Publishing platform Substack is continuing to invest in video content as it launches the Substack Recording Studio, a built-in mechanism for creators to pre-record and publish videos.

The studio, which is only available on the desktop, can support solo videos as well as conversations with up to two guests. Creators can add custom watermarks to their videos and share their screen with co-hosts. Once the recording is over, Substack auto-generates clips and thumbnails for sharing.

“Until now, creating video on Substack meant going live, or stitching together a separate stack of tools: a recording platform, a way to create and distribute clips, and something to design a thumbnail,” the company shared in a blog post. “Substack Studio brings all of those tools into one place.”

The post also notes that creators who have used audio or video on Substack in the past 90 days have grown revenue 50% faster than creators who haven’t.

Though Substack is predominantly known as a newsletter platform, the company has been showing a keen interest in video over the last few years, prioritizing updates that position it more like a Patreon competitor, encouraging creators to explore multimedia.

While Substack has allowed creators to upload videos since 2022, it began letting creators livestream and monetize videos last year, then launched a Creator Accelerator Fund of $20 million to help transition creators from other platforms to Substack.

Like Instagram, Substack also recently launched a TV app, which is available on Apple TV and Google TV. The app allows viewers to watch video posts and livestreams on TV and includes a TikTok-like “For You” row that provides further recommendations.

Despite the popularity of watching short-form videos on a phone, people seem to be turning to TV screens to watch longer-form content. Netflix has been making significant investments in bringing video podcasts to TV. On YouTube, viewers watched over 700 million hours of podcasts each month on living room devices (like TVs) in 2025, up from 400 million per month the year prior.

Rivian revealed the specs and pricing details for its pivotal R2 SUV on Thursday, and the company also finally answered a long-burning question: When will customers be able to buy the promised $45,000 base model?

That answer is “late 2027,” according to the company’s press materials. And there’s a catch. The language Rivian uses now is that the base model R2 will be “starting around $45,000.” That’s a notable change from how the company was recently promoting that the R2 would be “starting at $45,000″ on its website. (Emphasis mine.)

This is not exactly surprising. As TechCrunch first reported last week, Rivian removed the “starting at $45,000” language from its website in February.

Also, a lot has changed since Rivian first revealed the R2 in March 2024. The $7,500 federal EV tax credit is gone. Legacy automakers have stopped buying regulatory credits from companies like Rivian, effectively ending a stream of what was ostensibly free money pouring into its coffers. President Trump’s chaotic tariffs have increased the cost of components and materials Rivian uses to make its EVs.

In some ways, Rivian has bigger challenges to deal with.

Sales of its R1T pickup truck and R1S SUV declined in 2025. Rivian is about to start constructing a giant factory in Georgia where it expects to build hundreds of thousands of R2 SUVs (and, eventually, R3 hatchbacks).

The company is also trying to architect what would be one of the fastest electric vehicle launches in U.S. history with its more premium R2 models this year. Rivian is projecting sales of between 20,000 and 25,000 R2s by the end of 2026. If it succeeds, only Tesla’s Model Y would have reached 20,000 in sales faster.

Rivian told TechCrunch it wanted to start with the pricier performance R2 models “so owners can experience the absolute peak of the new platform first.”

“Debuting with a high-spec trim is common industry practice and sets the stage for the entire lineup by showcasing the exceptional capability and acceleration that make a Rivian unmistakable, all while we scale production into our Premium and Standard configurations after,” the company said.

Rivian will offer a “Standard” R2 in the first half of 2027 that starts at $48,490, with a range of up to 345 miles. The true base model will only reach about 275 miles. That could be a sign of how Rivian is reaching the base model price — fewer batteries usually tracks with lower cost. The base model’s more meager range could also serve a dual purpose by encouraging customers to pay up to a few thousand dollars more for clearly superior range.

Rivian told TechCrunch the two Standard models share the same rear-wheel-drive propulsion but declined to say whether there are other differences beyond the battery capacity that could explain the price difference. It also declined to comment on its upselling strategies.

“We have made significant internal engineering, development and business efforts to reach our target price. We engineered out complexity by moving to a zonal electrical architecture, reducing the number of electronic control units, and utilizing our in-house drive units,” the company said in a statement. Rivian said it also applied lessons from how it reduced the cost of its second-generation R1 vehicles, and leveraged better supplier relationships.

This all comes just a few months after Rivian agreed to pay $250 million to settle a class action shareholder lawsuit centered around how the company suddenly hiked prices on its R1 vehicles in 2021.

It also has some light echoes of the controversy Tesla waded into a few years ago. Elon Musk and his company had spent years promising the Model 3 would cost $35,000. But Tesla only briefly made a $35,000 Model 3 available “off-menu,” and even that plan didn’t last long. Many of the customers who tried to buy it were pressured into buying higher-trim versions of the sedan, all while Musk publicly complained about how hard it was to fulfill the promise he had made.

Another Tesla vehicle was once announced with an attractive price that never materialized: the Cybertruck. Tesla first pitched the steel-clad pickup in 2019 as starting at just $40,000. But it ultimately launched at much higher prices that, when mixed with its broadly off-putting design, resulted in very meager sales.

It seems unlikely that the R2 would break as bad as the Cybertruck did for Tesla. After all, it’s a far more approachable vehicle that is also starting at a much lower price — all without the political cost of having Elon Musk as the CEO. But only the next few years will tell whether the R2’s base model winds up with a life that’s more like the $35,000 Model 3, or the Cybertruck, or something completely different.

There’s a fun new way to watch YouTube: by channel surfing like a boomer with cable TV. This creative idea comes from London-based developer Steven Irby, who has just launched a web app called Channel Surfer, which presents interesting YouTube videos in an interface resembling a retro-looking TV guide.

In the app, you can browse through different, topic-focused channels and click to tune in as if you were watching live TV.

At launch, there are 40 of these custom-built “channels” to choose from, including those focused on general topics like news, politics, sports, and lifestyle content, as well as a selection of music channels and others with a more tech focus.

The latter group includes channels like “AI & ML,” “Code & Dev,” “Space,” “Retro Tech,” “Tech & Gadgets,” and “Gaming.”

As you move between channels, you join the video being played mid-stream. Meanwhile, the guide informs you of the upcoming content on all the channels and what time of day it will play. You can also scroll ahead to look at programming planned for the next 24 hours.

This makes watching YouTube feel a lot like watching old-school live television — an experience that’s proven popular on free streaming services like Plex, Pluto TV, Tubi, and others, which offer lineups of live channels playing TV shows and movies. YouTube itself, meanwhile, dominates TV streaming in the U.S.

Plus, a small counter at the bottom of the screen tracks how many other people are currently watching YouTube with you.

Irby says he came up with the idea to build a similar experience at the streamers, but for YouTube videos, because finding something to watch can still be a struggle.

“I built Channel Surfer because I’m tired of the algorithms and indecision fatigue,” Irby told TechCrunch. “I miss channel surfing and not having to decide what to watch. I want to just sit and tune into what’s on and not think about what to watch next.”

“My boomer Mom watches cable TV. I want the same, but with my YouTube channels instead. Also, it’s weirdly comforting to know I’m watching with other people,” he said.

The project is one of many new experiments from Irby, a 40-year-old tech industry veteran who has spent the past decade-plus traveling the world.

“I have so much creativity from my long, weird journey. I can’t bear the thought of being a Jira ticket monkey anymore,” he said.

The app seems to be a hit, with Irby noting that Channel Surfer’s brand-new website saw more than 10,000 views on its first day.