Issue #48
OpenAI's Smart Speaker Price, Free ChatGPT Chats, and Suno Watermarks
Friday, August 7, 2026
Today covers a wave of OpenAI news, including unlimited free ChatGPT chats, a reported price for its smart speaker, and its response in Apple's trade secrets case. We also look at new funding for Mirendil, Naïve, and a startup from ex-Spotify employees, plus Suno's plan to watermark songs.
1 of 7 · TechCrunch AI
ChatGPT brings unlimited text chats to free users
OpenAI has made unlimited text chats available to ChatGPT free users. Free and Go users are also receiving a new "think" button for handling complex queries.
Read the full story →2 of 7 · TechCrunch AI
OpenAI’s new AI smart speaker will reportedly sell for between $300 and $400
OpenAI's forthcoming AI device is reportedly a smart speaker expected to sell for between $300 and $400. The pricing places it above many existing smart speakers on the market.
Read the full story →3 of 7 · TechCrunch AI
OpenAI says Apple’s own security practices undermine its trade secrets case
OpenAI is arguing in Apple's trade secrets lawsuit that Apple's own security and offboarding practices weaken its case, pointing to an instance where an Apple manager accessed a former engineer's iCloud account after he left the company. OpenAI contends this shows the allegedly stolen information was not adequately protected.
Read the full story →4 of 7 · TechCrunch AI
Exclusive: Mirendil inks $100M+ Google Cloud deal to scale self-improving AI
Mirendil signed a Google Cloud partnership worth more than $100 million to expand its compute infrastructure. The deal supports the company's research into self-improving AI systems aimed at accelerating scientific discovery and AI development.
Read the full story →5 of 7 · TechCrunch AI
Naïve raises $28.5M to automate the grunt work of setting up and running a company
Naïve raised $28.5 million to build infrastructure that automates administrative and operational tasks involved in setting up and running a company. The startup positions its technology as an extension of vibe-coding aimed at reducing manual business setup work.
Read the full story →6 of 7 · TechCrunch AI
Ex-Spotify employees raise $10M to bring the AI behind its recommendations to e-commerce
A group of former Spotify employees has raised $10 million to build a platform that applies recommendation technology similar to Spotify's to e-commerce. The system predicts which product a shopper wants next and adjusts continuously based on real-time behavior.
Read the full story →7 of 7 · TechCrunch AI
Amid legal battles, Suno says it will start watermarking songs
Suno announced it will begin watermarking songs generated on its platform. The move comes as the AI music company faces multiple ongoing lawsuits.
Read the full story →That is your scan for Friday, August 7. Follow the links for the full stories, and we will see you tomorrow.
Morning Roost Issue #48