Roy Lee of Cluley talks about startup marketing ragebait strategies
Roy Lee of Cluely has a message for startup founders. “We should think more seriously about how to go viral.” “In general, if you’re not in deep tech, you need to be conservative and focus on distribution,” Lee told the Disrupt 2025 audience. But he also made it clear that not everyone is cut out […]
NBA Champion Tristan Thompson and World Mobile launch community-owned network Uplift
NBA champion Tristan Thompson announced at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 that he is partnering with global telecommunications company World Mobile to launch a community-owned mobile network called Uplift. The network offers unlimited data plans starting at $9.99 per month. Uplift is built on blockchain technology and decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN). With Uplift, every subscription contributes […]
Digg founder Kevin Rose talks about the need for trusted social communities in the age of AI
“The idea that the internet is dying is real,” Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian told Digg founder Kevin Rose, referring to the idea that the internet is mostly bots rather than humans. Since then, the two entrepreneurs have teamed up to reimagine the way we build social communities in a world where it will soon be […]
The winners of Disrupt 2025’s Startup Battlefield are: Glid
Over three days this week, 20 startups participated in TechCrunch Disrupt 2025’s Startup Battlefield. Each was named the Best Player of the Startup Battlefield 200 and competed for a chance to take home the Startup Battlefield Cup and $100,000. After some intense pitching, the winner was decided. These startups were hand-picked to compete in the […]
Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko is a big fan of agent coding
The rise of agent coding tools was a game-changer for software engineers across the industry. But things seemed especially tough for Solana Labs CEO Anatoly Yakovenko. Speaking at TechCrunch Disrupt, Yakovenko said he has become increasingly comfortable putting software development tasks on the back burner. After more than 15 years of software development, Yakovenko says […]
2024 Startup Battlefield runner-up geCKo Materials announces four new products at TechCrunch Disrupt
geCKo Materials, the 2024 runner-up of the TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Battlefield, returned to the stage at this year’s show to further commercialize its technology and unveil new products. Founder Dr. Capella Kerst has revealed four new applications for geCKo’s ultra-strong dry adhesive. They are semiconductor wafer processing tools, robotic grippers for smooth surfaces (such as […]
Box CEO Aaron Levie talks about how AI is changing the landscape of enterprise SaaS
Box co-founder and CEO Aaron Levy doesn’t think AI agents will replace enterprise SaaS (software-as-a-service) companies. Rather, he believes the more likely future is a hybrid combination of SaaS and agents, he said, speaking on stage at the TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 conference on Wednesday. “Typically, once you create a business process, you want to be […]
San Francisco Mayor: “We should be a testing ground for emerging technologies”
Waymo and Zoox robotaxis have become a common sight on the streets of San Francisco, and soon Uber will be in the city as well through partnerships with Lucid and Nuro. That’s exactly what San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie likes. “I think we should be a test bed for emerging technologies, AI, healthcare technologies, all […]
Former L3Harris Trenchant president pleads guilty to selling zero-day exploit to Russian broker
Peter Williams, former general manager of defense contractor L3Harris, has pleaded guilty to selling surveillance technology to Russian brokers who purchase “cyber tools,” the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed Wednesday. “This material, stolen over a three-year period from a U.S. defense contractor for which he worked, consisted of national security-focused software containing at least eight […]
TechCrunch Disrupt 2025: How to watch Startup Battlefield Finale, Cluley, Solana, SF Mayor
TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 is coming! If you’re still on the fence about attending in person, join us for the extensive schedule of speakers, networking opportunities, workshops, afterparties, and more available here. There’s still time to buy last-minute tickets. There’s only one day left, so we’re offering you a 50% discount. If you can’t attend in […]