Tuesday, 3 February 2026
Welcome to today's roundup of the most interesting developments in AI and technology.
Top Stories
Elon Musk’s SpaceX officially acquires Elon Musk’s xAI, with plan to build data centers in space
The merger creates the world's most valuable private company and paves the way for Musk to try and prove out the usefulness of space-based data centers.
Read moreWhat Snowflake’s deal with OpenAI tells us about the enterprise AI race
Snowflake is the latest enterprise to sign multi-year deals with multiple AI companies in what could be a sign to come of a future trend.
Read moreFirefox will soon let you block all of its generative AI features
Starting with Firefox 148 arriving later this month, users will find a new AI controls section within the desktop browser settings.
Read moreOpenAI launches new macOS app for agentic coding
OpenAI has released a new macOS app for Codex, integrating many of the agentic coding practices that have become popular since Codex launched last year.
Read moreRing brings its ‘Search Party’ feature for finding lost dogs to non-Ring camera owners
Ring's Search Party feature for finding lost dogs is now available across the U.S. — even if you don't own a Ring camera.
Read moreCarbon Robotics built an AI model that detects and identifies plants
Carbon Robotics' Large Plant Model will allow farmers to kill new types of weeds without having to retrain the machines.
Read moreCoalition demands federal Grok ban over nonconsensual sexual content
Nonprofits urge the U.S. government to suspend Grok in federal agencies after the xAI chatbot generated thousands of nonconsensual sexual images, raising national security and child safety concerns.
Read moreLinq raises $20M to enable AI assistants to live within messaging apps
Linq offers an API that lets companies offer their AI assistants via iMessage, RCS, and SMS.
Read moreThese AI notetaking devices can help you record and transcribe your meetings
These physical notetakers transcribe audio and give users summaries and action items of meetings using AI. Some even offer live translation.
Read moreAI layoffs or ‘AI-washing’?
How many of the companies with recent layoffs are just using AI as an excuse?
Read moreWhy Tether’s CEO is everywhere right now
For years, Tether's CEO avoided the United States, watching from offshore as regulators circled and prosecutors investigated. Those days are over.
Read moreIndonesia ‘conditionally’ lifts ban on Grok
Indonesia has followed Malaysia and the Philippines in lifting a ban on xAI’s chatbot Grok.
Read moreIndia offers zero taxes through 2047 to lure global AI workloads
New Delhi's latest move comes as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft expand data center investments in India.
Read moreBye-bye, corporate conglomerates. Hello personal conglomerates.
Elon Musk's reported merging of SpaceX, xAI, and Tesla harkens back to the heyday of General Electric — or maybe the robber barons of the Gilded Age.
Read moreNvidia CEO pushes back against report that his company’s $100B OpenAI investment has stalled
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said that a recent report of friction between his company and OpenAI was “nonsense.”
Read moreA peek inside Physical Intelligence, the startup building Silicon Valley’s buzziest robot brains
If co-founder Lachy Groom has any doubts, he doesn’t show it. He’s working with people who've been working on this problem for decades and who believe the timing is finally right, which is all he need
Read moreOpenClaw’s AI assistants are now building their own social network
The viral personal AI assistant formerly known as Clawdbot has a new shell — again. After briefly rebranding as Moltbot, it has now picked OpenClaw as its new name.
Read moreAnthropic brings agentic plug-ins to Cowork
The company says you can use plug-ins to "tell Claude how you like work done, which tools and data to pull from, how to handle critical workflows, and what slash commands to expose so your team gets m
Read moreLast 24 hours to grab your plus-one pass at 50% off to TechCrunch Disrupt 2026
Today is the last day to lock in a plus-one pass at 50% off to TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, happening on October 13-15 in San Francisco.
Read moreGuys, I don’t think Tim Cook knows how to monetize AI
One intrepid Morgan Stanley analyst dared to ask how Apple will make money on its AI investments. The answer will not shock you.
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