Cathy Tie, 30-year-old founder of Origin Genomics—a company launched in March to bring gene-edited embryos to IVF clinics—published a commentary in Trends in Genetics urging public funding and new regulatory pathways for germ-line editing research and eventual clinical use. The push follows the 2018 case of He Jiankui, who was imprisoned after creating the first gene-edited babies, and comes despite bans on embryo editing for pregnancy in dozens of countries.
Cerebras Systems co-founder and CEO Andrew Feldman is scheduled to appear at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 for a session titled 'Can AI Keep Scaling?', addressing rising demand for compute, energy and infrastructure. Cerebras builds wafer-scale AI chips as an alternative to conventional chip architectures, raised $5.5 billion in its May IPO, signed a multiyear deal with OpenAI for 750 megawatts of systems through 2026-2028, and launched its CS-4 hardware in August.
Instagram announced Wednesday it is launching a conversational AI assistant inside its Edits app, the CapCut rival, that analyzes a creator's account metrics like follows, views, retention and shares alongside comments and trending content to surface performance insights. Edits lead Brett Westervelt said the tool focuses on analysis rather than creative editing, leaving creative decisions to users, with usage capped unless creators subscribe to Meta One for more access.
A Fast Company panel featuring Everbrook Holdings CEO Anica John, Acquiring Minds founder Will Smith, and Village Search Partners founder Jeanne Wang discussed Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA), a model where individuals purchase existing, often profitable companies rather than starting new ones. Moderated by staff editor Shalene Gupta, the session examined the model's growing appeal as well as the obstacles facing those who pursue it.
Berlin-based startup Restate has closed a $20 million Series A round led by Singular, with participation from Redpoint Ventures and Capital One Ventures. The company, which builds infrastructure to make multi-step software workflows resilient to crashes and network failures, has recently signed several six- and seven-figure customer contracts, including with coding platform Replit. Restate built its own storage, replication and redundancy systems rather than relying on an external database, according to co-founder Stephen Ewen.
Android Authority ran a two-week reader poll asking Pixel owners whether Android 17 QPR1, which began rolling out this month, introduced new problems. Of 1,458 respondents, about 68% reported some new issue, with performance (19%), UI behavior (16%), display glitches (14%) and connectivity (11%) as the top complaints, while nearly a third said they saw no new problems.
Amazon has updated its Fire TV Stick 4K with a redesigned power connector, moving away from the long-criticized Micro USB port. The device also ships with a newly designed remote control.
Richard Christiansen, founder of Flamingo Estate, spoke with Fast Company's Kc Ifeanyi about turning his Los Angeles home and garden into a brand covering food, fragrance, beauty, and ritual. He described how his personal fascination with nature evolved into a fast-growing business built around reconnecting people with everyday pleasures.
Fast Company introduced a new recognition initiative called Pacesetters, highlighting executives who are integrating AI and technology into customer experience design. A panel discussion moderated by Mansueto Ventures' Stephanie Mehta featured Amit Bajaj of Tata Consultancy Services, Fran Bell of The Home Depot, and Eugene Nikolavsky of Stellantis. The session, sponsored by TCS, addressed how companies can deploy AI to reduce friction while maintaining customer trust.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports Apple will unveil three new Home products on October 13, including a rumored 'HomePad' device and an updated HomePod mini, but a redesigned full-size HomePod won't be among them. Gurman says Apple still intends to update the larger speaker eventually, though no timeline was given.
TechCrunch is closing exhibit bookings for Disrupt 2026 this Friday, October 2 at 11:59 p.m. PT. The conference runs October 13-15 at Moscone West in San Francisco, and exhibitors get a $12,500 package including a table, 10 team passes, lead-generation tools, and sponsor branding.
In a Fast Company panel discussion, Andrew Beebe of Obvious and Michael Obradovitch of Ecolab, moderated by Kristin Toussaint, discussed the electricity and water demands of data centers built to support AI. The panelists addressed topics including renewable energy, grid resilience, cooling technology, and water conservation as ways to manage the infrastructure's growing footprint.
GoKawiil