CoreWeave Acquires OpenPipe to Expand Reinforcement-Learning Agent Training ↗
CoreWeave has acquired OpenPipe, a two-year-old YC-backed startup behind ART, an open-source agent reinforcement trainer. The deal brings OpenPipe’s team and customers into CoreWeave and lets the cloud provider offer reinforcement-learning-based agent training to enterprises and AI labs. Terms weren’t disclosed; OpenPipe raised a $6.7M seed. The move follows CoreWeave’s Weights & Biases acquisition.
Orchard Robotics Raises $22M Series A for AI-Powered Farm Operating System ↗
Charlie Wu, a Cornell dropout and Thiel fellow, raised $22M Series A for Orchard Robotics, which mounts ultra‑high‑res cameras on tractors to capture fruit images analyzed by AI. The cloud platform tracks size, color and health to guide pruning, spraying and harvest planning. Already deployed on large apple and grape farms, Orchard aims to build a farm operating system.
Empire of AI’s Karen Hao Exposes OpenAI’s $90B AGI Race and Its Hidden Costs ↗
Karen Hao, author of Empire of AI, tells TechCrunch's Equity how OpenAI morphed from a nonprofit idealist project into a $90B AGI-chasing juggernaut. She details internal 'clan' fights, the hidden human and environmental costs of massive data-labeling, and how the 'China competition' narrative fuels Silicon Valley's rush. Hao warns investors and founders that this extractive model carries real risks — and urges building alternatives beyond the relentless pursuit of AGI.
Human Behaviour Raises $5M to Offer Vision AI-Powered Session Replay Insights ↗
Stanford dropout Amogh Chaturvedi and co-founders Skyler Ji and Chirag Kawediya raised $5M from YC, General Catalyst, Paul Graham and others for Human Behaviour. The startup uses vision AI to analyze session replays—no tedious event tagging—to reveal why users convert or churn. After selling their e-commerce startup Dough, the team is growing 20% month-over-month and aims to be the Datadog of session replay.
AI-Powered Ambient Computing: LG’s FURON Tackles Smart Home Complexity and Privacy ↗
Ambient computing—the dream of a home that anticipates your needs (lights, doors, coffee)—remains hampered by complexity, unreliability, and privacy concerns. Advances in AI, along with efforts like LG’s FURON agent, promise to make smart homes truly proactive, adaptive, and less intrusive.
Ooni’s Volt 2 Indoor Pizza Oven Packs “Pizza Intelligence,” Hits 450 °C in 90 Seconds for £499 ↗
Ooni's new Volt 2 is a compact indoor pizza oven (up to 13") with sensor-driven "Pizza Intelligence" that adjusts top and bottom elements to reduce cold spots. It reaches 450°C (842°F) for Neapolitan pies in about 90 seconds, offers Neapolitan, New York and deep-pan presets plus custom profiles, and will cost £499 (~$670) from Oct 1.
Fraction AI Launches DeFAI on NEAR: AI Agents Manage $100K Portfolios in Transparent Prediction Market ↗
Fraction AI launched DeFAI on NEAR: a transparent prediction market where AI trading agents each manage $100,000 crypto portfolios, trade using live Binance price feeds, and compete in daily rounds. Users predict winners and earn real-time rewards; top agents receive fee-funded incentives. The on-chain system (NEAR intents + Shade agents) verifies results, shifting AI success from hype to measurable performance.
Amazon Launches Lens Live for Real-Time Shopping on iPhone ↗
Amazon rolled out Lens Live, a real-time upgrade to Amazon Lens that lets iPhone users point their camera at items and see matching products in a swipeable carousel. Integrated with Amazon’s Rufus AI assistant and powered by SageMaker/OpenSearch, Lens Live lets shoppers add items to cart, save favorites and comparison-shop in stores. It’s launching first to tens of millions of U.S. iOS users.
OpenAI to Buy Statsig for $1.1B, Names Vijaye Raji Applications CTO ↗
OpenAI is acquiring product-analytics firm Statsig for $1.1 billion and hiring its founder Vijaye Raji as CTO of Applications, reporting to new Applications CEO Fidji Simo. Statsig will remain based in Seattle and operate independently pending regulatory approval. OpenAI also promoted Srinivas Narayanan to CTO of B2B Applications (reporting to COO Brad Lightcap) and moved CPO Kevin Weil to research as VP of AI for Science, with product teams now reporting to Simo.
Tesla’s Master Plan 4 Shifts Focus to AI, Humanoid Robots and Full Self-Driving ↗
Tesla’s new Master Plan 4 pivots the company from EVs and renewables toward AI, humanoid robots (Optimus), full self‑driving, and a goal of “sustainable abundance.” The breezy 983‑word plan — posted on X — spotlights robots (a popcorn‑serving Optimus demo briefly went offline) and an AI‑first future.