TechCognita | Blogs

1. Meta-backed Hupo finds growth after pivot to AI sales coaching from mental wellness Source: https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/12/meta-backed-hupo-finds-growth-after-pivot-to-ai-sales-coaching-from-mental-wellness/ Summary: Hupo, backed by Meta, pivoted from mental wellness to AI sales coaching for banks and insurers, and secured a $10M Series A led by DST Global 2. More than 100 new tech unicorns were minted in 2025 — here they are Source: https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/12/at-least-36-new-tech-unicorns-were-minted-in-2025-so-far/ Summary: Using data from Crunchbase and PitchBook, TechCrunch tracked down the VC-backed startups that became unicorns so far this year. 3. The best robot vacuums we’ve tested for 2026 Source: https://www.theverge.com/22997597/best-robot-vacuum-cleaner Summary: Robot vacuums are impressive devices that will clean your floors well and — thanks to bigger batteries and better robot brains — rarely get tired of doing their job. Over the last few years, these flo...

1. Motional puts AI at center of robotaxi reboot as it targets 2026 for driverless service Source: https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/11/motional-puts-ai-at-center-of-robotaxi-reboot-as-it-targets-2026-for-driverless-service/ Summary: Motional says it will launch a driverless robotaxi service in Las Vegas before the end of 2026. 2. You need to listen to Billy Woods’ horrorcore masterpiece for the A24 crowd Source: https://www.theverge.com/column/860372/billy-woods-horrorcore-masterpiece-golliwog-a24 Summary: Billy Woods has one of the highest batting averages in the game. Between his solo records like Hiding Places and Maps, and his collaborative albums with Elucid as Armand Hammer, the man has multiple stone-cold classics under his belt. And, while no one would ever claim that Woods' albums were light-hearted fare (these are not […] 3. Google co-founders may be leaving California Source: https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/11/google-co-founders-may-be-pulling-out-of-california/ Summary:...

1. SpaceX gets FCC approval to launch 7,500 more Starlink satellites Source: https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/10/spacex-gets-fcc-approval-to-launch-7500-more-starlink-satellites/ Summary: The Federal Communications Commission has given SpaceX approval to launch another 7,500 of its second generation Starlink satellites. 2. Musk says he’s going to open-source the new X algorithm next week Source: https://www.theverge.com/news/860294/elon-musk-open-source-x-algorithm Summary: In 2023, what was then still called Twitter, open-sourced at least portions of the code that decided what it served up in your feed. But that GitHub repository is hopelessly out of date, with the vast majority of the files appearing to be from the initial upload three years ago. Elon Musk says that in […] 3. These are the smart home gadgets that impressed me at CES 2026 Source: https://www.theverge.com/tech/860241/best-smart-home-devices-ces-2026-matter-ikea-aqara-amazon Summary: I picked Aqara's Smart Lo...

1. Betterment’s financial app sends customers a $10,000 crypto scam message Source: https://www.theverge.com/news/860106/betterment-crypto-scam-notification Summary: Betterment, a financial app, sent a sketchy-looking notification on Friday asking users to send $10,000 to Bitcoin and Ethereum crypto wallets and promising to "triple your crypto," according to a thread on Reddit. The Betterment account says in an X thread that this was an "unauthorized message" that was sent via a "third-party system." Here's […] 2. I met a lot of weird robots at CES — here are the most memorable Source: https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/09/i-met-a-lot-of-weird-robots-at-ces-here-are-the-most-memorable/ Summary: If the robots don't always give a totally accurate representation of where commercial deployment is at the moment, they do give visitors a peek at where their parent companies might be headed. 3. Google moonshot spinout SandboxAQ claims an ex-exec is attemptin...

1. Xbox’s Towerborne is switching from a free-to-play game to a paid one Source: https://www.theverge.com/news/859176/towerborne-launch-release-date-paid-offline Summary: Towerborne, a side-scrolling action RPG published by Xbox Game Studios that has been available in early access, will officially launch on February 26th. But instead of launching as a free-to-play, always-on online game as originally planned, Towerborne is instead going to be a paid game that you can play offline. "You will own the complete […] 2. CES 2026: Everything revealed, from Nvidia’s debuts to AMD’s new chips to Razer’s AI oddities Source: https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/08/ces-2026-everything-revealed-from-nvidias-debuts-to-amds-new-chips-to-razers-ai-oddities/ Summary: CES 2026 is in full swing in Las Vegas, with the show floor open to the public after a packed couple of days occupied by press conferences from the likes of Nvidia, Sony, and AMD and previews from Sunday’s Unveiled event. 3. The best Appl...

1. Waymo is rebranding its Zeekr robotaxi Source: https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/07/waymo-is-rebranding-its-zeekr-robotaxi/ Summary: It sounds like "Oh hi." 2. Google and Character.AI negotiate first major settlements in teen chatbot death cases Source: https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/07/google-and-character-ai-negotiate-first-major-settlements-in-teen-chatbot-death-cases/ Summary: The settlements are among the first tied to lawsuits accusing AI companies of harming users. 3. Disney Plus is getting vertical video Source: https://www.theverge.com/tech/858277/disney-plus-vertical-video Summary: Disney Plus will be getting a vertical video feed later this year, Disney announced as part of its Global Tech & Data Showcase for advertisers at CES. Based on an interview with Erin Teague, Disney's EVP of product management for Disney Entertainment and ESPN, Deadline reports that vertical video in the app could include "original […] 4. The best iPad deals you can get rig...