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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”…

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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.

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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…

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Science & Technology

For Runway, AI video was step one. Now they’re trying to build worlds | Equity Podcast

AI-generated video has gone from novelty to creative tool in AI-generated video has gone from novelty to creative tool almost overnight, and Runway has a front-row seat to the shift. The New York-based company has raised close to $860 million at a $5.3 billion valuation, and its models are going toe-to-toe with the most well-funded…

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AI-generated video has gone from novelty to creative tool in AI-generated video has gone from novelty to creative tool almost overnight, and Runway has a front-row seat to the shift. The New York-based company has raised close to $860 million at a $5.3 billion valuation, and its models are going toe-to-toe with the most well-funded labs in the world, including Google and OpenAI.

And the technology goes way beyond making videos: it’s now pushing into general world models with applications in gaming, robotics, and maybe something closer to general intelligence.

On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, host Rebecca Bellan sits down with co-founder and CEO Cristobal Valenzuela to talk about where video generation goes from here, and why Runway’s ambitions now reach well beyond Hollywood.

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

00:56 Can AI really replace Hollywood?

04:18 Why “AI slop” fears miss the point

08:23 Research lab, software company, or creative studio?

13:42 From video generation to world models, explained

17:36 Omni models and multimodal training

19:31 Real-time video and the “Characters” product

22:33 Are AI companions inherently dystopian?

25:59 Physical AI and robotics

28:35 Where growth is coming from: enterprise and prosumer

29:31 Outro

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Popular Science

Would Permanent Daylight Savings Time Really Improve Our Quality of Life?

Whether you’re pro-Daylight Savings or pro-Standard Time, the science is clear: Switching *between* the two every year is terrible for human health. So why haven’t we stuck with one system all year? The answer is both scientific AND political. Hosted by Annie Colbert Reported by Tom Hawking Edited by Avital Oehler Written and Produced by…

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Whether you’re pro-Daylight Savings or pro-Standard Time, the science is clear: Switching *between* the two every year is terrible for human health.

So why haven’t we stuck with one system all year? The answer is both scientific AND political.

Hosted by Annie Colbert
Reported by Tom Hawking
Edited by Avital Oehler
Written and Produced by Matt Silverman

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CNET

3 Foldables, 3 Price Hikes: Motorola’s New Razrs Are Feeling 2026’s Drag

The Motorola Razr 2026 phones are still top clamshell foldables with new features, but also higher prices. You can find the products mentioned in this article linked below Motorola Razr Ultra 2025 | Unlocked Motorola Razr+ 2025 | Unlocked Motorola Moto Razr 5G 2025 | 256GB *CNET may get a commission on these offers Read…

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The Motorola Razr 2026 phones are still top clamshell foldables with new features, but also higher prices.

You can find the products mentioned in this article linked below
Motorola Razr Ultra 2025 | Unlocked
Motorola Razr+ 2025 | Unlocked
Motorola Moto Razr 5G 2025 | 256GB
*CNET may get a commission on these offers

Read more about the new Razr Phones on CNET.com
Motorola’s Razr Is Days Away From Its iPhone Moment
Motorola’s 2026 Razr Ultra Needs These Features to Win Me Over

0:00 The New Motorola Razr 2026 Lineup
0:30 Price Increases Across the Board
1:17 Battery Upgrades with Silicon-Carbon
1:34 New Camera Features and Gestures
2:05 Final Thoughts on the Price and Value

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#motorolarazr #foldable #smartphone #tech #motorola #foldphone #razrultra

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