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There’s a reason frontier labs have gotten gunshy about consumer AI — and it’s not because the tech isn’t good enough. https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/30/the-ugly-economics-of-consumer-ai/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

Cloudflare announced a closed beta of its Monetization Gateway, which lets domain owners charge AI agents for access to websites, APIs, tools or datasets.
Source: Cloudflare
https://blog.cloudflare.com/monetization-gateway-beta/
#Tech

Meta says its Muse AI agent cannot access a user’s Messages without explicit permission, disputing a journalist’s account that the agent read his private messages while the required Mac setting was turned off. https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/30/meta-disputes-claim-that-muse-read-a-users-private-messages-without-permission/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

Apple Pay has officially launched in India through a partnership with Axis Bank.
Source: Gulf News
https://gulfnews.com/business/banking/apple-pay-finally-launches-in-india-after-years-on-the-sidelines-but-theres-a-catch-1.500693857
#Tech #Apple

By launching an AI agent for food ordering, DoorDash is looking to gain an edge over rivals Uber Eats and Grubhub. https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/30/doordash-launches-an-ai-agent-you-can-text-to-order-food/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

"One of the biggest reasons we are winning against robotics companies is because we are not a robotics company." https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/30/destro-ais-secret-sauce-is-getting-robots-and-humans-on-the-same-page/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

Instinct is rolling out human-curated product and travel recommendations, but some users aren’t happy about getting suggestions they never asked for. https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/30/instincts-new-product-recommendations-are-giving-some-users-the-ick/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

The order -- Harbinger's biggest ever -- comes as the startup is reportedly considering an IPO. https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/30/fedex-orders-2000-electric-trucks-from-harbinger-in-300m-deal/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

Pledge signed by President Trump and top AI leaders misspells the United States. https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/30/pledge-signed-by-president-trump-and-top-ai-leaders-misspells-the-united-states/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

HPE said it is boosting its networking growth outlook. It also announced a $1.2 billion artificial intelligence order from the cloud firm Vultr.
Source: CNA
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/hpe-boosts-networking-growth-outlook-gets-12-billion-ai-order-cloud-firm-vultr-6421751
#Tech

Fitbit Air costs around $146 in India, roughly $47 more than its U.S. pricing. https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/30/google-launches-fitbit-air-in-india-though-its-high-price-might-deter-the-masses/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

This conversational AI assistant is intended to provide personalized feedback to creators, rather than generic advice. https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/30/instagram-rolls-out-an-ai-video-editor-for-creators/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

At TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, Cerebras Systems CEO and co-founder Andrew Feldman will explore the growing demand for compute, energy, and infrastructure, how Cerebras is approaching those constraints differently, and what comes next if today’s AI hardware reaches its limits. https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/30/cerebras-systems-andrew-feldman-on-whether-ai-can-keep-scaling-at-techcrunch-disrupt-2026/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

Founded by Apache Flink veterans, the startup is taking on workflow heavyweight Temporal. https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/30/restate-lands-20m-as-the-need-for-durable-infrastructure-increases-with-ai-agents/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

Three days left to exhibit at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. Book by October 2 at 11:59 p.m. PT to showcase your startup to 10,000+ founders, investors, operators, and tech leaders. https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/30/3-days-left-to-exhibit-at-techcrunch-disrupt-2026-2/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

WhatsApp is adding optional parental controls that let parents decide privacy settings for their teenager's account.
Source: BBC News
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm986x65we88o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss
#Tech

Parents can limit how teens use channels, whose Status they can see, who can see their Status updates, and control who can add teens to groups. https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/30/whatsapp-adds-new-parental-controls-for-teen-accounts/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

Amazon’s new Fire TV Stick 4K is slimmer and faster, but its biggest upgrade may be the thing you’ll actually hold in your hand: a redesigned remote that’s easier to use, especially in the dark. https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/30/amazons-new-fire-tv-stick-4k-comes-with-an-actually-good-remote/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

President Trump announced a "morally binding" AI safety deal in which top executives pledged to self-regulate their artificial intelligence technology.
Source: The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/1002584/trump-us-ai-safety-deal-self-regulation-tech-execs
#TechPolicy

Your smartphone already knows where you are, what time your next meeting starts, and which apps you use.
Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer
https://technology.inquirer.net/149524/the-smartphone-is-becoming-the-agent
#AIAgents