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Paramount and Warner Bros Discovery to become Skydance

The roughly $110 billion deal is expected to close October 6.

Dots get up in Muse’s business

OpenAI's answer to Muse arrived this week, and it looks a whole lot like Muse dressed up in a suit and tie. Dots is a business-first product - for now, at least - costing a minimum of $100 per month. And sure, you can make a cute little Dot character, just like you can make a cute little Muse character. But OpenAI's early marketing is all about how you can use it to do Business Things: launch websites, reschedule calls, build slide decks for board meetings. Muse, on the other hand, keeps reminding me to buy a jacket I looked at. This week on The Vergecast, we're talking about Dots and the current state of agentic assistants. Our conversatio … Read the full story at The Verge.

Pope Leo XIV is not a fan of AI-generated art

"There is an ontological difference, even before an aesthetic one, between art and what a machine can generate through statistical calculation based on millions of images created by others," the pope wrote. "Algorithms lack the spark of humanity."

Mozilla shutting down Solo AI website creator

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Big Tech ruined the cloud, so we're renaming ours

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Tesla will now let you drive off mid-charge if there’s an emergency

Tesla introduced a new feature to enable drivers to escape quickly while charging their vehicles in response to a mass shooting at a Supercharger location in Idaho in August that left seven people wounded and four dead. When a Tesla vehicle is charging, the plug is locked to the charging port and driving is disabled. To put the car in drive, a charging cable has to be manually released from the vehicle's charging port. Since the shooting in Twin Falls, Idaho, Tesla owners have been requesting a quick-release mechanism that would allow them to escape in the event of an emergency. This week, Tesla responded with a software update that respon … Read the full story at The Verge.

With most information hidden, the game Stratego had stumped AI until now

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Less than 24 hours to apply for a Side Event at Founder Summit 2026

The clock is almost out. You have less than 24 hours left to apply to host a Side Event during TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026. Applications close tonight at midnight PT. Connect with the Boston startup ecosystem through November 1–7 by hosting your own Side Event. Bring your community, start an impactful conversation that’ll push the [ ]

Last 24 hours: Exhibit at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 and reach 10,000+ tech leaders

Today is the very last day to book your exhibit table at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. On October 13–15, 10,000+ founders, investors, operators, and tech leaders will arrive at San Francisco’s Moscone West looking for companies, products, ideas, and people worth knowing. The question is: will they find your startup?

Decision models like Jev don't beat LLM-as-a-judge or traditional classifiers

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Paramount’s Warner Bros. megamerger will just be called Skydance

Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has announced that the company will just be called Skydance when it completes its $110 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery next week. In a post on X, Ellison writes that "we wanted a name that would give the combined company an identity of its own while allowing Paramount and Warner Bros. - and all our extraordinary brands - to remain in the spotlight." Earlier this week, a judge approved the settlement Paramount reached with California and 11 other states that sued over the planned acquisition, clearing the last major hurdle blocking the deal. Under the deal, Paramount must release a minimum numb … Read the full story at The Verge.

Tesla’s recovery hits a speed bump

Tesla sold fewer vehicles in the third quarter than it did a year ago, when consumers rushed to cash in on expiring federal tax credits for electric vehicle purchases. But the company still beat estimates from Wall Street, suggesting that it's recovery was still on track. Tesla said that it produced a total of 464,391 vehicles between July and September of this year, including 457,387 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, as well as 7,004 "other vehicles" like the Cybertruck, Cybercab, and Tesla Semi. (The company discontinued the Model S and X earlier this year.) That represents about a 3.8 percent increase compared to the third quarter of 2025, … Read the full story at The Verge.