Ford rehires ‘gray beard’ engineers after AI falls short

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

View this email online in your browser  June 29, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Ford rehires ‘gray beard’ engineers after AI falls short: "Mistakenly we thought that by just introducing artificial intelligence ... that would produce a high-quality product.” Read More Pocket raises $11M in bet on rising demand for AI note-taking devices: Pocket sells a $129 credit card-shaped puck, which sticks to the back of your phone, and promises unlimited recordings, transcriptions, and to-do items. Read More Robot hand company settles Tesla trade secret suit and announces $11M raise: The startup, Proception, is taking a unique approach to collecting training data to tackle one of the hardest problems in robotics: hands. Read More A message from Ai4 Ai4 2026: America’s Largest AI Conference Returns to Las Vegas Join 12000+ founders, execs, & builders at Ai4 2026, America’s largest AI conference. Discover the strategic insights and use cases driving real business impact. Hear from industry pioneers like Geoffrey Hinton, Fei-Fei Li, and Andrew Ng, explore 400+ exhibits, & network with peers in Las Vegas, Aug 4-6. Register now to save $900+ before July 2nd. Register Now Morning Must-Reads Govee's smart nugget ice maker makes every iced drink feel like a luxury: For some people, the ice in a beverage is almost as important as the drink itself. That's the audience Govee had in mind when designing its latest ice maker, the GoveeLife Smart Nugget Ice Maker Pro. This $500 premium smart home gadget is aimed at those who crave what's called “the good ice,” the soft, chewable nugget ice often found in fast food or restaurant drinks.  Govee says that the modern-design gadget delivers nugget ice in as little as six minutes. That's a claim that proved true in my testing. It can make up to 60 pounds of ice per day, and has a 3.5-pound ice basket that automatically refills as you scoop out ice. The hefty price tag means it’s not for people who are perfectly happy with refrigerator ice and don't know what “good ice” even means. Instead, it’s for self-proclaimed ice enthusiasts willing to splurge on a fun, luxury gadget that makes everyday drinks a little more enjoyable.  It’s simple to use, as you just need to fill the tank with water and press start on the screen. You can also control the ice maker with the GoveeHome app, which lets you start ice production from your phone or schedule it so ice is ready when you need it, such as before your morning coffee.  The app control is quite convenient. I could start ice production from my phone while working at my desk, and by the time I wanted an iced latte, there was fresh nugget ice Read More TechCrunch Mobility: All eyes on Tesla FSD: Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, your hub for the future of transportation and now, more than ever, how AI is playing a part. Read More Flipper Device's new Busy Bar is a customizable display for productivity: Flipper Device's new Busy Bar will retail for $249. Read More Instagram is testing more ways to customize ‘Your Algorithm’: Instagram users could soon see more ways to tune their content. Read More California law targeting loud streaming ads takes effect on July 1: Streaming ads might be getting a lot quieter. Read More Last but Not Least Omen AI's plan to optimize data centers is all wet: Omen AI raised a $31 million Series A to monitor chip coolant and stop bacterial outbreaks in data centers. 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

FTC gives Musk the OK to acquire SpaceX alumni startup Mesh

Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories this weekend

View this email online in your browser  June 28, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 FTC gives Musk the OK to acquire SpaceX alumni startup Mesh: Mesh came out of stealth in February with a $50 million Series A. Read More Asian AI startups launch Mythos-like models as Anthropic's export ban drags on: New models are launching in Asia that promise Mythos-like capabilities without fear of an export ban. U.S. AI labs may never recover this enormous market. Read More Govee's smart nugget ice maker makes every iced drink feel like a luxury: For some people, the ice in a beverage is almost as important as the drink itself. That's the audience Govee had in mind when designing its latest ice maker, the GoveeLife Smart Nugget Ice Maker Pro. This $500 premium smart home gadget is aimed at those who crave what's called “the good ice,” the soft, chewable nugget ice often found in fast food or restaurant drinks.  Govee says that the modern-design gadget delivers nugget ice in as little as six minutes. That's a claim that proved true in my testing. It can make up to 60 pounds of ice per day, and has a 3.5-pound ice basket that automatically refills as you scoop out ice. The hefty price tag means it’s not for people who are perfectly happy with refrigerator ice and don't know what “good ice” even means. Instead, it’s for self-proclaimed ice enthusiasts willing to splurge on a fun, luxury gadget that makes everyday drinks a little more enjoyable.  It’s simple to use, as you just need to fill the tank with water and press start on the screen. You can also control the ice maker with the GoveeHome app, which lets you start ice production from your phone or schedule it so ice is ready when you need it, such as before your morning coffee.  The app control is quite convenient. I could start ice production from my phone while working at my desk, and by the time I wanted an iced latte, there was fresh nugget ice Read More Sunday Must-Reads Corgi, the buzzy Y Combinator-backed insurance tech startup, says it didn't steal an open source product: Corgi became embroiled in controversy when Papermark accused it of stealing its software. Corgi says it did not, raising new questions about vibe coding. Read More OpenAI limits GPT-5.6 rollout after government request, says restrictions shouldn’t be the norm: “We don’t believe this kind of government access process should become the long-term default,” says OpenAI. “It keeps the best tools from users, developers, enterprises, cyber defenders, and global partners who need them.” Read More Why Wall Street thinks US memory maker Micron is the next Nvidia: Eager to find more public AI-related companies that may do as well as Nvidia, Wall Street investors think they've found a winner with Micron. Read More The fittest founder in the room got cancer. Here's how he used AI to fight back.: When confronted with cancer, Connor Christou fed everything tied tied to his regime — blood results, scan data, wearable output, journal entries — into Claude. Read More SoftBank’s CEO isn’t the only one with questions about Elon Musk's orbital data center hype: Not everyone is buying Elon Musk’s vision for orbital data centers. Read More Disrupt 2026: Where deals and ideas ignite Oct 13–15 at San Francisco's Moscone West, 10,000 founders, investors, and operators gather for high-signal insights, curated connections, and real momentum. Register Now! Last but Not Least Russian hackers were behind $2.5B hack of Jaguar Land Rover: Report: The hack on car giant Jaguar Land Rover last year was one of the most disrupting, damaging, and costly hacks of the last few years. 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