Zendesk is acquiring Forethought, a company that builds software to automate customer service interactions, the companies announced on Wednesday. The deal is expected to close by the end of March. While AI agents, particularly for customer service, may be all the rage now, Forethought was years ahead of its time. …

Global ride-hailing company inDrive, known for its bid-based pricing model, has acquired Pakistan-based quick-commerce startup Krave Mart, TechCrunch has learned, as it pushes further into grocery delivery and commerce services in South Asia. The all-stock deal, agreed last year, has received approval from the Competition Commission of Pakistan, allowing the …

Ford rolled out an AI assistant this week that can monitor and analyze millions of data points to help its Ford Pro commercial customers boost their bottom line. The bet, and one that most other automakers are making, is that there’s money to be made in software. Ford Pro AI …

Google on Wednesday announced a slew of new gaming-focused updates to Google Play at GDC 2026. The tech giant revealed that Google Play is expanding its catalog to include anticipated paid and PC indie games, launching game trials, introducing “buy once, play anywhere” pricing, rolling out a wishlist tool, and …

Nuro, the Silicon Valley-based startup backed by Nvidia, Uber, and SoftBank, is testing its autonomous vehicle technology in Japan. Toyota Prius vehicles equipped with Nuro’s self-driving software — and human safety operators behind the wheel as backup — began testing on public roads in Tokyo last month. The testing marks …

When the production company Particle6 debuted its AI-generated “actor” Tilly Norwood last fall, the move was not warmly welcomed by Hollywood. “Good Lord, we’re screwed,” Golden Globe winner Emily Blunt said in an interview with the industry publication Variety. “Come on, agencies, don’t do that. ” If only Particle6 followed …

Elon Musk’s Neuralink and OpenAI-backed Merge Labs are pushing forward with brain–computer interface (BCI) technology in the U. Meanwhile, Chinese serial entrepreneur Phoenix Peng is building rival efforts through two startups: NeuroXess, which develops implantable BCI systems, and a second company, Gestala, developing non-invasive ultrasound-based BCIs. Gestala has raised $21. …

Google announced on Tuesday that it’s bringing a slew of new Gemini-powered AI capabilities to Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive. The new features let users do things like quickly generate fully formatted first drafts, slides, and sheets based on information from their Gmail, Chat, and Drive. The tools are designed …

Zoom’s AI-powered avatars, which can represent users in online meetings, will be available to use later this month, the company announced on Tuesday, alongside news of other tools and services. Notably, the company is introducing its own AI Docs, Slides, and Sheets apps, an AI agent builder for non-technical people, …

Adobe announced on Tuesday that its AI assistant for Photoshop is becoming available to users in beta on the web and in the mobile apps. The company is also adding new AI-powered image-editing capabilities to Firefly, its tool for media generation and editing. The creative tooling company first announced an …