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This digest compiles the latest from TechCrunch.
Today’s TechCrunch Roundup
Why this VC thinks 2026 will be ‘the year of the consumer’
8 Jan 2026, 2:46 pm by Rebecca Bellan
AI adoption in enterprise is stalling as companies don’t know where to start. Vanessa Larco of Premise VC thinks 2026 will be the year of the consumer.
Hands on with a prototype of Clicks’ Communicator, a new BlackBerry-like smartphone
8 Jan 2026, 2:22 pm by Sarah Perez
TechCrunch goes hands-on at the CES 2025 show with the new Clicks Communicator, a new Android smartphone with a physical keyboard.
Former Bolt CEO Maju Kuruvilla’s startup triples to $100M valuation
8 Jan 2026, 1:00 pm by Jagmeet Singh
Spangle has raised $15 million in a Series A round to expand its AI-generated shopping experiences.
Gmail debuts a personalized AI Inbox, AI Overviews in search, and more
8 Jan 2026, 1:00 pm by Aisha Malik
Gmail is also bringing several AI features that were previously available only to paid users to all users.
JPMorgan Chase becomes the new issuer of the Apple Card
8 Jan 2026, 6:31 am by Ivan Mehta
Apple expects the transition to take 24 months
Waymo is rebranding its Zeekr robotaxi
8 Jan 2026, 2:43 am by Kirsten Korosec
It sounds like “Oh hi.”
Google and Character.AI negotiate first major settlements in teen chatbot death cases
8 Jan 2026, 1:32 am by Connie Loizos
The settlements are among the first tied to lawsuits accusing AI companies of harming users.
Ford has an AI assistant and new hands-free BlueCruise tech on the way
8 Jan 2026, 12:00 am by Sean O’Kane
Ford says the new generation of BlueCruise will be 30% cheaper to build than the current technology.
End of today’s TechCrunch roundup.
