Science & Technology

Spy games in HR tech: Inside Rippling’s wild lawsuit against Deel

Rippling’s latest lawsuit () reads less like a legal filing and more like the plot of a corporate espionage thriller, complete with secret crypto payments, an alleged mole, and a fake Slack channel trap. This week, the HR tech startup publicly named the employee at the center of its case () against its rival Deel,…

Published

1 year ago

April 4, 2025

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This week, the HR tech startup publicly named the employee at the center of its case () against its rival Deel, claiming the company paid him thousands to spy from the inside. Deel, however, is not staying quiet. The company is denying the claims, calling it a dramatic distraction from Rippling’s own legal troubles.

Today, on TechCrunch’s Equity () podcast, hosts Max Zeff and Anthony Ha are catching us up on the week’s headlines, including a breakdown of how this saga between two HR tech giants escalated from business rivalry to accusations of racketeering, and why, according to Max, smashing the phone you use for corporate espionage with an ax at your mother-in-law’s house is “the oldest trick in the book.”

Listen to the full episode to hear about:

• The startup that’s gamifying the tax filing process () , and the copyright questions that continue to rise

•
Circle’s IPO () and what the move could signal for others in the crypto space.

• The latest in the AI race — from OpenAI’s record-breaking raise () and GPU meltdowns () to Anthropic’s AI chatbot plan for colleges () and Google’s Gemini leadership shakeup () .

Equity will be back next week, so stay tuned!

Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday.

Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts () , Overcast () , Spotify () and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X () and Threads () , at @EquityPod. For the full episode transcript, for those who prefer reading over listening, check out our full archive of episodes here () .

Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. We’d also like to thank TechCrunch’s audience development team. Thank you so much for listening, and we’ll talk to you next time.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices ()

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Science & Technology

Autonomous vehicle hype is back, and Humble Robotics is bringing it to freights | Equity Podcast

The autonomous vehicle space is starting to feel like a repeat of the 2016 hype cycle. Travis Kalanick is back building a robotics company, and the talent wars and capital are heating up the same way they did the first time around. The money’s flowing back, and it’s the people who lived through that first…

Published

1 day ago

July 1, 2026

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Humble Robotics founder and CEO Eyal Cohen is one of them. Cohen was at Otto when Uber came calling, later followed Anthony Levandowski to Pronto, and after two decades bouncing between deep tech bets in the Bay Area, his new company came out of stealth in April with $24 million to build a fully autonomous, cabless electric hauler for freight.

Cohen joins Kirsten Korosec on this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast to talk about AV déjà vu and what he’s learned from 15 years of building startups across electrification, solar, and robotics.

Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:31 Eyal’s AV background and “2016 all over again”
02:02 Why hype cycles hit every new industry
07:28 Building Humble: the cabless freight platform idea
12:37 Why Humble couldn’t have worked 10 years ago
17:07 Ditching lidar for cameras and vision models
19:12 Talent wars and building the Humble team
22:41 Advice for founders: choose culture over compensation
26:03 Outro

CNET

Ditch the Cash: The Safest Way to Give Your Kids an Allowance

This video was made possible by Cash App in support of CNET’s independent editorial journalism. Giving your kids an allowance doesn’t have to mean keeping a wad of cash on hand. In this video, CNET’s Kara Tsuboi breaks down how mobile banking tools help parents manage allowances safely and seamlessly. #cashapp #cash #money #mobilebanking ________________________…

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2 days ago

June 30, 2026

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This video was made possible by Cash App in support of CNET’s independent editorial journalism.

Giving your kids an allowance doesn’t have to mean keeping a wad of cash on hand. In this video, CNET’s Kara Tsuboi breaks down how mobile banking tools help parents manage allowances safely and seamlessly.

#cashapp #cash #money #mobilebanking

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CNET

I Tested the Beatbot Sora 70 Robotic Pool Cleaner: How Well Does It Clean? | Prove It

This video was made possible by Beatbot in support of CNET’s independent editorial journalism. Beatbot’s Sora 70 robot pool cleaner is a high-tech way to clean your swimming pool. CNET Video Producer, Stephen Beacham, tested it out for a week and shares his thoughts on what it’s like to use the app-connected cleaning device. You…

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3 days ago

June 30, 2026

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This video was made possible by Beatbot in support of CNET’s independent editorial journalism.

Beatbot’s Sora 70 robot pool cleaner is a high-tech way to clean your swimming pool. CNET Video Producer, Stephen Beacham, tested it out for a week and shares his thoughts on what it’s like to use the app-connected cleaning device.

You can find the products mentioned in this video linked below
Beatbot Sora 70 Pool Vacuum Robot
Beatbot Sora 30 Pool Vacuum Robot
*CNET may get a commission on these offers

Read more about the Beatbot Robot Pool Cleaner on CNET.com
Beatbot’s AquaSense Series Gives You a Premium Pool Cleaning Experience

#beatbot #pool #poolcleaning #poolcleaner #robot #swimingpool