TechCrunch Disrupt 2025: Day 2

After two days full of live demos and pitches, it's time to announce the five finalists at this year's Startup Battlefield.

Actor Thomas Middleditch had a planned takeover of Australian startup Othelia’s presentation at the pitch showcase stage. 

The move comes as Waabi announced earlier this year that it was partnering with Volvo Autonomous Solutions to build a custom purpose truck based on Volvo’s auto autonomy platform using Waabi's...

Unthread builds Slack-native, AI-powered support bots for high-profile customers like Intuit, Lemonade, and Automattic.

CampusAI is an educational platform focused on making learning accessible to everyday people who want to bring AI into their everyday workflows, and a virtual ecosystem to connect like-minded people.

Mappa's AI hiring platform can assess a candidate's behavior based on voice patterns, and aims to take some of the guesswork out of hiring.

Super Teacher’s app features animated tutors with AI-generated voices that guide students through interactive lessons. Students talk to the app using voice, like a conversation with a teacher.

Unlisted is like Zillow but for homes that are not yet on the market. The company is now launching an iOS app.

Geothermal startup Mazama Energy said it drilled a borehole that set a temperature record. Such superhot rocks could make geothermal a key player in data center power.

Aurora's first driverless route was from Dallas to Houston. This next one is Fort Worth to El Paso.

Mirror's founder is back with a connected gaming startup called Board that combines board games and video games.

Netflix CTO Elizabeth Stone says company is experimenting with vertical video, but isn't trying to be TikTok.

Netflix announces new Kids' profiles with real-time recommendations, a "My Netflix" hub, and more.

While watching live content, viewers will be able to vote to directly influence the outcome of what they're watching on their TV or mobile device.

To achieve those goals, OpenAI is betting on two key strategies: continued algorithmic innovation and dramatically scaling up "test time compute" — essentially how long models spend thinking about...

Elloe AI promises a system capable of fact-checking AI outputs, making sure they don’t violate laws and regulations, and that they are safe for the users.

The startup’s platform is built on several modular systems that clients can purchase individually or as a complete suite.

Cyphr's product analyzes alternative data sources and financial patterns of small businesses to help lenders make decisions about small business creditworthiness. 

Tina Williams-Koroma said CyDeploy uses machine learning to understand what happens on a company’s machine and then creates a “digital twin” where system administrators can test updates.

The goal is faster, cheaper, and more reliable risk evaluation for spacecraft insurance, and eventually to power new forms of credit and nondilutive funding for space companies looking outside...