DoorDash

Benchmark’s five general partners emphasize a deliberate, founder-centric approach amid market frenzy. The firm maintains its signature low-volume strategy—two to three investments per partner annually—while expanding into a $1.25 billion growth fund for later-stage bets. Partners highlight their collaborative, agendaless Monday meetings and deep founder commitment, prioritizing long-term relationships over speed. They acknowledge evolving conflicts among portfolio companies but uphold confidentiality and mutual respect. Jack Altman, joining from his own firm, cites Benchmark’s culture of mutual admiration and shared learning as key draws. The team’s unconventional bets, like Cerebras, reflect their willingness to challenge orthodoxies when founder potential aligns with their instincts.

Oct 2026 · TechCrunchNews article

Veritas introduces its second-generation authentication chip, now compatible with metal surfaces and glass, to verify luxury goods like jewelry, trophies, and fragrance bottles. The chip integrates tamper-detection technology and secure responses to prevent counterfeiting, expanding beyond textiles. The company partners with ATHLOS to embed chips in championship crowns and collaborates with Nike and artist Adam Port to authenticate LeBron James’ reimagined shoes. Veritas has raised $1.75 million in pre-seed funding and launched an iOS app for consumer verification and brand management.

Oct 2026 · TechCrunchNews article

Reflection AI released **Beam**, a 501-billion-parameter open model, designed to complete tasks using fewer tokens than comparable models, reducing per-task costs. The company trained Beam with reinforcement learning, penalizing unnecessary token usage while ensuring task completion. Beam outperforms competitors like DeepSeek’s V4.1 Flash in token efficiency, according to benchmarking firm Artificial Analysis. While Chinese models dominate performance rankings, U.S. firms like Pinterest, DoorDash, and Coinbase have adopted them for cost savings. Reflection positions Beam as a lean alternative, targeting enterprise use cases like coding and agent workflows.

Oct 2026 · VentureBeatNews article

California enacts Senate Bill 1246, requiring autonomous-vehicle companies including Tesla, Waymo, and Zoox to provide local support when robotaxis disrupt traffic or interfere with emergency responders. Signed by Governor Gavin Newsom, the law allows penalties when a vehicle blocks police or firefighters for more than 30 minutes and restricts remote drivers to U.S.-based, licensed operators. It takes effect in July 2028, with implementation details still to be set by the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Oct 2026 · TechCrunchNews article