# Google Pixel 11 and AI Infrastructure Funding

**Podcast:** TechCrunch Daily Crunch
**Published:** 2026-08-13

## Transcript

This is TechCrunch.
Start your test now on shopify.com Let's talk about everything announced at Made by Google 26.
I'm Imran Shaikh, and this is a TechCrunch Daily Crunch Special.
Now, before we get into all things Google, let's go to the latest in startup business news all in about one minute with our friend, producer Dennis.
Imran, thank you, and River AI has secured $1.1 billion in funding in a Seed Series A round led by General Catalyst.
River came out of stealth in June with a fascinating mission, reinventing AI from scratch, beginning with how models are trained.
This is in order to turn agents into personally trainable assistants rather than following the trajectory other AI labs are on, human worker replacements.
River's premise comes at a particularly auspicious time.
Enterprises are waking up to wanting to control their AI model destiny by using a mix of models, including open weight.
River is promising to solve the post-training expertise part of that problem with its NeoCloud offering.
And as AI makes coding dramatically faster, the next big challenge in software development is testing and validating all that code.
Blacksmith has raised a new $45 million round to capitalize on that shift.
The Series B values Blacksmith at $550 million.
That's up from the $60 million valuation it was assigned when it raised a $10 million Series A less than a year ago.
Founded in 2024, Blacksmith helps companies build, test, and verify software before it reaches production.
The startup now serves more than 5,000 customers, including Mercury, Supabase, Clerk, Ashby, and Expensify.
And that's up from more than 700 customers less than a year ago.
And now, today's top story.
Well, Google held its Made by Google 2026 event on Wednesday, unveiling the Pixel 11 series, the Pixel Watch 5, and even a competitor to Apple's AirTag.
The tech giant also used the event to show off new Gemini-powered features across its devices.
Now, Google spent a good portion of the event talking about Gemini and other AI features because that's the age we live in these days coming to its devices.
Now, one of the more notable accessibility updates is an expansion of Live Transcribe to support American Sign Language.
Using the Pixel camera, users can have Sign Language translated into text, giving people another way to communicate without relying on typing.
Google also introduced Rambler, a new voice input feature designed to better understand the way people actually talk.
You see, rather than requiring carefully phrased sentences, Rambler is designed to handle run-on sentences, filler words, and less structured speech while still figuring out what the heck the user's trying to say.
There are a few smaller additions too.
Circle to Search can now be accessed more directly from the Pixel camera, allowing users to identify objects, search for things in the distance, translate text, or ask questions about what's around them without leaving the camera experience.
Alright, now let's discuss the Pixel 11.
The standard Pixel 11 gets a redesigned camera bar that is thinner than the one on the previous generation.
How much thinner is it, you ask?
Well, Google says the new camera bar is more than 40% thinner and now uses an all-glass surface that stretches across the width of the phone.
Google is also increasing the base storage to 256GB, doubling the previous starting capacity.
The starting price for the new model is set at $899, reflecting a $100 increase compared to the Pixel 10.
Now this price comes with the decision to drop the 128GB storage option.
Plus, I mean, the ongoing RAM supply shortage plays a part in this increase.
And you're saying to yourselves, yeah, yeah, yeah, but what about the colorways?
Well, the Pixel 11 will be available in Frost, Hibiscus, Pistachio, and Obsidian.
Google's making durability a bigger part of the Pro lineup.
You see, the company says the Pixel 11 Pro and Pixel 11 Pro XL have improved drop resistance and a new anti-scratch display coating that provides more than twice the scratch resistance of the Pixel 10 Pro models.
Take that, Jerry-rig-everything.
The Pixel 11 Pro starts at $1,099 compared to $999 for the Pixel 10 Pro.
Again, yeah, yeah, yeah, but what about the colorways?
Well, the phones are available in Canyon, Fog, Olive, and Obsidian.
Notably, this year's Obsidian option gets an all-matte finish.
Google says the new Pixel 11 Pro Fold is nearly 10% lighter and almost 1mm thinner than the Pixel 10 Pro Fold.
It's also got slimmer bezels, a 48MP main camera, and 30x super zoom.
The company's also building on the IP68 water and dust resistance introduced with the Pixel 10 Pro Fold.
The Pixel 11 Pro Fold uses a glass fiber composite back cover designed to better withstand cracking, while a redesigned hinge offers additional protection for the inner display.
Google's saying the changes make the model three times more durable than its predecessor.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, what about the colorways?
The Pixel 11 Pro Fold comes in olive and obsidian.
It looks like Google's also taking aim at Apple's AirTag.
Yeah, that's right.
Google finally has its own tracking tag called, well, you guessed it, Pixel Tag.
The small device is designed to help people keep tabs on things such as keys, wallets, luggage, your models of the Starship Enterprise, what have you.
It connects to Android's FindHub network, allowing users to see the tag's location through the FindHub app, similar to Apple's FindMy.
The tag, priced at $29 or $99 for a 4-pack, can also be located from a Pixel Watch.
Pixel Buds users can ask Gemini to find or ring a Pixel tag, adding a voice-controlled option for tracking something down.
And finally, the Pixel Watch 5 is getting several health-related updates.
The Google Health app will provide monthly summaries of blood pressure trends with the goal of helping users notice patterns over time.
It'll also provide monthly summaries of insulin resistance trends.
The 41mm Pixel Watch 5 starts at $399, while the 45mm version starts at $429.
Google's also offering a Steph Curry edition for $579 with an exclusive design built for workouts.
You can see an image of this snazzy edition at TechCrunch.com.
And folks, that's your daily crunch.
Today's stories were reported by Loren Forstall and more awesome TechCrunch journalists.
We'll see you here tomorrow.
Same tech time, same crunch channel.
And until then, find us at techcrunch.com.
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