The intersection of technology, startups, and venture capital touches everything now. Thatβs why Equity, TechCrunch's flagship podcast, digs into the business of startups for entrepreneurs and enthusiasts alike. Every Wednesday and Friday, TechCrunch reporters keep you up-to-date on the world of business, technology, and venture capital. Equity is ranked the No.2 podcast in the Top 100 Venture Capital All time leaderboard on GoodpodsβAs well as No.17 for the Top 100 Finance All time chart and No.32 for the Top 100 Business News All time chart.
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The 'Vulnpocalypse' is coming for the internetβs aging code, says Wizβs CTO
Wednesday, October 28, 2026 β’ Duration 31:38
The PHP scare may have faded from your feed, but the cleanup is far from over. Last week, two critical bugs in the open source language behind roughly 70% of websites left organizations scrambling to fix their systems, with some taking sites offline until the vulnerabilities could be patched. According to researchers who found the bugs, this is only the beginning, as AI changes how quickly novel vulnerabilities can be uncovered and exploited. Β
On this episode of TechCrunchβs Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan talks with Tomer Schwartz, CTO of Exposure Management & AppSec at Google-owned Wiz, who was part of the scramble --- alongside OpenAI, research group Calif, and the PHP team ---Β to fix the bugs. On the show, Schwartz and Bellan get into what the race looked like from the inside, how early-stage startups can build with security in mind, and why patching by hand wonβt scale.Β
Listen to the full episode to hear more about:Β
Why Tomer says Wiz couldnβt have found these bugs without AI, and how custom tooling tested dozens of ideas over a weekend.Β
How a bug was able to sit in plain sight for more than a decade, and what changed to make it exploitable.Β
Why leaks are almost baked into coordinated disclosure, and how Wiz planned for it.Β
Whoβs still unpatched and whether small business owners running WordPress sites need to worry.Β
Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, and all the casts. You can also follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.Β
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The PHP Armageddon reminds us that the internet is held together by glue and dreams
Friday, October 23, 2026 β’ Duration 35:44
The internet is having an off week, to say the least.Β
Security researchers at OpenAI and Google-owned Wiz used AI to uncover critical flaws in PHP, the open source language behind roughly 70% of websites, including those built on WordPress, WooCommerce, and Magento. The holes date back more than a decade, and now that a fix is out, companies are scrambling to patch their systems as attackers try to exploit the them.Β
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On this episode of TechCrunchβs Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Sean OβKane, and Anthony Ha dig into why AI-powered bug hunting could make this the first of many internet-wide scares, what Elon Muskβs careful choreography says about where a Tesla-SpaceX merger is headed, and more of the weekβs headlines.Β
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Listen to the full episode to hear more about:Β
Elon Muskβs pledge to give every kid in America a SpaceX share, announced just hours after Anthropic unveiled its public benefit fundΒ
Character.AIβs bankruptcy, Disneyβs deal to hire most of its staff, and Anthonyβs case for rethinking what βacquihireβ meansΒ
OpenAIβs acquisition of Orchestra Bio and what it says about the companyβs βno side questsβ strategyΒ
Otterβs surprise $320 million raise from General Catalystβs growth fundΒ
Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You can also follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.Β
Chapters:
0:00 β Intro: PHP security crisis, Tesla and SpaceX, and Otter.ai's $320M raise
0:55 β TechCrunch Disrupt recap and the Elizabeth Holmes documentary
2:50 β Critical PHP vulnerabilities threaten millions of websites
8:01 β AI's role in discovering and exploiting cybersecurity flaws
13:09 β The future of AI-powered cybersecurity
17:07 β Are Tesla and SpaceX finally merging?
19:10 β Elon Musk's influence over both companies' boards
22:50 β Why a Tesla-SpaceX merger could make financial sense
25:27 β Musk's plan to give American children SpaceX shares
27:08 β Character.AI's bankruptcy and Disney's involvement
30:21 β OpenAI acquires biotech startup Orchestra Bio
33:00 β Otter.ai raises $320 million from General Catalyst
35:30 β Outro
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Meta and Instinct are racing to build your AI assistant. Wabi has a different idea.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026 β’ Duration 30:29
It seems like every big AI player is building a personal agent. Meta has Muse, OpenAI launched Dots, and a startup called Instinct recently raised $1 billion at a $10 billion valuation. But Eugenia Kuyda thinks the next generation of AI assistants needs to do more than book your restaurant reservations and find you hidden money in your Gmail.Β
Kuyda, who founded AI companion app Replika, has just launched Wabi, a personal AI agent that organizes your life into separate conversations, brings other people into the mix, and builds custom apps around what you're trying to do. The idea is to make AI less of a solo productivity tool and more of a way to spend time with the people who matter to you.Β
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On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan talks with Kuyda about why she thinks AI agents should bring people together instead of keeping them glued to a single chatbot, how Wabi plans to compete in a crowded and expensive market, and what it takes to get people comfortable giving an AI access to their email.Β
Listen to the full episode to hear more about:Β
Why Kuyda thinks single-threaded AI chats get worse as you use them, and how separate threads improve the user experience.Β
How Wabi is approaching compute costs and monetization while its app is free.Β
Whether phones will remain the primary way people access AI, even as operating systems become more AI-first.Β
What Kuyda looks for when deciding whether an AI startup deserves users' trust.Β
Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You can also follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.Β
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Physical AI is more than robots, says the Nvidia veteran now investing in it
Friday, October 16, 2026 β’ Duration 30:16
Amulya Vishwanath, who spent seven years leading product marketing for NVIDIAβs robotics platforms, says robotics is currently in its βLego era,β with the basic building blocks like actuators, robotic hands, software, and safety standards still beingΒ rebuilt.Β
This view runs counter to those who believe that robotics, powered by a general foundation model,Β is about to have its βChatGPT momentβΒ β that day whenΒ the shockingly capable chatbot was launchedΒ in lateΒ 2022. (General Intuition CEO Pim de WitteΒ told EquityΒ earlier this year thatΒ aΒ single general foundation model would make much of todayβs specialized robotics workΒ redundant,Β andΒ beΒ thatΒ moment.)Β
On this episode of TechCrunchβsΒ EquityΒ podcast, Dominic-Madori Davis caught up with Vishwanath to discuss where sheβs writing first checks as the founder and managing partnerΒ ofΒ Techable VC.Β They also talked about what sheβsΒ learned as one of the first women executives to spin out of NvidiaΒ andΒ launch her own early-stage firm investing in physical AI across robotics, materials science, and life sciences.Β
Listen to the full episode to hear more about:Β
WhyΒ VishwanathΒ defines physical AI as more than robots: βa molecule, a material, a medicine,β or a machine on a factoryΒ line.Β
What she means by βconscious automation.βΒ Β
Why the best opportunitiesΒ solve big problemsΒ likeΒ family-run factories thatΒ can'tΒ find workersΒ to surgeons facingΒ burnout.Β
Why she wants founders to see their VC as their moat, and how years at NVIDIA built the network she now uses for due diligence and customer introductions.Β
Where she thinks the U.S. and China each have the edge, and why humanoids should be good for more than dancing.Β
Subscribe to Equity onΒ YouTube,Β Apple Podcasts,Β Overcast,Β SpotifyΒ and all the casts. You can also follow Equity onΒ XΒ andΒ Threads, at @EquityPod.Β
Chapters:Β
00:00 IntroΒ
01:03 Amulyaβs path from Intel to Nvidia, and why she leftΒ
04:39 What physical AI meant in 2018 vs. nowΒ
06:12 Beyond dancing robots: industrial and surgical use casesΒ
09:31 What βconscious automationβ meansΒ
12:12 Cutting through the hype: the βLego eraβ of roboticsΒ
16:43 Why your VC should be your moatΒ
20:30 Biggest bottlenecks for physical AI foundersΒ
22:30 U.S. vs. China in physical AIΒ
25:43 Are humanoids just for entertainment?Β
28:10 The most promising near-term areasΒ
29:22 OutroΒ Β
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Whoβs the sheriff in AIβs wild west? (Equity Live at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026)
Wednesday, October 14, 2026 β’ Duration 29:13
TheΒ EquityΒ crew was live at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026! Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean OβKane took over the Builders Stage Tuesday morning to tackle a growing challenge for the AI industry: what happens when AI agents go off-script, andΒ whoβsΒ responsible for keeping them in check?Β
Recent incidents, from Anthropic pulling internal evaluations off the live internet after agents misbehaved to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella calling for an βemergency brakeβ on AI models, have brought agent security into focus. The Equity team unpacked whether the problem calls for better engineering, new regulation, or both, and why startups are raising millions to secure AI agents.Β
Listen to the full episode to hear more about:Β
The Anthropic agent mishaps, including a false police report that went nowhere after landing in a spam folderΒ
Nadellaβs call for an AI emergency brake, and why the hosts wonder what took so longΒ
The funding race to secure AI agents, fromΒ AIRβs $50 million raiseΒ toΒ Recoβs $55 millionΒ andΒ Oakβs $60 millionΒ for agent identity, plusΒ Sequoia-backed CymphonyΒ
Why independent verification and certification could be key to building trust, and whether Big Tech will buy its way out of the problemΒ
Subscribe to Equity onΒ YouTube,Β Apple Podcasts,Β Overcast,Β Spotify, and all the casts. You can also follow Equity onΒ XΒ andΒ Threads.Β
Chapters:Β
Β
00:00 Intro and whatΒ weβreΒ excited for at DisruptΒ
01:34 Durability, security, andΒ AnthropicβsΒ rogue agentsΒ
04:41 Nadellaβs βemergency brakeβ postΒ
06:33 NVIDIAβsΒ OpenShellΒ and the engineering-vs-regulation debateΒ
10:04 The agent security startup boom: AIR, Reco, CymphonyΒ
13:38 When agents go rogue in real lifeΒ
15:55 Certifications and standardsΒ
19:33Β HiddenLayerΒ and the jump to productionΒ
20:40 Will Big Tech justΒ acquireΒ these startups?Β
22:52 Consumer trust and agent adoptionΒ
25:05 Predictions: acquisitions vs. independent verifiersΒ
27:26Β WhatβsΒ coming up at DisruptΒ
29:02 OutroΒ
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Amazon drops data center NDAs, and AI agents want your credit card
Friday, October 9, 2026 β’ Duration 37:24
Amazon says it willΒ stop using NDAsΒ when negotiating data center deals with local governments, followingΒ aΒ similar move from MicrosoftΒ earlier this year. Secrecy has fueled community backlash against AI infrastructure, with opposition leading toΒ hundreds ofΒ proposed and enacted moratoriums from New York to San Francisco. Meanwhile, a wave of startups is betting that consumers will hand AI agents access to their inboxes, files, and credit cards βΒ if they can get websites to let them in.Β
On this episode of TechCrunchβsΒ EquityΒ podcast, Anthony Ha, Sean OβKane, and Rebecca Bellan dig into whether ditching NDAs will change how data center deals get done, why trust may be the real product for personal AI startups, plus a couple of deals of the week.Β
Listen to the full episode to hear more about:Β
The White Houseβs plans to make plans with its newΒ Super Intelligence ForceΒ
GhostβsΒ $3,499 computerΒ built to run AI agents around the clock, and why the Equity crewΒ doesnβtΒ see it going mass marketΒ
Tab,Β Underdog, andΒ HarkΒ pitching privacy as their product, plus the business model that could turn your agent into a salespersonΒ
United, Apple, and AmazonΒ putting up walls against outside agentsΒ
Lambdaβs reportedΒ $4 billionΒ raise, and the single customer behindΒ $35 billionΒ of its backlogΒ
UberβsΒ $2.3 billionΒ all-cash deal to get into the office catering space withΒ ezCaterΒ
WeβllΒ see you next week atΒ TechCrunch Disrupt 2026! Get 25% off your tickets with code Equity25, andΒ weβllΒ see you on the Builders Stage Tuesday at 9 am.Β
Subscribe to Equity onΒ YouTube,Β Apple Podcasts,Β Overcast,Β SpotifyΒ and all the casts. You can also follow Equity onΒ XΒ andΒ Threads, at @EquityPod.Β
Chapters:Β
00:00 IntroΒ
0:55 Trumpβs βsuperintelligence forceβ and the great AI rebrandingΒ
3:19 Amazon drops NDAs on data center dealsΒ
9:17 Why the AI industry has a communication problemΒ
12:51 Personal AI agents: finding money in your inboxΒ
15:27 Ghostβs $3,500 computer built for personal AIΒ
19:16 Trust is the product: privacy-first agent startupsΒ
27:36 Lambdaβs $4B raise and the neo cloud backlog problemΒ
31:22 Uberβs $2.3B move into cateringΒ
35:10 OutroΒ
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After selling to P&G and Lululemon, these founders are building for life beyond the screen
Wednesday, October 7, 2026 β’ Duration 27:19
Tristan Walker and Brynn Putnam both built and sold major consumer companies. Now, theyβre building products designed to bring people together.
Today on Equity, weβre bringing you a conversation TechCrunch AI editor Russell Brandom had on stage at the latest StrictlyVC event in New York. Russell sat down with Walker, who sold Bevel maker Walker & Company to Procter & Gamble and is now building leathercraft trade school Heirloom, and Putnam, who sold fitness startup Mirror to Lululemon and is now CEO of Board, a touchscreen console that combines board games and video games.
The two repeat founders talk about what they learned from their first companies, why theyβre focused on physical skills and shared experiences now, and how AI could make hands-on, human connection more valuable rather than less. Walker explains why he sees growing demand for mastery and trade skills, while Putnam talks about using technology to bring people together instead of pulling them into individual screens.
Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.
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Call it AI, call it Super Intelligence, only 2% of consumers are buying it
Friday, October 2, 2026 β’ Duration 38:10
This week, the White House gotΒ nearly everyΒ major tech CEO in one room β Zuckerberg, Bezos, Musk, and Anthropicβs Dario Amodei among them βΒ to sign an AI safety pledgeΒ that PresidentΒ DonaldΒ Trump called βmorally binding.βΒ TrumpΒ alsoΒ signed anΒ executive orderΒ officially rebranding AI as βsuper intelligence,β and meanwhile,Β Meta and OpenAI are puttingΒ friendlier faces on their AI products, even as the biggest money in AI still appears to be coming from the enterprise.Β
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On this episode of TechCrunch'sΒ EquityΒ podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean OβKane dig into this weekβs AI moves, theΒ ugly economics of consumer AI, plus the shifting IPO market and a handful of startup deals.Β
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Listen to the full episode to hear more about:Β
WhatΒ Oura pulling its IPO, plusΒ AnthropicβsΒ leaked S-1 and OpenAI going back to private funding, says about howΒ pickyΒ public markets have gottenΒ
Quartermasterβs $140M raiseΒ to bring real-time sensors to an industry that AIΒ basically hasnβtΒ touched yet: maritime shippingΒ
WhyΒ Atomic, a supply-chain startup from ex-Tesla vets, is already running 90% of DoorDashβs purchasingΒ
How Startup Battlefield finalist Charter Space raised $5M to bring insurance to satellitesΒ
Speaking of Startup Battlefield, join us at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, where Equity will kick things off with a live show on the Builders Stage at 9 a.m.Β Get 25% off your tickets with code Equity25.Β
Β
Subscribe to Equity onΒ YouTube,Β Apple Podcasts,Β Overcast,Β SpotifyΒ and all the casts. You can also follow Equity onΒ XΒ andΒ Threads, at @EquityPod.Β
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A Neko Health investor on the $700M bet to scan your whole body
Wednesday, September 30, 2026 β’ Duration 32:16
Spotify founder Daniel Ekβs Neko Health raised $700 million to build a business around scanning your body, but itβs not the only company centering its roadmap around a new kind of preventative healthcare. Midjourney is building its own body scanner, while Function Health has also raised significant capital to build out its preventative-health platform. Why are investors betting so big on this category?Β
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On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Dominic-Madori Davis talks with Farooq Abbasi, founder and general partner of Preface Ventures and an investor in Neko Health, about how Neko compares with other consumer-health startups. They discuss what has to happen for body scanning to become part of the broader healthcare system.Β
Listen to the full episode to hear more about:Β
Why Farooq invested in Neko after trying the company's scan himselfΒ
What Neko's $500 scan actually includes, and how the company keeps the price downΒ
Why Farooq thinks low primary-care utilization is one of the biggest problems in U.S. healthcareΒ
Why some consumer-health startups may be overfunded, in Farooq's viewΒ
How better health data could open the door to a new generation of AI-powered healthcareΒ
Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You can also follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.Β
Chapters:
00:00 β Can Tech Reinvent Preventative Healthcare?01:44 β Why Spotifyβs Founder Built Neko Health06:22 β Why Healthcare Is So Hard to Fix08:23 β Inside a $500 Neko Health Scan12:35 β Can Preventative Healthcare Scale?14:20 β The Risks of VC-Backed Healthcare17:28 β How AI Is Changing Medicine22:55 β Is AI in Healthcare Worth the Risk?
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Metaβs Muse just stole the spotlight from OpenAI and Anthropic
Friday, September 25, 2026 β’ Duration 35:05
When AI leaders at OpenAI and Anthropic started talking about βpacing the frontier,βΒ maybe someoneΒ should have asked: what pace?Β ItβsΒ turned into model drop week for both companies asΒ Anthropic rolled out Opus 5.5, followed byΒ OpenAIβs GPT-6 model updatesΒ justΒ 90 minutesΒ later.Β But the company that stole the spotlight this week was Meta, whoseΒ personal AI agent MuseΒ isΒ reportedlyΒ outpacingΒ ChatGPTβs early numbers and is headed forΒ smart glassesΒ and a tinyΒ Tamagotchi-style deviceΒ next.Β
On this episode of TechCrunchβsΒ EquityΒ podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean OβKane dig into Metaβs consumer AI strategy and what it means for the startups trying to build on top of this technology, from where the money is flowing to which AI products might actually become part of people's daily lives.Β They also get into a16z's new school for aspiring founders and twoΒ very differentΒ AI and hardware deals.Β
Listen to the full episode to hear more about:Β
HowΒ a16z'sΒ Horowitz Andreessen AcademyΒ plans to paveΒ a new path for aspiring founders, and why the Equity crew sees echoes of the Thiel Fellowship and Silicon Valley's long-running anti-college streakΒ
WhyΒ Oura'sΒ $2.2 billionΒ IPOΒ looks more like a payday for existing shareholders than a major fundraising event for the companyΒ
EmaβsΒ $77 millionΒ raiseΒ to sell teams of AI agents that automate HR, IT, and finance workflows, with Google and Microsoft among its early enterprise customersΒ
Subscribe to Equity onΒ YouTube,Β Apple Podcasts,Β Overcast,Β SpotifyΒ and all the casts. YouΒ also canΒ follow Equity onΒ XΒ andΒ Threads, at @EquityPod.Β
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Equity, a podcast by TechCrunch, Rebecca Bellan, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, Sean O'Kane, Theresa Loconsolo - Stats, Episodes and Rankings - My Podcast Data