The startup helps developers build AI agents that work over iMessage, SMS/RCS, email, and other messaging platforms. It's a bet that consumers will increasingly use agents instead of downloading apps.
BAAACK
»
TechCrunch
»
Photon held a funeral for mobile apps. Now it has $4.5M to help replace them with agents.
×
Share this Article
Most Recent Articles
Amazon introduces Kindle Click, a $35 remote for turning pages
The compact Bluetooth remote is designed to let readers turn pages without touching their Kindle.
The new Kindle ditches the raised bezel in a push toward a smaller, lighter e-reader
The new Kindle lineup features its lightest and thinnest designs yet, with a sleek, front-flush display that eliminates bezels for good.
Audible’s new features let you explore book worlds — and use AI to talk to characters
Audible is rolling out new features that help listeners keep track of characters, explore places and imagery mentioned in books, and even interact with characters using generative AI.
Hearing tech startup Legato launches its AI hearing glasses
The glasses stem from the startup’s goal of making hearing care more accessible by addressing the cost, comfort, and stigma associated with traditional hearing aids.
Satlyt, founded by a former Google and SpaceX product manager, raises $8M to run AI on satellites
Satlyt wants to be the Android of orbital computing, offering open software that works on many companies' satellites, versus SpaceX's closed, all-in-one iPhone-style approach.
Google releases Gemini 4 Argon, called its most powerful model yet
Google has released its latest Gemini model, marketing it as a workhorse for coding and cybersecurity work.
The Pentagon taps Elon Musk and Palmer Luckey to help decide what the military should do next
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth just launched a 120-day study on the future of warfare, led by Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey, and Newt Gingrich, and while it makes sense given their ties to the...
Valor, Atreides, and Sequoia back AI startup Flow Engineering at $750M valuation
Flow Engineering, which is bringing AI agents to hardware design, also landed Roelof Botha as an angel investor and board member.
Factory CEO just accused his VC board adviser of spying for Cognition
VC Chris Degnan and former board adviser to Factory AI has taken a job as chief revenue officer for competitor Cognition -- and everyone is arguing on X about it.
Is Neko Health’s body scan worth it? Spotify billionaire’s startup has come to America
Spotify founder Daniel Ek’s Neko Health raised $700 million to build a business around scanning your body, but it’s not the only company centering its roadmap around a new kind of preventative...
Hackers stole millions of US military personnel records during months-long data breach
The Department of Defense notified millions of current and former U.S. military personnel that their personal information had been stolen in a months-long breach.
DoorDash’s drone strategy started on the ground
DoorDash unveiled the six-propeller aircraft that will be used in its new drone delivery business at its annual Dash Forward 2026 event.
BMW built the same car for gas and electric. The EV is $4,400 cheaper.
The new BMW 3 Series shows just how quickly EVs have caught up to fossil fuel vehicles on pricing.
OpenAI’s Jev clone could help the frontier lab stop its swarming agents
OpenAI's "Decisions API" is a Jev clone that confirms the importance of fast, cheap intelligence.
AI voice startup ElevenLabs doubles valuation to $22B
The $300 million employee tender was co-led by Wellington and T. Rowe Price.
Reddit is killing RSS feeds and ending public API access because of AI bots
Reddit is ending support for RSS feeds, as the company continues tightening access to its trove of user-generated content.
The ugly economics of consumer AI
There’s a reason frontier labs have gotten gun-shy about consumer AI — and it’s not because the tech isn’t good enough.
Meta disputes claim that Muse read a user’s private messages without permission
Meta says its Muse AI agent cannot access a user’s Messages without explicit permission, disputing a journalist’s account that the agent read his private messages while the required Mac setting...
DoorDash launches an AI agent you can text to order food
By launching an AI agent for food ordering, DoorDash is looking to gain an edge over rivals Uber Eats and Grubhub.
Destro AI’s secret sauce is getting robots and humans on the same page
"One of the biggest reasons we are winning against robotics companies is because we are not a robotics company."