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

View this email online in your browser 

October 16, 2025

 

TechCrunch Top 3

Zepto raises $450M at $7B valuation as Indian quick-commerce market heats up

Zepto raises $450M at $7B valuation as Indian quick-commerce market heats up: Indian quick-commerce startup Zepto said it has raised $400 million in a funding round led by a new investor, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), a U.S.-based pension fund. Read More

General Intuition lands $134M seed to teach agents spatial reasoning using video game clips: Late last year, OpenAI reportedly tried to buy Medal and its vast trove of video game data for $500M. Today, the company spun out a frontier research lab that's using that data to build AI agents that understand how they move through space and time, a concept called spatial-temporal reasoning. Read More

India's Kuku snags $85M as mobile content wars intensify: Kuku plans to expand beyond India with a U.S. launch slated for next year. Read More

A message from Silicon Valley Bank

SVB helps you scale to and through Series A.

With deep industry expertise and a commitment to innovation, SVB is the partner you need to help you get to A, B and beyond. Scale with confidence with SVB by your side.

Learn More

Morning Must-Reads

How a headphone site operator built loyalty startup Lantern to solve his own problems

How a headphone site operator built loyalty startup Lantern to solve his own problems: After struggling to retain customers at his e-commerce site Headphones.com, founder Andrew Lissimore built his own loyalty solution — and it’s now a startup called Lantern. The Shopify-native platform helps brands boost retention through customizable loyalty, referrals, and account management tools. Read More

Pinterest adds controls to let you limit the amount of 'AI slop' in your feed: Pinterest is rolling out new controls that let users limit how much AI-generated content appears in their feeds. The company is also making its AI content labels more visible. Read More

Microsoft, AWS and Google are trying to drastically reduce China's role in their supply chains: Microsoft, Amazon and Google are ramping up efforts move production of their products and data centers outside of China, Nikkei reported, citing supply chain sources. Read More

Amazon launches pay-per-visit virtual healthcare service for kids: Amazon’s One Medical is expanding into pediatric care with a new pay-per-visit virtual health service for children ages 2 to 11. Starting at $29 for message-based visits and $49 for video calls, the service treats common conditions like pink eye, eczema, and rashes, and also handles medication renewals Read More

Spotify partners with record labels to create 'artist-first' AI music products: Spotify has announced new partnerships with major record labels — including Sony, Universal, Warner, and Merlin — to build “responsible AI” tools that protect artists’ rights and ensure fair compensation. The initiative will let artists opt in or out of AI use. Read More

A message from HSBC Innovation Banking US

Discover founder-first banking for the future.

HSBC Innovation Banking US is committed to helping leaders in the innovation economy get started on the future faster by providing access to an extensive global network, dedicated sector experts, and a robust suite of banking products and services.

Learn more

The Latest From TechCrunch Disrupt 2025

Final 2 days to claim your exhibit table at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025: With less than 48 hours to secure your table at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, now is the time to step in before a competitor takes your place. Read More

Aquawise will show off its AI-driven water-quality tech at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025: Aquawise uses satellite images and a physics-based AI model to monitor and predict water quality at aquaculture farms. Read More

The full Space Stage agenda at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025: The future of tech launches here: The Space Stage agenda is full at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025. Join 10,000 tech leaders to hear what's next in space tech from top voices like Baiju Bhatt, Will Bruey, Bridgit Mendler, and more. Register now to save up to $624. Read More

 

Brought to you by JetBrains

JetBrains IDEs get multi-agent experience with Claude Agent

Claude Agent has become the first third-party AI agent to be built natively into JetBrains IDEs. Powered by Anthropic’s Claude Agent SDK, it delivers advanced agentic coding inside familiar workflows. With the addition of Claude Agent, JetBrains introduces a multi-agent IDE experience, empowering developers to do even more with the tools they already know and love.

Learn More
 

Be the first to know when news breaks

Subscribe to our News Alerts, and you won't miss a thing. Breaking news, exclusives, and special reports—straight to your inbox.

Sign up for News Alerts!
 

Last but Not Least

Apple loses another AI exec to Meta 

Apple loses another AI exec to Meta : Yang’s departure marks the latest in a string of exits from Apple’s AI unit, putting the company into jeopardy in the lead up to a much-anticipated Siri revamp scheduled for March.   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

Facebook XInstagramLinkedInBluesky

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 © 2025 TechCrunch Media LLC

501 2nd Street, Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94107