Understanding the theater behind government shutdowns—and why they have nothing to do with America actually running out of money We’ve all seen it play out like clockwork: the breathless countdown to a “government shutdown,” politicians pointing fingers across the aisle, essential workers wondering if they’ll get paid, and the American people watching another episode of Washington’s favorite reality show. But...
March 12, 2026
Fractal Analytics’ muted IPO debut signals persistent AI fears in India
As India’s first AI company to IPO, Fractal Analytics didn’t have a stellar first day on the public markets, as enthusiasm for the technology collided with jittery investors in the wake of a sell-off in Indian software stocks.
After all the hype, some AI experts don’t think OpenClaw is all that exciting
“From an AI research perspective, this is nothing novel,” one expert told TechCrunch.
Flapping Airplanes on the future of AI: ‘We want to try really radically different things’
“We’re exploring a different set of tradeoffs.”
How Ricursive Intelligence raised $335M at a $4B valuation in 4 months
The reason why this nascent startup had VCs lining up is the founders.They are so famed in the AI world, everyone tried to hire them.
Have money, will travel: a16z’s hunt for the next European unicorn
According to a16z, it has eyes around the world in order to spot companies as early as local funds might.
The cryptocurrency designed to escape government oversight has instead enhanced the state’s ability to tax, monitor, and seize digital wealth
In 2008, an anonymous figure using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto released a white paper describing Bitcoin as “a peer-to-peer electronic cash system” that would operate without the need for trusted third parties. The promise was revolutionary: money beyond government control, transactions without intermediaries, financial sovereignty for individuals in a digital age. Fifteen years later, Bitcoin has achieved mainstream adoption—but not...
The great computer science exodus (and where students are going instead)
Students are losing some interest in computer science broadly but gaining interest in AI-specific majors and courses.
Hollywood isn’t happy about the new Seedance 2.0 video generator
Hollywood organizations are pushing back against a new AI video model called Seedance 2.0, which they say has quickly become a tool for “blatant” copyright infringement.
How to get into a16z’s super-competitive Speedrun startup accelerator program
TechCrunch spoke to a16z partner Joshua Lu for some tips on standing out for the Speedrun program.