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TechCrunch Disrupt 2026

Related event timeline, sources and context from the news index.

EVENT TIMELINE

28

STARTUPS · 1 SOURCE · TechCrunch AI

Bluesky expands AI-powered Attie to let users build websites, games, and polls

At TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 Bluesky announced that its experimental AI platform Attie now lets creators build websites, quizzes, games, polls and other interactive experiences that live on the AT Protocol; users can bring their own AI model or use open-weight options and creations are tied to Bluesky identities and distribution. The company said Attie will help spur community-focused experiences and ties into upcoming AT Protocol private data support (currently in alpha).

6.0

STARTUPS · 1 SOURCE · TechCrunch AI

TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 set for Oct 13–15 in San Francisco; tickets and program details

TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 will take place Oct 13–15 at Moscone West in San Francisco, bringing more than 10,000 founders, investors and tech leaders, 250+ speakers across 200+ sessions, and 300+ startups in the Expo Hall. Ticket promotions include up to $100 off, a 50% off second-pass offer, and a Layoff to Liftoff Expo+ pass for $75; door rates rise on Oct 13 at 8 a.m. PT.

4.0

STARTUPS · 1 SOURCE · TechCrunch AI

Gudea uses AI to spot emerging social-media crises and raises $7M seed

Gudea, founded in 2023, applies AI to map how narratives and rumors travel across more than 500 mainstream and fringe sites (including X, Reddit and TikTok), analyzing behavior and pathways rather than raw mention counts to help organizations detect brewing crises. The startup—which has nearly 40 clients including unnamed Fortune 50 firms and an AI lab—pitched at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 and announced a $7 million seed round co-led by Mudita Venture Partners and Silicon Road Ventures; planned features include narrative geolocation and preflight ad-testing.

6.0

STARTUPS · 1 SOURCE · TechCrunch AI

Floqer plans to open-source AI agent-powered customer knowledge database; reports $1.2M ARR

Floqer is an autonomous customer-knowledge platform that uses fleets of AI agents to continuously research and enrich prospect and CRM data; the startup says it has surpassed $1.2 million in annual recurring revenue and grew revenue roughly tenfold over the past year. Floqer told TechCrunch it intends to open-source the technology behind its autonomous customer knowledge database, targeting an early‑2027 release pending security reviews; the company has raised $2M in pre-seed funding and serves customers including Perplexity, Wise, and AngelList.

6.0

STARTUPS · 1 SOURCE · TechCrunch AI

TechCrunch reveals Disrupt Stage lineup for Disrupt 2026 with AI leaders from Cerebras, Ricursive, Replit and more

TechCrunch published the final Disrupt Stage lineup for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, taking place Oct. 13–15 at Moscone West in San Francisco, featuring sessions from leaders including Cerebras CEO Andrew Feldman, Ricursive Intelligence co-founders Anna Goldie and Azalia Mirhoseini, Replit CEO Amjad Masad, and many founders, investors, and Startup Battlefield finalists.

6.0

STARTUPS · 1 SOURCE · TechCrunch AI

Industrial Next builds AI-driven robotic stations to retool factory lines in minutes

Industrial Next, a San Francisco startup founded by ex‑Tesla engineers Lukas Pankau and Allen Pan, said its self-contained robotic stations use proprietary foundation models plus high-fidelity simulation to connect vision, task context and motion so production lines can be retooled in minutes rather than weeks. The company announced an evaluation partnership with BMW Group Technology Office and demonstrated the system onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026.

6.0

COMPANIES · 1 SOURCE · TechCrunch AI

Cerebras CEO pushes back against AI 'doomer' narrative at TechCrunch Disrupt

Cerebras Systems CEO and co‑founder Andrew Feldman told TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 that the prevailing 'AI doomer' narrative is unhelpful and that leaders should emphasize potential benefits while advocating reasonable regulation; he also discussed data‑center community relations and said efficiency gains are unlikely to eliminate demand for chips. Feldman noted Cerebras customers include OpenAI, Block, Figma, GSK and Lovable.

4.0

COMPANIES · 1 SOURCE · TechCrunch AI

American Express introduces 'Intent Intelligence Framework' to block unauthorized AI-driven purchases

American Express has introduced the Intent Intelligence Framework, a set of APIs and tokens (including a Create Intent API, Intent ID, and Proof of Intent Token) designed to capture and authenticate a customer’s purchase intent before an AI agent completes a transaction. The framework is part of Amex’s ACE developer toolkit and aims to provide secure, tokenized payment credentials and intent logging to reduce misfires, aid fraud prevention, and support dispute resolution as agentic commerce scales.

7.0

COMPANIES · 1 SOURCE · TechCrunch AI

OpenAI product lead Alexander Embiricos to speak at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 shortly after Dots launch

Alexander Embiricos, product lead for OpenAI’s new personal-agent product Dots, will appear on the AI Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 in San Francisco days after OpenAI unveiled Dots; his session 'What Comes After the Chatbot?' will discuss the design and the privacy/trust implications of always-on agents that run in the cloud and connect to user apps. The visit highlights OpenAI’s effort to promote Dots and to shape industry and public conversation about agent autonomy and data access.

6.0

MODELS · 1 SOURCE · TechCrunch AI

TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 features sessions on choosing between open and proprietary AI models

At TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 several panels and stages will address how founders decide between open-weight models, frontier APIs, multi-model approaches, and owning parts of the AI stack. Speakers include Mo Jomaa (CapitalG), Vipul Ved Prakash (Together AI), Zuzanna Stamirowska (Pathway), Manos Koukoumidis (Oumi), and Nvidia representatives, plus sessions on AI-driven chip design from Ricursive Intelligence founders.

4.0

MONEY · 1 SOURCE · TechCrunch AI

Blackstone N1’s Jas Khaira to speak on building next-generation AI giants at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026

At TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, Jas Khaira — global head of Blackstone N1 and Blackstone Growth — will present “Building the Next Generation of AI Giants,” outlining what Blackstone looks for when backing category-defining AI companies and how founders should approach financing large-scale growth. The preview cites Blackstone’s recent investments as context, including up to $600 million in Neysa and participation in a $1.5 billion joint-venture backing for Anthropic’s Ode.

5.0

COMPANIES · 1 SOURCE · TechCrunch AI

Clay CEO Kareem Amin to present 'GTM engineer' session at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026

At TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, Clay co-founder and CEO Kareem Amin will present a session titled “The GTM Engineer: How AI Created Tech’s Next Big Job Category,” tracing how AI and automation have turned traditional go-to-market tasks into system-building roles. Clay — maker of the OpenAI-powered agent Claygent and a company that recently reported rapid revenue growth and a $115M Series D at a $7.1B valuation — is foregrounding the GTM engineer as a growing job category used by companies including Cursor, Lovable, and Webflow.

6.0

COMPANIES · 1 SOURCE · TechCrunch AI

Cerebras CEO Andrew Feldman to speak on AI scaling at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026

Cerebras Systems CEO and co-founder Andrew Feldman will speak at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 about the limits and infrastructure demands of continued AI scaling, drawing on Cerebras’ wafer-scale approach. The article notes Cerebras recently introduced the CS-4, completed a $5.5B IPO, signed a multiyear 750 MW deal with OpenAI, and is expanding data center and manufacturing capacity through 2027.

6.0

COMPANIES · 1 SOURCE · TechCrunch AI

Anthropic, Gamma, and Clay to discuss enterprise AI deployments at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026

Anthropic’s Head of Applied AI Cat de Jong will join Gamma CEO Grant Lee and Clay CEO Kareem Amin on the AI Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 to discuss what Anthropic observes when enterprises deploy Claude and how founders turn AI features into products people actually use. The session contrasts Anthropic’s cross-customer deployment patterns with Gamma and Clay’s firsthand product and adoption experiences.

3.0

STARTUPS · 1 SOURCE · TechCrunch AI

TechCrunch adds five VCs to Startup Battlefield 200 judging panel for Disrupt 2026

TechCrunch named five additional judges for Startup Battlefield 200 at Disrupt 2026: Caleb Appleton (Bison Ventures), Sara Deshpande (Maven Ventures), Aatish Nayak (Kleiner Perkins), Jason Risch (Greylock), and Mark Xu (Index Ventures). The 200 selected startups will exhibit and compete at Moscone West Oct. 13–15 for a $100,000 equity-free prize and a place in the live finals.

4.0

STARTUPS · 1 SOURCE · TechCrunch AI

Ricursive Intelligence is building AI that designs chips; founders to speak at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026

Ricursive Intelligence, founded by Anna Goldie and Azalia Mirhoseini, is developing AI systems to automate and accelerate chip design with the aim of cutting multi-year design cycles to weeks; the startup, launched in late 2025, raised $335 million (including a $300 million Series A) at a $4 billion valuation and counts Nvidia among investors. Goldie and Mirhoseini — who helped build Google’s AlphaChip and worked at Anthropic and DeepMind — will discuss the approach and its implications on the Disrupt 2026 stage.

7.0

STARTUPS · 1 SOURCE · TechCrunch AI

TechCrunch adds five VC judges to Startup Battlefield 200 at Disrupt 2026

TechCrunch announced five additional venture investors joining the judging panel for Startup Battlefield 200 at Disrupt 2026 (Oct 13–15 in San Francisco). Several named judges are known for investing in AI and enterprise startups, including Vaibhav Agrawal of ODDBIRD, Anu Bharadwaj of ICONIQ, Sho Sho Leigha Ho of General Catalyst, Miloni Madan Presler of IVP, and Aidan Madigan-Curtis of Eclipse Ventures.

4.0

COMPANIES · 1 SOURCE · TechCrunch AI

Shield AI, Waabi, and GM to discuss deploying high‑stakes autonomous AI at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026

Shield AI CTO Nathan Michael, Waabi CEO Raquel Urtasun, and General Motors Director of Robotics Strategy Mikell Taylor will appear on the Real World AI stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 for a session titled “Building AI Systems When Failure Is Not an Option,” covering safety culture, testing and validation, regulatory challenges, and trust for AI systems in aircraft, vehicles, and robots.

4.0

STARTUPS · 1 SOURCE · TechCrunch AI

Cal AI’s Zach Yadegari to discuss viral growth at TechCrunch Disrupt after MyFitnessPal acquisition

TechCrunch reports that Cal AI — an image-recognition nutrition app co‑founded by Zach Yadegari — grew to roughly 15 million downloads and about $30 million in annual revenue before being acquired by MyFitnessPal in a deal that closed in December 2025. Yadegari, whose seven‑person team and standalone app were reportedly retained, will speak at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 about how Cal AI achieved and tried to capitalize on rapid, distribution-driven viral growth.

5.0

STARTUPS · 1 SOURCE · TechCrunch AI

TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 early-bird ticket pricing ends Sept. 25

TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 will be held Oct. 13–15 at Moscone West in San Francisco. The event’s current ticket pricing window closes Sept. 25 at 11:59 p.m. PT (prices rise afterward); the last day to book an exhibit table is Sept. 18.

5.0

COMPANIES · 1 SOURCE · TechCrunch AI

TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 highlights five AI safety sessions for founders

TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 will feature five sessions focused on AI safety and security across its AI Stage and Real World AI Stage. Speakers and topics include Anthropic on enterprise deployments of Claude, Okta and NanoCo on agent security, AWS and security experts on cloud/infrastructure needs, autonomy leaders on deploying safe physical systems, and NVIDIA on the data gap for robots.

3.0

STARTUPS · 1 SOURCE · TechCrunch AI

Hello Robot to demo Stretch 4 on the Real World AI Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026

Hello Robot CEO Aaron Edsinger will demo Stretch 4 on the Real World AI Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt (Oct 13–15) in San Francisco. Stretch 4, a compact wheeled home-assistance robot with a telescoping arm that launched in May, reportedly sold out its first production run and includes a full‑stack open‑source software platform shaped by six years of customer feedback.

6.0

STARTUPS · 1 SOURCE · TechCrunch AI

Benchmark’s full partnership to appear onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026

All five current Benchmark general partners — Jack Altman, Peter Fenton, Chetan Puttagunta, Everett Randle and Eric Vishria — will appear together onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 for a session titled “What We Believe Now” to debate where the next generation of startups will come from. The session will touch on Benchmark’s recent shift (roughly $2 billion raised across a $750M flagship and $1.25B growth fund) and how AI-driven investment dynamics are reshaping founder opportunities.

5.0

COMPANIES · 1 SOURCE · TechCrunch AI

Google Search VP Robby Stein to speak at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026

Robby Stein, VP of product for Google Search, will lead a fireside chat at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 in San Francisco focused on how product decisions must change when serving billions of users, including lessons from introducing generative AI features in Search (Google said AI Mode surpassed 1 billion monthly users in May).

3.0

COMPANIES · 1 SOURCE · TechCrunch AI

Nvidia’s Les Karpas to discuss robotics’ ‘ChatGPT moment’ at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026

At TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 (Oct 13–15, Moscone West), Nvidia Inception’s Global Head of Physical AI Les Karpas will present a session arguing robotics has yet to see a ChatGPT-style breakthrough largely because the field lacks internet-scale physical datasets. Karpas will join founders from Shield AI, Colossal Biosciences, FieldAI and Foxglove to discuss simulation, synthetic data and foundation models as ways to bridge the digital-physical gap.

4.0

COMPANIES · 1 SOURCE · TechCrunch AI

Robinhood VP Abhishek Fatehpuria to speak at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 on winning the modern financial consumer

Robinhood VP of Product Management for Brokerage Abhishek Fatehpuria will present “Winning the Modern Financial Consumer” at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 (Oct 13–15, Moscone West), discussing how Robinhood is expanding beyond trading into banking, credit, crypto, prediction markets and AI‑powered investing (Cortex, Agentic Trading). The company reported 28.6M funded customers and $384B in platform assets and said nearly 100,000 customers had opened Agentic Trading accounts as of Q2 2026.

6.0

STARTUPS · 1 SOURCE · TechCrunch AI

Gusto, Insight Partners and Leland discuss hiring when AI is a co-founder at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026

At TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 (Oct 13–15, Moscone West), Josh Reeves (Gusto), Michelle Johnson (Insight Partners) and John Koelliker (Leland) will appear on the Builders Stage for a session titled “Hiring When AI Is a Co-Founder.” They will examine how early-stage startups can balance human hires and AI agents across engineering, support, research and operations, and address questions of ownership and accountability.

4.0

STARTUPS · 1 SOURCE · TechCrunch AI

TechCrunch Disrupt 2026: What happens when OpenAI ships your roadmap?

TechCrunch AI will host an interactive Builders Stage session at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 titled “What happens when OpenAI ships your roadmap?” aimed at founders building AI companies to discuss how evolving foundation models affect product roadmaps and value creation.

5.0