August 18, 2026

TechCrunch Top 3

Etched's valuation doubles to $21B in a month: Jane Street has installed Etched's first shipped AI cluster system, and was so impressed, it led another massive round, the startup says. Read More

Comcast adds motion sensing to millions of its newer routers, with a privacy catch: A new feature added to Comcast's newest routers can detect if there is motion inside your home without needing traditional motion sensors. Read More

Why Apple's camera-equipped AirPods may not be the 'pervert pods' consumers fear: Apple’s leaked camera-equipped AirPods might avoid the privacy pitfalls of other AI wearables by preventing users from recording photos and videos. Read More

Afternoon Must-Reads

Peacock is raising prices across all of its streaming plans: "These price changes allow Peacock to continue to create the best experience for its viewers, remain competitive in the marketplace, and deliver unique content across all genres," the company wrote on a support page. Read More

Bluesky says its recent outage was caused by another DDoS attack: This is the latest large-scale DDoS attack to hit the social networking site this year. Read More

Apple's new macOS update reportedly contains a video of AirPods with a camera: A video in a macOS Tahoe release candidate version shows a user wearing AirPods, looking at a book, and talking to Siri. Read More

Einride strikes deal to add 500 Tesla Semis to its fleet: The deal will triple the size of Einride's fleet while sweetening the company's sales pitch for its Saga AI software. The Tesla Semis will be available to customers across North America. Read More

DOJ's probe into Andreessen Horowitz over board seats baffles VCs: Since portfolio companies often pivot and expand into competing markets, investors view occasional conflicts of interest as unavoidable for large VC firms. Read More

Last but Not Least

OpenAI institutes new safeguards after Hugging Face breach: The new safeguards include more detailed monitoring of models during the development process, as well as greater emphasis on alignment and security during the post-training process. Read More