OpenAI is limiting initial access to GPT-5.6 to a small group of Trump administration-approved customers while warning that case-by-case government review of frontier AI releases should not become the long-term default. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

The Trump administration is allowing Anthropic to release Claude Mythos 5 to roughly 100 companies and federal agencies, partially easing a two-week standoff that had forced the company to shut down access to both Mythos 5 and Fable 5 over national security concerns. CNBC has more here.

SoftBank’s stock price sagged as much as 13% on the news that OpenAI might delay its IPO until next year. Bloomberg has more here.

Amazon is raising prices by roughly 20% for some AWS GPU reservations after a 15% increase in January, underscoring how memory-chip shortages and surging AI demand are making cloud computing more expensive and give hyperscalers more pricing power. Business Insider has more here.

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By Julie Bort

Y Combinator-backed insurance tech startup Corgi became embroiled in yet another controversy earlier this week when Papermark, maker of open source data room software, accused Corgi of stealing its software and passing it off as its own.

Corgi denies this. "No code was used from Papermark," the company tells TechCrunch.

But there were reasons why people believed the initial allegation, which was made by Papermark co-founder Marc Seitzon X and concerned Corgi's newly released product called Dataroom. Deal room software is essentially secure document sharing. It is famously used by startups to pitch VCs and send them supporting materials for due diligence.

Seitz's post blew up because he shared screenshots showing Corgi's product using the same language for the same features as Papermark's, word for word. He went as far as to call Corgi's new product copyright- and license-infringing, and "fraud."

Corgi's co-founder and CEO Nico Laqua saw the tweet and promised to investigate. Soon after, he responded on X with a full denial, showing that the code was different between the two products.

Arca, a one-year-old New York startup that provides financial advisors with tools and automated workflows to manage client portfolios, planning, and administrative tasks while delivering personalized wealth management services, raised a $48.5 million Series A round led by General Catalyst, with Index Ventures and previous investor Venrock also participating. The company has raised a total of $64 million. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

Lycia Therapeutics, a seven-year-old startup based in South San Francisco, CA, that develops therapeutics that degrade disease-causing extracellular proteins to treat autoimmune, inflammatory, and allergic diseases, raised a $75 million Series D round led by Balyasny Asset Management, with Adage Capital Management, HBM Healthcare Investments, and OrbiMed as well as previous investors Eli Lilly and Company, Franklin Templeton, Invus, RTW Investments, and Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners also piling on. More here.

Quantifind, a 17-year-old Palo Alto company that develops AI software for financial institutions and government agencies to detect financial crime and national security threats, raised a $200 million round led by Summit Partners, with previous investors Citi Ventures, S&P Global, Deloitte, and Stephens Group also anteing up. More here.

Hera, a two-year-old New York startup that helps families coordinate non-clinical senior care tasks such as scheduling specialists, managing medications, arranging home support, and navigating insurance and community resources, raised a $27 million Series A round led by Bain Capital Ventures, with previous investors Accel and IA Ventures also contributing. Pulse 2.0 has more here.

AIVA, a New York startup founded this year that helps hotels analyze guest behavior and property operations to guide service decisions and increase ancillary revenue through personalized recommendations, raised a $1.5 million round. Comma Capital and 645 Ventures supplied the funding. The SaaS News has more here.

Aseon Labs, a startup founded this year based in Redwood City, CA, that is developing automated pods to inspect, clean, and charge robotaxis, raised a $10 million seed round led by Crane Venture Partners, with Y Combinator, Expa, Robin Hood Ventures, and Founders Capital also investing. TechCrunch has more here.

Ground, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that provides APIs that let fintechs, neobanks, and asset managers access decentralized finance lending protocols to generate yield without building blockchain infrastructure, raised a $3.6 million round co-led by Bain Capital Crypto and ParaFi, with Nascent, Robot Ventures, Chapter One, and Consonant Ventures also taking part. The Block has more here.

H2site, a seven-year-old startup based in Bilbao, Spain, that builds membrane reactor and separation systems that produce and purify hydrogen from ammonia and other feedstocks for industrial and energy applications, raised a $6.8 million Series B extension from EIC Fund and an unnamed private investor. Renewables Now has more here.

Samepage, a three-year-old New York startup that connects product, customer, and business data sources to surface relevant updates and insights that help product managers stay informed and aligned, raised a $4.9 million round co-led by Craft Ventures, Freestyle VC, and Glasswing Ventures, with Justin Kan and Matt Mullenweg also joining in. More here.

Sazabi, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that uses AI agents to analyze logs, infrastructure, and codebases to detect, investigate, and fix production issues for engineering teams, raised an $8 million seed round co-led by J2 Ventures, Village Global, and Y Combinator, with Orange Collective also pitching in. More here.

Tomo, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that provides a text-message-based assistant that helps consumers track habits, manage goals, and make daily decisions using inputs like photos, screenshots, and reminders, raised a $5 million seed round led by Bain Capital Ventures and including Accel, Align Fund, Basis Set, Conviction, and Pear VC. Pulse 2.0 has more here.

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Chinese AI and chip companies are driving a rebound in mainland IPOs, with tech listings raising $3.1 billion this year through June 18 and nearly 50 robotics and semiconductor companies seeking to raise at least $18.7 billion in Shanghai and Shenzhen. Reuters has more here.

In a Truth Social post this morning, President Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs on countries that put digital services taxes on U.S. companies, escalating a long-running fight over levies that largely hit American tech giants including Meta, Alphabet, and Amazon. CNBC has more here.

Xprize founder Peter Diamandis says global surveillance is becoming inevitable and may improve human behavior, arguing that people should prepare for a world with “no off the record” as cameras, phones, cars, drones, robots, and satellites blanket daily life. TechCrunch has more here. [Never mind the “nationwide backlash against cameras watching your car.”]

Meta whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams is suing the company, arguing that its effort to block her from promoting her memoir, Careless People, violates the First Amendment and accusing Meta of using arbitration, legal threats, and alleged surveillance to silence her. The Guardian has more here.

Investigators reportedly believe Russian hackers were behind last year’s cyberattack on Jaguar Land Rover, which forced the automaker to halt production for five weeks, cost the company about $350 million, and delivered an estimated $2.5 billion hit to the U.K. economy. The New York Times has more here.

SpaceX is considering launching a Starlink mobile service for U.S. consumers, potentially selling phone contracts directly to individuals and building its own terrestrial network as it looks beyond satellite broadband for new growth after its IPO. The Financial Times has more here.

The AI data-center boom is becoming a new source of inflation, with hyperscalers expected to spend $741 billion this year as demand for memory chips, electrical equipment, construction labor, and power pushes up prices across the broader economy. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

Telemundo announcer Andrés Cantor is calling his 10th men’s World Cup, training with a voice coach to preserve the elastic “GOOOOOOOOOOOAL!” call that has made him a true soccer celebrity.

Get ready for robo-dentists.

Velocity Restorations has turned this 1971 Chevy C10 into a $349,900 restomod, keeping the pickup’s period-correct look while adding a new chassis, 460 hp GM LT1 V-8, 10-speed automatic transmission, Apple CarPlay, modern suspension, and upgraded brakes.

A smart toothbrush.

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