Connect with us

Science & Technology

Why top talent is walking away from OpenAI and xAI | Equity Podcast

AI companies have been hemorrhaging talent the past few weeks. Half of xAI’s founding team has left the company — some on their own, others through “restructuring” — while OpenAI is facing its own shakeups, from the ⁠disbanding of its mission alignment team⁠ to the firing of a policy exec who opposed its “adult mode”…

Published

on

AI companies have been hemorrhaging talent the past few weeks. Half of xAI’s founding team has left the company — some on their own, others through “restructuring” — while OpenAI is facing its own shakeups, from the ⁠disbanding of its mission alignment team⁠ to the firing of a policy exec who opposed its “adult mode” feature.

On this episode of TechCrunch’s ⁠Equity⁠ podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O’Kane dig into the week’s biggest deals and departures, from billion-dollar bets on fusion and robotics to the tech exodus reshaping AI companies.

Chapters
00:00 Intro
02:46 AI Super Bowl ads ⁠aren’t quite landing⁠ outside of Silicon Valley
04:31 Apptronik raises $935M for humanoid robotics
09:05 Will automakers partner with humanoid robotics startups?
13:05 Inertia Enterprises raises $450M for fusion energy
18:44 What the Epstein files reveal about ⁠Silicon Valley dealmaking⁠
30:56 The exodus at xAI and OpenAI, and what it means for the AI race
37:22 Outro
Subscribe to Equity on ⁠YouTube⁠,⁠ Apple Podcasts⁠,⁠ Overcast⁠,⁠ Spotify⁠ and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on⁠ X⁠ and⁠ Threads⁠, at @EquityPod.

Continue Reading
Advertisement
3 Comments

3 Comments

  1. @NugentDubaele

    February 13, 2026 at 8:21 pm

    End-near believer here. Even I think Elon’s XA80B passes ETH/Bitcoin performance Q4/early 2026. Has it all.

  2. @ichrisone

    February 14, 2026 at 1:51 pm

    Ouch! Who is going to compete with Anthropic? Just Google? Tangent here but this feels like classic unbridled Capitalism. 2 options at the end of the day for everything! 1 option better than communism. 😅. In reasoning that’s not much of a choice. False dilemma.

  3. @seanmchugh2866

    February 14, 2026 at 8:57 pm

    white liberal woman, the word equity fixed to the top left of the video, claiming “talent” is leaving. …i’m not sure if i need to watch this video to get the message…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CNET

New VR Glasses and More! Everything Announced at Meta Connect in Less Than 10 Minutes

Meta’s September Connect event reveals a bunch of new Meta products, including a deep dive into its new Muse AI personal assistant, audio-only smart glasses in many new frame styles and new VR Glasses that weigh as much as a deck of cards. Check out all the highlights in less than 10 minutes. You can…

Published

on

Meta’s September Connect event reveals a bunch of new Meta products, including a deep dive into its new Muse AI personal assistant, audio-only smart glasses in many new frame styles and new VR Glasses that weigh as much as a deck of cards. Check out all the highlights in less than 10 minutes.

You can find the products mentioned in this video linked below
*CNET may get a commission on these offers

Read more about it on CNET.com

Video Credits:
Video Editor: Owen Poole
Thumbnail Designer: Zooey Liao

Add CNET as a trusted news source
Never miss a deal again! See CNET’s browser extension 👉
Check out CNET’s Amazon Storefront:
Subscribe to CNET on YouTube:
Follow us on TikTok:
Follow us on Instagram:
Follow us on Bluesky:
Like us on Facebook:
CNET’s AI Atlas:
Follow us on X:
Visit CNET.com:

Continue Reading

CNET

Tech Editors React to Meta Connect 2026: Will Smartglasses Become Mainstream?

PCMag’s Iyaz Akhtar leads a panel of tech experts from CNET, PCMag and Mashable to unpack all the news from the Meta Connect 2026 launch event. Click into the livestream at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET for an in-depth recap of all the news from Mark Zuckerberg’s keynote address. Read more about Meta Connect on…

Published

on

PCMag’s Iyaz Akhtar leads a panel of tech experts from CNET, PCMag and Mashable to unpack all the news from the Meta Connect 2026 launch event. Click into the livestream at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET for an in-depth recap of all the news from Mark Zuckerberg’s keynote address.

Read more about Meta Connect on CNET.com:
Meta Keeps Trying to Fix Glasses Privacy Concerns With New Update

Video Credits:
Host: Iyaz Akhtar
Guest Host: Timothy Beck Werth
Guest Host: Will Greenwald
Guest Host: Angela Moscaritolo
Guest Host: Scott Stein
Producer: Stephen Beacham
Video Editor: Stephen Beacham
Thumbnail Designer: Tharon Green

Add CNET as a trusted news source
Never miss a deal again! See CNET’s browser extension 👉
Check out CNET’s Amazon Storefront:
Subscribe to CNET on YouTube:
Follow us on TikTok:
Follow us on Instagram:
Follow us on Bluesky:
Like us on Facebook:
CNET’s AI Atlas:
Follow us on X:
Visit CNET.com:

#meta #metaconnect #metaconnect2026 #metaglasses #aiglasses #smartglasses

Continue Reading

CNET

Hands-On With Meta VR Glasses and All of Meta’s Other Glasses and AI

Muse AI on Meta glasses? Hearing enhancement? VR glasses that run Quest games? Camera-free glasses? All that and more to talk about, but very little on privacy. You can find the products mentioned in this video linked below *CNET may get a commission on these offers Read more about it on CNET.com Timecode Chapters: 00:00…

Published

on

Muse AI on Meta glasses? Hearing enhancement? VR glasses that run Quest games? Camera-free glasses? All that and more to talk about, but very little on privacy.

You can find the products mentioned in this video linked below
*CNET may get a commission on these offers

Read more about it on CNET.com

Timecode Chapters:
00:00 – Introduction: Meta’s Wearable Future
00:23 – Gen 3 Meta Ray-Ban Smart Glasses & Battery Life
00:30 – Camera-Free Ray-Ban Audio Glasses
00:43 – FDA-Cleared Hearing Assistance Feature
06:24 – Agentic AI: Meta Muse Demo
01:40 – New Styles & Celebrity Collaborations
01:59 – Hands-On with Meta’s $1,299 VR Glasses
02:37 – Sports Streaming, IMAX & Entertainment
02:43 – Controls, Eye Tracking & BeatSaber
02:81 – Pricing, Competition & Final Thoughts

Video Credits:
Host: Scott Stein
Scripted by: Scott Stein
Producer: Celso Bulgatti
Camera: Celso Bulgatti
Video Editor: Jon Gomez
Thumbnail Designer: Zooey Liao

Add CNET as a trusted news source
Never miss a deal again! See CNET’s browser extension 👉
Check out CNET’s Amazon Storefront:
Subscribe to CNET on YouTube:
Follow us on TikTok:
Follow us on Instagram:
Follow us on Bluesky:
Like us on Facebook:
CNET’s AI Atlas:
Follow us on X:
Visit CNET.com:

Continue Reading

Trending