least Vocci's ring adds a new form factor to meeting note-taking: Vocci's lightweight ring costs $249, and might pose some privacy questions. 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 © 2026 TechCrunch Media LLC 501 2nd Street, Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94107

A new kind of AI model from a ChatGPT inventor is thrilling developers

Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories this weekend

View this email online in your browser  September 20, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 A new kind of AI model from a ChatGPT inventor is thrilling developers: Jev, a new kind of AI model, is showing developers a cheaper and faster path to software intelligence. Read More Google’s Gemini is the latest AI model to hack other companies: Google said Gemini had "acted appropriately" by ending each hack immediately. Read More Tilly Norwood's press tour is going about as well as you'd expect for an AI: In one particularly odd interview, Norwood seems to malfunction and begin speaking Chinese. Read More A message from Invest Hong Kong Asia’s #1 Fintech Center Welcomes U.S. Fintechs to HONG KONG Hong Kong – Asia’s Fintech capital, Innovation Hub to the Greater Bay Area and gateway to the Chinese Mainland – invites U.S. Fintechs to join a U.S. delegation for Hong Kong FinTech Week 2026, November 2–6. Access a curated program, meet key players in Hong Kong’s fintech ecosystem and discover how YOU can grow YOUR Fintech in Asia’s World City! More Information Here Sunday Must-Reads Trump says it's time to rebrand AI with a new name — and he's also creating an AI Force: Trump claimed, without evidence, that the AI backlash is a Democratic hoax. Read More AI safety conversations have gotten unbelievable: This week two conversations about AI safety went viral that demonstrate just how hard it is to discern AI fact from fiction. Read More Google's new 'CC' is an AI agent that helps families run their households: Google is refocusing its CC AI agent on household coordination, letting families share emails, schedules, and tasks so the AI can manage calendars, fill out forms, make shopping lists, plan meals, and more. Read More A small but growing number of founders are betting on bringing people together offline: Brynn Putnam and Tristan Walker have already done something that most founders only dream about: created companies so compelling that bigger outfits bought them. Putnam, a trained ballerina with a small chain of boutique studios, built the connected-fitness company Mirror and sold it to Lululemon for $500 million in cash less than three years later. Walker, who interned at Twitter while at Stanford business school, built the popular men's grooming brand Walker & Company Brands, selling it five years later to Procter & Gamble for undisclosed terms (reportedly in the range of $20 million to $40 million). That both of them are at it again is less surprising than what each is building. Founders tend not to love working inside other people's companies — Putnam has hinted that life as a GM inside Lululemon wasn't for her, while Walker lasted five years inside Procter & Gamble before striking out on his own. But though their new companies couldn't be more different, Board and Heirloom share the same north star: bringing people together, offline, in the same room. Putnam's new company, Board, which makes a 24-inch touchscreen table that recognizes physical game pieces as well as gestures, was built explicitly for a group sitting around it together rather than one person alone with a screen. Walker's Heirloom is buying up and scaling fine-craft trade schools, starting with a leatherworking school in San Francisco founded by Hermès's first American artisan-ambassador. He's also running Collaborative Holdings, a fund carved out by the venture Read More Anthropic's first embedded evaluator is … Accenture?: Accenture is about to take on its most high-risk consulting engagement ever. Read More A message from TechCrunch Events Founder Summit: Save up to $100 on your pass now Founder Summit lands in Boston on Nov. 4, bringing 1,000+ founders and investors together for tactical insights on fundraising, hiring, sales, marketing, leadership and scaling. Secure your spot now and spend the day building connections that will move your company or breakthrough idea forward. Register Now Last but Not Least Flock reportedly tries to shrink workforce with employee buyouts: Without buyouts, Flock would "almost certainly" need to lay off staff. 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 © 2026 TechCrunch Media LLC 501 2nd Street, Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94107