Tech
Patreon CEO calls AI companies’ fair use argument ‘bogus,’ says creators should be paid
Patreon CEO Jack Conte says he’s not anti-AI. He can’t be.
“I run a frickin’ tech company,” he told the audience at the SXSW conference in Austin this week. Still, the founder of the creator platform has limits. Conte doesn’t think AI companies should be able to train their models on the work of creators without compensation, calling their decision to dub this “fair use” a “bogus” argument.
Conte’s SXSW talk positioned AI as another moment within the ongoing cycle of disruption that creators have been through many times before in the internet age. Like the transition from buying music on iTunes to streaming, or shifting video to the vertical format favored by TikTok, AI will likely break a lot of the models that creative people have worked hard to build over the years. Still, he believes they will thrive.
“I learned a very important thing as an artist, which is that change does not mean death. You can get back up, and you can fucking go again,” said Conte, who created Patreon to solve a problem he had faced as a musician: getting people to pay creators for their work.
Similarly, he doesn’t believe that AI companies should be able to scoop up creators’ content to train their models without some sort of compensation.
“The AI companies are claiming fair use, but this argument is bogus,” Conte said, reading from a printout of his speech, or rather, his manifesto. “It’s bogus because while they claim it’s fair to use the work of creators as training data, they do multimillion-dollar deals with rights holders and publishers like Disney and Condé Nast and Vox and Warner Music.”
If the AI companies’ argument around fair use was legal and sound, then they wouldn’t be paying these large rightsholders, he noted.
“If it’s legal to just use it, why pay?” he asked rhetorically. “Why pay them and not creators — not the millions of illustrators and musicians and writers — whose work has been consumed by these models to build hundreds of billions of dollars of value for these companies?”
Reading between the lines, it’s clear that Conte would like to tap into some of those payouts, too, for Patreon’s own community of creators. And he’s using Patreon’s scale as a creator community filled with hundreds of thousands of people to make that argument.
The founder also clarified that his decision to call out AI companies’ behavior is not because he’s anti-AI or anti-tech or even anti-change.
“I accept the inevitability of change, and I feel agency in discovering my next path through the chaos. A part of that challenge even excites me,” Conte said. “Still, the AI companies should pay creators for our work, not because the tech is bad — but because a lot of it is good, or it will be soon — and it’s going to be the future. And when we plan for humanity’s future, we should plan for society’s artists, too, not just for their sake, but for the sake of all of us. Societies that value and incentivize creativity are better for it,” he added.
The talk ended on a hopeful note, with Conte expressing his belief that humans will make and enjoy the work of other humans for a long time, despite whatever progress AI makes on this front.
“Great artists don’t play back what already exists,” Conte said, referencing large language models’ (LLMs) ability to predict the appropriate output. “They stand on the shoulders of giants. They push culture forward.”
Tech
Founders seize on Indian court ruling to revive criticism of Google’s ad business
A recent Indian court ruling against Google’s keyword advertising practices has gained fresh attention after founders said competitors have long used the system to siphon off customers and force companies to pay to protect their own brands.
The ruling, delivered by the Delhi High Court on May 22 in a trademark dispute involving bathroom fittings maker Hindware, found Google liable for trademark infringement over its keyword advertising practices and awarded the company ₹3 million (around $31,600) in nominal damages.
In her 163-page judgment (PDF), Justice Mini Pushkarna rejected Google’s argument that it was merely a passive intermediary in serving ads on its search platform. The judge said Google, through its AdWords platform, allowed Hindware’s rivals to use “Hindware” as a keyword to target users searching for the brand.
“Google by selling the trademark of the plaintiff [Hindware] as a keyword without any authorization for commercial gains is infringing the plaintiff’s right to exclusive use of its trademark under Section 28 of the Trade Marks Act,” the judge said.
The judgment drew attention on Friday after Indian entrepreneurs, including Zerodha founder Nithin Kamath and Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu, publicly backed the ruling, arguing that competitors have long used Google’s advertising tools to divert traffic from established brands and force companies to spend money protecting their own names.
Kamath, who said Zerodha had faced the issue for more than a decade, wrote on X: “Whenever someone searches for ‘Zerodha,’ the traffic should rightfully come to Zerodha. But what often happens is that the first couple of results on Google Search are ads, leading the customer to a competitor’s website.”
Google, for its part, said its Ads policy on trademark keywords “does not allow competitor advertisers to use trademarked terms in the ad-text of an ad” and that the policy is applied globally. The company added that it respects local laws and works through legal processes when court orders are “overbroad or inconsistent” with its policies.
“We look forward to continuing to align our operations with local legal frameworks while maintaining strict standards to protect our users’ long-term interests,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement to TechCrunch.
India is a key market for Google, with more internet users than any country other than China, making court decisions affecting its search and advertising businesses particularly significant.
Legal experts, however, said the implications of the ruling may be narrower than some of the public reaction suggests.
“The judgment per se will require platforms to relook at their processes to see if their automated tools encourage or offer trademarked terms to advertisers at large,” said Aprajita Rana, a partner at AZB & Partners.
Nonetheless, Rana told TechCrunch that the decision does not have a “far-reaching impact” on online platforms’ liability in India, as courts have already established that internet companies can lose legal protections when they play an active role in unlawful activity.
“What’s important in this case is how providing access to trademarked terms, even in ad curation that’s between online platforms and advertisers and not known to customers, can amount to a participative activity for platforms,” Rana said.
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Tech
As the browser wars heat up, here are the hottest alternatives to Chrome and Safari in 2026
Google Chrome and Apple’s Safari currently dominate the web browser market, with Chrome holding a significant share due to the tech giant’s ongoing innovations, particularly in integrating generative AI into its search functionalities.
However, users seeking alternatives will find a variety of browsers aiming to challenge these industry giants.
To help navigate the competitive landscape of the browser wars, we’ve compiled an overview of some of the top alternative browsers available today. This includes browsers leveraging AI, open source browsers that promote customization and privacy, and “mindful browsers” — a new term that refers to browsers designed to enhance user well-being.
AI-powered browsers
Perplexity’s Comet
Perplexity is the most recent startup in the space to launch an AI-powered web browser. Called Comet, the company’s new product acts as a chatbot-based search engine, and can perform actions like summarizing emails, browsing web pages, and performing tasks such as sending calendar invites. It’s currently only available to users with Perplexity’s $200/month Max plan, but there’s also a waitlist where people can sign up.
The Browser Company’s Dia
The Browser Company, the startup behind the Arc browser, recently introduced Dia, its AI-centric browser that looks similar to Google Chrome but with an AI chat tool.
Currently available as an invite-only beta, Dia is designed to help users navigate the web more easily. It’s able to look at every website that a user has visited and every website they’re logged into, enabling it to help you find information and perform tasks. For instance, Dia can provide information about the page a user is currently browsing, answer questions about a product, and summarize uploaded files.
To get early access to Dia, users have to be an Arc member. Non-members can join the waitlist.
Opera’s Neon
Another recent entry into the AI agentic browser war is Opera’s Neon, which has contextual awareness and can do things like researching, shopping, and writing snippets of code. Notably, it can even perform tasks while the user is offline.
Neon has yet to become available, but people can join the waitlist. It will be a subscription product; however, Opera hasn’t announced pricing yet.
OpenAI’s Atlas
OpenAI recently launched its AI-powered web browser, called Atlas. The browser allows users to ask ChatGPT about search results and browse websites within the chatbot instead of being directed to outside links. There’s also an “agent mode” for users to ask ChatGPT to complete tasks on their behalf.
Atlas was first rumored to launch in July; however, it only became available on macOS in October. It’s expected to arrive on Windows, iOS, and Android devices soon.
Aside
Backed by Y Combinator, Aside is an upcoming AI-first, browser-native automation platform built to autonomously complete tasks, fill out forms, and manage data on behalf of users. The company describes the experience simply: “Give it your passwords, browsing history, and browser context.” Unlike traditional automation tools that rely on integrations, Aside operates directly within the browser itself, allowing it to work across Gmail, Notion, Slack, Figma, and banking platforms.
Users can sign up for the waitlist ahead of launch.
Privacy-focused browsers
Brave
Brave is among the more well-known privacy-first browsers, popular for its built-in ad and tracker blocking capabilities. It also has a gamified approach to browsing, rewarding users with its own cryptocurrency called Basic Attention Token (BAT). When users choose to opt in to view ads, supporting their favorite websites, they get a share of the ad revenue. Additional features include a VPN service, an AI assistant, and a video calling feature.
DuckDuckGo
DuckDuckGo is another browser that many people are probably already familiar with, thanks to its search engine by the same name. Launched in 2008, the company recently made significant investments in its browser to stay competitive by introducing generative AI features, such as a chatbot. It also enhanced its scam blocker to detect a wider range of scams, including fake cryptocurrency exchanges, scareware tactics, and fraudulent e-commerce websites. In addition to blocking scams, DuckDuckGo prevents trackers and ads, and it doesn’t track user data, resulting in fewer pop-ups for users.
Ladybird
Ladybird, led by GitHub co-founder and former CEO Chris Wanstrath, has an ambitious mission compared to other rivals: It aims to build an entirely new open source browser from scratch. This means it will not rely on code from existing browsers, a feat that has rarely been accomplished. Most alternative web browsers depend on the Chromium open source project maintained by Google, which is the most widely used base for many browsers.
Like other privacy-focused browsers, Ladybird will offer features to minimize data collection, such as a built-in ad blocker and the ability to block third-party cookies. The browser has yet to be launched, with an alpha version scheduled for release in 2026 for early adopters, available on Linux and macOS.
Vivaldi
Vivaldi is a Chromium-based browser created by one of the original developers of the Opera browser. Its biggest selling point is its customizable user interface, which allows users to change the appearance and enable or disable features. One unique feature is that the browser window changes color to match the website being viewed. Other key features include ad blocking, a password manager, no user data tracking, and productivity tools such as a calendar and notes.
Niche browsers
Opera Air
Opera launched the Air browser in February, becoming one of the first mindfulness-themed browsers in the space. While Opera Air functions like a typical web browser, it includes unique features designed to support mental well-being. These features consist of break reminders and breathing exercises. Another feature, called “Boosts,” provides a selection of binaural beats to either help improve focus or relaxation.
SigmaOS
SigmaOS is a Mac-only browser featuring a workspace-style interface that emphasizes productivity. It displays tabs vertically, allowing users to treat them like a to-do list that can be marked as complete or snoozed for later. Users can create workspaces — essentially groups of tabs — to better organize different activities, such as separating work from entertainment.
This Y Combinator-backed browser has been around for a few years now and has most recently begun introducing more AI features, including the ability to summarize various elements of a web page, such as ratings, reviews, and prices. It also has an AI assistant that can answer questions, translate text, and rewrite content.
SigmaOS is free to use, but users who want more than three workspaces can subscribe to a plan for $8 per month, which provides unlimited workspaces.
Zen Browser
Zen Browser aims to create a “calmer internet” with its open source browser. Zen lets users organize tabs into Workspaces, and offers Split View to view two tabs side by side, among other productivity-focused features. Users can also enhance their browsing experience with community-made plug-ins and themes, such as a mod that makes the tab background transparent.
This story has been updated after publication to include newly launched browsers.
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Tech
This $300 pizza oven can easily help elevate your summer pizza nights
If you enjoy homemade pizza but don’t love the hassle that comes with it, an electric pizza oven may be the ideal upgrade. The Ninja Artisan Outdoor Pizza Oven is aimed at people who want delicious pizza nights without having to deal with things like propane or wood pellets, unlike many other pizza ovens.
I need to preface this review by admitting that I am no pizza connoisseur, but I ended up with quick, restaurant-style pizzas using the oven, largely thanks to its simplicity and easy-to-use design.
The oven plugs into a standard outdoor outlet and gets up to 700°F. It’s worth noting that although it’s electric, it’s not suitable for indoor use.
It features five pizza settings: Neapolitan, New York, Thin Crust, Pan Pizza, and Custom that you can quickly toggle between. It comes with a pizza stone that can cook 12-inch pizzas. While I found that the 12-inch size was perfect for me and my husband, some may wish for the option to make bigger pizzas when feeding a larger crowd.
Since the oven has heating elements on both the top and bottom, pizzas cook evenly and consistently without needing to rotate the pie, manage a flame, or constantly babysit the cooking process, especially once you’ve gotten familiar with the different modes.
Just like the cooking process, setup was quite easy. All I had to do was remove the oven and pizza stone from the box and packaging, plug it in, and start the preheating process.
I first tested the Neapolitan setting, which cranks the oven to its max temperature of 700°F and can cook a pizza in just three minutes. It took about 20 minutes for the oven to preheat, and it emitted a beeping sound to let me know it was ready. I had my first pizza ready on the pizza peel that Ninja sent me alongside the oven (sold separately), and I was able to easily shimmy it onto the pizza stone inside the oven.
After that, you just need to push the “start” button to begin cooking the pizza and begin the timer. While the pizza is cooking, you can adjust the timer using the dial if you want to cook it for a custom amount of time.
While I did keep an eye on the pizza through the small front window and internal light to make sure it didn’t burn, the three-minute cook time ended up being perfect, leaving me with a pizza that had an airy crust, puffed edges, and light charring. The airy crust is something I was never able to achieve when making homemade pizzas in my standard kitchen oven.
For the subsequent Neapolitan pizzas that I made, I didn’t have to keep an eye on them and instead relied on the timer to beep and let me know when they were ready.
It’s worth noting that if you’re looking for that authentic wood-fired flavor, you won’t get that with this oven. But if you’re happy with consistent, reliable results, then this oven is perfect for you.
I also tried the New York setting, which sets a lower temperature than the Neapolitan mode and has a longer cook time. I used this setting for a topping-heavy pizza to get an even bake and more doneness in the middle. With this setting, I got less of a char on the crust, which is what I was looking for.
As for cleaning the oven, it’s fairly straightforward and low maintenance since you don’t have to deal with soot from an open flame. The interior can be easily wiped down with a damp cloth to remove crumbs and any light messes. For the pizza stone itself, I scraped off debris after it cooled down, since you’re not supposed to use soap on a pizza stone because it’s porous and can absorb water and potentially crack or shatter when exposed to high heat.
What I like most about the pizza oven is that homemade pizza nights no longer feel like a weekend-only activity. Before, making pizza at home felt like too much of a project for a weekday, so I saved it for occasional weekends. But with how fast and simple the Ninja Artisan oven is to use, homemade pizza now feels like something I can quickly make after work without it feeling like a task.
I think the pizza oven is worth buying if you want to make restaurant-style pizza at home without the complexity of traditional pizza ovens.
The Ninja Artisan Pizza Oven costs $300 and comes in four colors: green and gold, blue and gold, black and gold, and dark gray.
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