Anthropic launches Claude Sonnet 5 as a cheaper way to run agents

Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories this afternoon

View this email online in your browser  June 30, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Anthropic launches Claude Sonnet 5 as a cheaper way to run agents: Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 5 brings stronger agentic capabilities, lower pricing, and improved safety, positioning the model as a cheaper alternative to Opus, GPT-5.5, and Gemini Pro. Read More Nvidia competitor Etched hits $5B valuation, $1B in sales for AI chip: Nvidia AI chip competitor Etched says it has already booked $1 billion under contract for the inference systems powered by its chip. Read More The DeepMind trio who built a poker AI, are now making money for quant hedge funds: EquiLibre Technologies, a Prague-based AI lab founded by three ex-DeepMind researchers, is now valued at more than $500 million. Read More A message from Schneider Electric Where data meets drive Energy tech is foundational to motorsport. It's behind every decision, from software-defined design to precision manufacturing and race-day telemetry. That's why McLaren Racing partners with Schneider Electric for solutions that help drive a competitive advantage. Learn More Afternoon Must-Reads Arcturus could halve the grid’s electrical losses using its nano-infused metals: Stealthy startup Arcturus uses lasers to infuse carbon nanomaterials into copper, dramatically improving its ability to conduct electricity. Read More Amazon launches new $1 billion FDE org, following OpenAI and Anthropic: Engineers on the new team will embed within companies to deploy purpose-built agents, focusing on fast deployments and customer self-sufficiency. Read More Tesla starts testing Cybercab without pedals or a steering wheel in Austin: The company may finally be ready to try to deliver on Elon Musk's years-long promise of launching a robotaxi network of its own. Read More Podcasting platform Riverside enters the newsletter publishing game: Users will be able use AI to create newsletters based on their recordings. Read More Anthropic’s Claude Science bets on workflow, not a new model, to win over scientists: Anthropic's Claude Science is a workbench that gives scientists one environment to do computational research, saving them from the need to bounce between databases, pipelines, and tools. Read More Last but Not Least Clicks shows off its BlackBerry-inspired phone in a new hands-on video: A new video shows the final production version of the upcoming Clicks Communicator, a BlackBerry-like smartphone that runs modern apps. 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

Your brand deserves its own stage — Side Events at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026

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

View this email online in your browser  June 30, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Your brand deserves its own stage — Side Events at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026: From October 10-16, host a Side Event and command the room during the week of TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. Read More Waymo and Uber quietly part ways in Phoenix: Uber said it is readying the launch of a separate autonomous vehicle partnership in the city, but did not name the partner. Read More Chamath Palihapitiya raises $135M Series A for his AI coding startup, takes CEO role: VCs remain thirsty to fund AI coding startups. This one, founded by investor Chamath Palihapitiya, is no exception. 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 Watch out, Amazon: The Kobo eReader now has a Goodreads rival: Kobo users can now automatically sync their reading progress to StoryGraph, making it easier to track books, reading stats, and challenges without relying on Amazon’s Goodreads. Read More TIDAL cracks down on AI music by cutting off monetization: In addition, TIDAL will use automated tools to remove AI-generated music that attempts to impersonate an artist or a group, the company said. Read More Gemini's personalized AI image generation is now free for US users: Google is expanding Gemini’s personalized AI image generation to eligible free users in the U.S., allowing the chatbot to create images based on your interests and data from connected Google apps. Read More Vibe-coding platform Base44 launches own model as AI startups seek defensibility: Wix-owned vibe-coding platform Base44 has started rolling out its own AI model — with hopes that it will eventually outperform frontier models. Read More Crypto exchange OKX wants AI agents to hire and pay each other: OKX is bringing together payments, identity, and reputation into a marketplace for AI agents. Read More Last but Not Least Arena, the AI leaderboard everyone uses, is now a $100M business: The startup, which runs a popular free AI leaderboard, launched its commercial service just last September. 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