Bose knows the soundbar market better than most because it helped make the category matter. The new Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar and Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer have arrived with Dolby Atmos, Apple AirPlay, Google Cast, and a very specific mission of delivering better TV and movie sound without turning the living room into a wiring nightmare.

At $1,099 for the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar and $899 for the wireless Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer, Bose is not trying to win the spec sheet Olympics. There is no attempt here to bury consumers under every possible format, socket, mode, or app feature. The focus is narrower, and frankly smarter: sound quality, easy setup, daily usability, a clean aesthetic, and enough Dolby Atmos performance to make people rethink whether they really need an AVR and five boxes to enjoy movie night.

That matters because the soundbar fight has become nasty. LG, Samsung, Sony, Klipsch, and Sonos all want the same space under your TV, and most of them are pitching some version of “cinema sound” from a long plastic enclosure. Bose is taking a different swing with the Lifestyle Ultra system. It is betting that people still care about sound quality, but not enough to spend a weekend fishing speaker wire through walls like they’re tunneling out of Shawshank.

A traditional 5.1 or Dolby Atmos AVR based system can still outperform a soundbar and subwoofer combo when properly installed. Physics remains undefeated. But most consumers are not building dedicated theaters — That is where the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar and Subwoofer are aimed.

Dolby Atmos, Dialogue, and Bass That Doesn’t Fall Apart

The Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar is the anchor of the company’s new home theater system, and Bose says it represents its first major soundbar redesign in more than a decade. That matters because this is not just a new shell around old hardware.

Inside the 43.54 inch wide enclosure is a nine driver array that includes six full range drivers, with two up firing drivers, four front facing drivers, a dedicated center tweeter, and two proprietary PhaseGuide drivers. At 2.64 inches tall, 4.96 inches deep, and 14.8 pounds, it is clearly designed for larger TVs; Bose is thinking 55 inches and up here.

For testing, I used it with a 55-inch Samsung TV in my den and a 75-inch MiniLED display in my living room, and the Lifestyle Ultra worked just fine in both spaces without looking undersized or ridiculous. Always a plus when the gear doesn’t look like it wandered in from another room.

The goal is straightforward: deliver Dolby Atmos playback, better spatial width, clearer dialogue, and a more convincing sense of height from a single enclosure before asking buyers to add a subwoofer, rear speakers, or anything else to the room. Although Bose wants you to add both from their new lineup as well.

The supporting technology is aimed at the usual soundbar weaknesses. PhaseGuide is designed to steer sound horizontally so effects can appear to come from areas where there are no physical speakers. TrueSpatial processing is used to make non Atmos content sound more immersive, which matters because not everything on Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, or cable is mixed in Dolby Atmos. 

DTS and its variants are not supported, so anyone with a disc-heavy library that leans on DTS:X or DTS-HD Master Audio needs to know that before getting emotionally attached.

Dialogue also gets specific attention. SpeechClarity uses adjustable AI driven speech enhancement to make voices easier to follow without boosting the entire mix like a volume button with trust issues. CustomTune room calibration uses an iOS or Android device as the microphone reference point to analyze the room, seating position, surfaces, and layout.

Bass is handled by CleanBass, which works with Bose’s QuietPort acoustic opening and DSP to reduce low frequency distortion. That is important because compact soundbars are often asked to deliver more bass than their cabinets can honestly support. Bose is clearly trying to keep the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar controlled before the optional Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer enters the picture.

Adding the Subwoofer

The Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer is the obvious next step if the system is going under the main TV. It measures 11.63 inches wide, 12.88 inches tall, and 11.63 inches deep, weighs 33.7 pounds, and connects wirelessly through the Bose app with a stated range of 30 feet. Bose also lists a 3.5 mm wired connection as an option, which is useful for anyone who prefers a hardwired backup.

Its role is simple: handle the more demanding low frequency effects, add weight to movies and music, and let the soundbar focus on dialogue, spatial cues, mids, and highs. In 5.1.2 or 7.1.4 configurations, the subwoofer also works with CustomTune room calibration, which matters because bass and rooms have been arguing since the first person shoved a speaker into a corner and called it “placement.”

The configuration path is where Bose keeps things flexible. The Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar can be used on its own as a 5.0.2 system. Add the Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer and it becomes 5.1.2, which is where most buyers are likely to start if this is replacing a basic soundbar or TV speakers in the main room.

Adding two Lifestyle Ultra Speakers as wireless surrounds expands the system to 7.0.4 without the subwoofer, or 7.1.4 with the subwoofer included. That is the more complete setup, but it also adds another $600 to the bill, so it will likely be a second step for many buyers rather than the automatic first move.

That is the practical appeal here. Buyers can start with the soundbar, add the subwoofer for more impact, and decide later whether rear channels are worth the extra cost. Bose also offers custom designed stands for the Lifestyle Ultra Wireless Speakers with cable management, but did not supply the custom stands for this review, so I used a pair of 28-inch Wharfedale metal stands to position the Lifestyle Ultra Speakers for rear surround and height channel duties.

The setup worked, although the dedicated Bose stands would likely offer a cleaner look and better cable management.

HDMI eARC, Wireless Streaming, and the Missing Second Subwoofer

A few practical details matter here. The Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar supports HDMI ARC and eARC, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.3, Google Cast, Apple AirPlay, Spotify Connect, Alexa, and Alexa Plus in the U.S. Bose includes an eARC compatible HDMI cable in the box, along with tactile controls and a hidden LED for status feedback. Optional accessories include a wall bracket and remote control.

The soundbar and subwoofer are both available in Black and White Smoke, with the soundbar using a textured knit fabric grille and the same premium glass top design language found across the new Lifestyle Ultra lineup. It looks clean, modern, and intentionally understated.

Bose has clearly paid attention to build quality here, and it shows. The cabinet feels solid, the glass top adds a more premium finish, and the finger flick test came back with a sore index finger. Not exactly lab grade testing, but it told me enough.

The Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar feels like a premium product, not a hollow plastic tube trying to bluff its way through movie night. No glitter, no hallway meltdown, no Rue voiceover explaining the trauma behind the HDMI cable. Just a solid piece of hardware that looks and feels the part.

The bigger practical question is subwoofer support. At launch, Bose is not claiming dual subwoofer compatibility for the Lifestyle Ultra system. Previous Bose systems have supported dual bass modules, so the question is fair. In larger rooms, or rooms where bass response gets uneven, support for two subs would be useful. Not because everyone needs to rattle the windows, but because two properly placed subwoofers can deliver smoother, more consistent bass across the seating area.

At the Bose House event in New York, Bose did not say that dual subwoofer support is never coming. But it is also not available right now. So the accurate answer is simple: one Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer today, no confirmed path to two tomorrow.

Setup Is Mostly Painless, It Brings on Many Changes

Sorry. Couldn’t resist. I’ve been watching M*A*S*H again, which remains a top five show ever. Toledo Mud Hens forever.

Out of the box, the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar and Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer were relatively easy to set up. Bose has wisely kept the process simple, with fewer steps, fewer cables, and less of the usual “why is this asking me to do that again?” routine.

Fine. Into the system one went.

The rest of the setup was mostly painless: connect the soundbar to the TV through HDMI eARC, plug in the subwoofer, open the Bose app, and let the system walk through pairing and calibration. There were a few app hiccups along the way, but nothing that derailed the process or required a visit from Radar O’Reilly with a clipboard.

One issue I ran into with the Lifestyle Ultra Wireless Speakers was the Bose app occasionally acting like it had picked up some Southie attitude about recognizing both speakers. It took four or five tries before everything finally behaved. I get paid to do this, so I kept going. Most consumers, however, are not especially thrilled when setup starts requiring online troubleshooting, emotional restraint, or a phone call to someone in New England who may or may not be prepared for yelling.

Bose did make one smart choice during setup: the app separates the process for a 2-channel configuration from a home theater system. That helps avoid some confusion, especially if you are adding the Lifestyle Ultra Speakers as surround and height channels rather than using them as a stereo pair.

For whatever reason, integrating the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar, Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer, and the rear surround and height channels took only two tries in my system.

Mazel tov. Progress is progress.

That matters because setup problems at 11 p.m. tend to expose the worst version of me. Tyrion just sits there, stares, and rolls over expecting a belly rub. I usually consider going outside with my goalie stick, pretending to be Toshiro Mifune in Yojimbo, and swinging at imaginary enemies in the dark. Another Ian may have used a cricket bat. I went Canadian.

My Indian neighbors generally lower the shades at that point, which feels fair.

The actual takeaway is simple: setup was easier than most competing systems I have tried, but the Bose app still had a few moments where it needed to get out of its own way.Once the speakers were recognized and assigned correctly, the system locked in and calibration moved along fairly quickly.

Anyone expecting Dirac level room correction should keep walking. This is Bose keeping setup simple and practical, not handing you a lab coat, a calibrated microphone, and three hours of self-loathing.

Listening

Bose handled the NYC demo the right way: full 7.1.4 first, then fewer pieces. We heard the complete system, then the rear channels were removed, and the Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer was switched in and out. That made it easier to judge what the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar could do by itself, what the subwoofer actually contributed, and how much the Lifestyle Ultra Speakers changed the surround and height presentation.

That kind of demo matters because soundbars can be hard to evaluate when everything is playing at once. The bar, subwoofer, and surrounds all contribute, but not equally. Bose gave us a cleaner read on the system instead of hiding behind the full package and hoping nobody asked questions. Always suspicious when nobody asks questions.

The room was also part of the story. Bose used an upper floor den inside its Upper West Side press location, not a massive showroom or some hotel demo room where bass goes to die. I don’t know the exact dimensions, but it felt close to my 16 x 13 foot den at home, probably a little deeper, with ceilings that looked to be at least 10 feet high. Brick walls covered in plaster helped, and the room was quiet enough that Broadway traffic in the mid-70s never intruded. For Manhattan, that’s basically a miracle with alternate side parking.

But press demos in $5 million Upper West Side brownstones have to be taken for what they are: useful, controlled, and not exactly the same as your apartment, condo, ranch, or suburban house where the walls went on Ozempic and now transmit every sneeze from the next room.

That is why I tested the system in two very different real world spaces. One was my den with a 55-inch Samsung TV. The other was my living room with a 75-inch Mini LED display. Both rooms have openings into a larger central foyer, and each also opens into either the dining room or kitchen. In other words, these are not sealed listening rooms. They are normal spaces where sound has places to escape, bass has places to misbehave, and reflections do what reflections do.

That context matters for readers. The Bose demo showed what the Lifestyle Ultra system can do in a carefully selected room. My spaces were closer to what many buyers will actually use: imperfect, open, lived in, and not designed by an Gerrman acoustician who owns too many black turtlenecks.

The Sandworm Arrives, But Only If the Subwoofer Shows Up

I started with Dune and Dune: Part Two because both films are loaded with low frequency effects, wide spatial cues, sandworm chaos, ornithopters moving across the soundstage, and enough desert violence to expose a soundbar that is bluffing.

I was especially interested in three things: how the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar performed on its own, how much the Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer added, and whether the system became more convincing with the Lifestyle Ultra Wireless Speakers handling the rear surround and height channels. That is the point of a modular system. The pieces need to matter, not just make the receipt longer.

I am not going to compare the Bose system directly with the Theory Audio Design soundbar system which is my personal benchmark, because that would be dumb. The Theory system costs roughly 15 times more, uses larger full range drivers and serious active subwoofers, and can pressurize my 30 x 13 x 9 foot basement space with very little effort.

That is not the same contest. It is like asking an Acura TLX Type S to chase a Porsche 911 GT3 RS around a track. Both are real cars. Only one of them arrived wearing a helmet and a bad attitude and a pocket filled with biltong.

Without the Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer, the sandworm scenes in both Dune films still worked, but only up to a point. You get the rumble. You get the scale. You get enough low end information to understand what the film is trying to do. What you do not get is the visceral punch, the dynamic shove, or that pressure wave in your gut and chair when Arrakis decides to remind everyone who actually owns the lease.

Adding the subwoofer is a clear step in the right direction. It gives the system more weight, better impact, and a much stronger foundation during the worm attacks and spice harvester sequences. It is not SVS level bass, and anyone expecting that from a lifestyle wireless subwoofer needs a glass of water and a chair. But the Bose subwoofer makes the system feel more complete and much more credible with films that lean hard on LFE.

Dialogue was very clear, and that was before I engaged SpeechClarity, which I will get into more below. That matters with Dune, because whispered prophecy, political scheming, and sand blasted exposition can become mush on lesser systems. The Bose kept voices clean and centered without making everything sound artificially sharpened.

The stereo spread was also good, and the overall sense of spaciousness was better in my room than it was during the NYC setup. That surprised me a little, but rooms matter. My listening spaces are more open and reflective in different ways, and the Bose system did a good job creating width without making effects sound detached from the screen.

The surround performance was solid with the bar alone, but it became a lot more effective once I added the Lifestyle Ultra Wireless Speakers behind the listening position. That is where the system started to feel less like a very good soundbar and more like an actual home theater package.

The overhead movement of the ornithopters was also one of the better parts of the demo material. The aircraft movement was precise, easy to follow, and more convincing with the rear speakers engaged. The films use ornithopters heavily, including the spice harvester and attack sequences, so they are a useful Atmos test when you want to hear whether height effects are actually moving through the room or just being sprayed upward like acoustic Febreze.

Dragons, Dialogue, and Why TV Still Needs Real Audio

Switching to TV viewing matters because this is where a lot of families will actually use the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar and Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer the most. Movie night is great, but prestige TV, sports, streaming series, and the nightly “what are we watching?” debate are the real workload.

I spent time with the 4K Dolby Atmos encoded seasons of Game of Thrones, which remain a very useful test for a system like this. The show needs scale. It needs clean dialogue. It needs weight when dragons arrive, armies move, castles fall, and Ramin Djawadi’s score starts doing emotional damage with a full orchestral weapon pointed at your living room.

I remain one of those people who hated the final three episodes, but I was pretty much obsessed with the rest of the series. I could watch Arya, Tyrion, and Cersei on repeat for days. Especially Cersei, whose venomous smile could make a man mad before breakfast. And Peter Dinklage? I could listen to that man deliver dialogue forever. The writing gave him a blade, and he knew exactly where to put it. Jersey boy for the win.

That is where the Bose system did well. Dialogue stayed clear and centered, even before leaning on SpeechClarity, and the soundbar did a good job keeping voices intelligible without making the presentation feel thin or artificially boosted. That matters with Game of Thrones, because half the show is people whispering threats in rooms full of stone, wine, bad lighting, and worse family decisions about incest and who has to live beyond the wall.

The subwoofer also helped give the series the foundation it needs. Game of Thrones is not just dialogue and political rot; it has dragons, siege engines, battles, ships, and low frequency moments that lose impact through TV speakers or weaker soundbars. With the Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer engaged, the presentation had more body and scale. Not dedicated theater levels of impact, but enough weight to make the world feel larger and more convincing.

SpeechClarity is one of the more useful features here because it pushes dialogue forward without dragging the rest of the mix along for the ride. Explosions do not suddenly get louder with the voices, but they also do not vanish like someone hit the “make this boring” button.

And yes, some of us are getting older. Some of us watch the Stanley Cup Playoffs past 11 p.m. Some of us have spouses and children upstairs who are armed. Being able to keep the focus on the play-by-play crew in the booth without turning crowd noise into a fight is a genuinely valuable feature.

It worked well. No text messages from upstairs. That counts as a win.

Bigger, Wider, Better With Electronic Music

Switching over to music, a few things stood out. The Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar does a very solid job with music, especially when paired with the Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer, but I still found myself more drawn to the two Lifestyle Ultra Wireless Speakers on their own for dedicated music listening.

Does that make me weird? Possibly. But we passed that exit in Palm Beach County 12 months ago.

The soundbar and subwoofer combination works best with music that benefits from a larger sense of space and more low end energy. The Orb, Aphex Twin, and some Sia tracks were the strongest fits because the Bose system could lean into scale, width, and bass foundation without pretending to be a pair of properly positioned stereo loudspeakers.

The presentation was bigger than the wireless speakers on their own, and the subwoofer gave electronic music more drive and physical presence. Soundstage width was good, the sense of scale was better, and the system delivered more sonic weight than the Lifestyle Ultra Speakers can manage alone.

Jazz and singer songwriter material were a different story. Lee Morgan and Jason Isbell sounded clean, clear, and easy to follow, but I was less emotionally pulled in. That is not a failure of the Bose system as much as it is the reality of music through a soundbar. I have never truly loved listening to music through one, and apparently this is the hill I have chosen to stand on with a coffee in one hand and a mildly judgmental expression on my face.

The Bottom Line

The Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar and Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer work because Bose kept the mission focused: better TV and movie sound, clean industrial design, easier setup than most, useful wireless streaming, and credible Dolby Atmos performance without dragging an AVR, speaker wire, and a therapy co-pay into the living room. Dialogue clarity is excellent, even before SpeechClarity gets involved, and the subwoofer adds the weight the soundbar needs for films, and anything with real LFE content.

What is missing? DTS support, dual subwoofer support, and deeper room correction for users expecting Dirac level calibration. The app still has a few moments where it needs to stop arguing with itself, and music playback through the soundbar is good but not as satisfying as using the Lifestyle Ultra Wireless Speakers on their own.

This system is for buyers who want a clean, premium Dolby Atmos package with strong dialogue, useful streaming, solid spatial effects, and enough bass to make movies feel bigger without building a full component system. It is not for hardcore theater purists or anyone expecting SVS level impact, but for families, apartment dwellers, condo owners, and anyone allergic to cable chaos, the Bose Lifestyle Ultra system makes a strong case.

Pros:

• Clean, premium design that works well under larger TVs
• Strong dialogue clarity, with SpeechClarity adding real value
• Dolby Atmos performance delivers good width, height, and spatial effects
• Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer adds needed weight and scale for movies and TV
• Easier setup than most competing systems, with useful AirPlay, Google Cast, Spotify Connect, and Bluetooth support

Cons:

• No DTS or DTS variant support
• No dual subwoofer support at launch
• App setup can still have a few hiccups
• Room calibration is simple, not Dirac level correction
• Music playback is good, but bettered by the stand-alone Lifestyle Ultra wireless speakers

Where to buy:

Related Reading:

Kayden Knapik set out to copy one of Disney’s BD-X droids from the Star Wars areas in their parks. He had no big budget and only basic robotics experience when he started his bachelor’s thesis project. The finished machine walks on two legs, turns on command, keeps its balance even when nudged, and moves its antennas to show feelings. All of it runs on parts bought online and printed at home.

Knapik chose the BD-X because the droids look simple but move with a lot of personality in the parks. Disney keeps full-sized versions locked away and never sells them to the public. He wanted something similar enough for people to see and touch without requiring a ticket. His version is nearly the same height as the park models and employs the same type of brain that Disney picked for its own robots.

Sale

Bambu Lab A1 mini 3D Printer + LED Lamp Kit, Set Up in 20 Mins, High Speed & Precision, Full-Auto…

• A1 mini + LED Lamp Kit for Creative Light Projects: Bring your ideas to life with the included LED Lamp Kit. Simply print compatible lamp models and…
• The Perfect 3D Printer for Beginners: A1 mini 3D Printer is designed to make 3D printing easy from day one with automatic calibration, simple setup…
• Experience the Bambu Lab Ecosystem: Access MakerWorld’s huge library of ready-to-print models, manage prints through the Bambu Handy app, and enjoy…

Sixteen Robstride motors drive every joint, which actually offers high torque at a price a heck of a lot lower than the custom gear Disney uses. The total set of motors cost roughly $2800. For identical hardware, Disney’s version would cost roughly $7,500, just for the legs. A regular 40-volt lithium-ion battery from a lawn mower is utilized to power the device because it is safe and easy to replace. The sensors inside each joint detect its position, and an inertial measurement unit monitors tilt and direction, allowing the droid to adjust itself as needed.

The majority of the body began as plastic printed on a standard 3D printer, however PETG with extra infill was insufficient to withstand daily stress, as the hips began to shatter under full motor power. Knapik replaced the essential joints with aluminum parts made on a CNC machine. That adjustment only took a few days, but it effectively stopped the brakes. Everything else still prints at home if you’re ready to work with his open-source files.

It’s the software that moves the legs without requiring any line-by-line walking code. Knapik created a digital clone of the robot within an NVIDIA simulation program and had it practice millions and millions of small efforts at remaining upright and moving ahead. Each run involved random weight changes, surface grip, and motor timing, allowing the robot to learn to deal with a variety of real-world conditions. Once training was completed, the same policy was simply applied to the actual hardware. The gait was choppy at first, but he eventually matched the simulation delays to the physical motors. After that, the droid’s gait improved dramatically, and it was soon walking forward, backward, and using voice commands.

Total spending is still cheap enough that Knapik has begun drawing concepts for a smaller version at about $400. The CAD files, training code, and assembly notes are all stored on a public GitHub page named BDX-R. If you have a 3D printer and basic skills, you may download the file and begin creating your own. The open approach is all about breaking down the traditional barriers that keep advanced robotics out of reach for everyday people.
[Source]

Two of the Google Cloud developers who were hit with bills for thousands of dollars following unauthorized API calls to Gemini models have had their bills reversed, the users told The Register  in recent days. But Google plans to continue automatically expanding users’ spending limits, leaving them and countless other customers vulnerable to bills they cannot afford, whether from fraud or a sudden traffic surge.

Australia-based developer Isuru Fonseka – whose usage bill skyrocketed to $17,000 in minutes after Google automatically upgraded his $250 spending tier when a hacker took control of his account – told us that he was happy to put this behind him. 

“It’s so good. It felt like they were just giving me the run around until your article. I just hope they fix it properly for everyone,” he said. “It’s great that the article was able to get the refund but it’s sad that it had to go to that level for them to process it urgently.” 

Despite refunding his money, Google seems to have lost a customer. Fonseka said that he has since ensured his API cannot be used with Google’s stable of AI products, and will likely try one of the independent foundation models if he needs those features. 

“I’ve disabled Gemini on everything – if I ever plan to use AI on my projects, I’m better off using it via a different service such as OpenRouter or going directly to one of the other LLM providers – just as a way to keep Gemini out of my account and the risk as low as possible,” he said. 

Fonseka said he was blindsided by a Google policy that allowed the company to automatically upgrade a user’s billing tier without permission or adequate warning. He had thought by signing up for a user tier with a $250 spending cap that his bills would be restricted to that amount. It was only after attackers exploited his API key that he learned Google would upgrade the cap automatically based on his history of spending. 

While Google acknowledged that the automatic tier upgrades allowed credential hijackers to rack up thousands of dollars in bills in cases like the one Fonseka described to The Register, it said it has not reconsidered the policy.

In a statement to The Register, Google said that it wants to prioritize access to Google Cloud services without interruption, preferring to prevent service outages over respecting users’ budget preferences.

“With our automated growth tiers, we helped businesses scale as usage increased, built on their historic reputation of payments and usage,” a Google spokesperson told us in a statement. “This prevents their business having a hard service outage once they pass an artificial system quota.”

Tiers vs spending caps

There is some confusion between Google’s usage tiers and its newly introduced spending caps, and Google’s documentation hasn’t helped much. 

Google says its users can set their usage tiers not to exceed a certain spending level. For example the maximum spending allowed by a Tier 1 user like Fonseka is $250. However, if the account is older than 30 days and if, over the lifetime of their work with Google, they have spent at least $1,000, then Google will automatically allow that account to spend up to $100,000. So good customers have the most to fear from fraud or from an unexpected spike in usage.

In several cases shared on social media, Google users were only aware of this after their credit cards were billed thousands of dollars.  

On April 22, Google introduced a trial of hard caps on spending within Google Cloud, but those are in a preview and are approved on a case-by-case basis. 

“We’re excited to announce that Spend Caps are coming soon to Google Cloud. Designed to work with Google Cloud Budgets, FinOps and DevOps can set budgets that enforce automated cost boundaries (caps) at the project level for AIS, Agent Platform, Cloud Run, Cloud Run Functions, and Maps,” Google wrote. “These caps alert and ultimately pause API traffic once your set budget is reached, but leave your resources intact. If you need the traffic to resume, simply suspend the Spend Cap.” 

Spend caps can only be set per project for a single, eligible service, Google said. Eligible services for this preview include Gemini API, Agent Platform (previously known as VertexAI), Cloud Run, Cloud Run Functions, Maps, Google said. 

Users who apply for a spending cap will have their submissions reviewed on a “one to two week basis” and customers are added in the order they submitted. 

“Once onboarded, you will receive an email with instructions on how to access the feature as well as details on how to submit feedback,” Google writes in its sign up page. 

Rod Danan, CEO of Prentus, a company that helps job applicants with interview preparation and tracks job placements for universities, told The Register earlier this week that he saw his bill skyrocket to $10,000 in just 30 minutes of usage by attackers who exploited his public API key. 

Google forgave the charges on Thursday, he said. 

“They got back to me today agreeing to a refund,” he told us. “It’s definitely relieving. You want to focus on the business. You don’t want to have to focus on going and getting refunds from some crazy charges.” 

He said the stress of running a startup is hard enough without the addition of fighting one of the largest companies in the world imposing erroneous five-figure charges. 

“I’m happy that it’s behind me. I wish it was easier,” he said. “I’ve learned, yeah, definitely don’t give up. Be annoying whenever something is wrong and just keep pushing. Again, try to make it as public as possible, get louder and louder until the people you need to hear you actually hear you.” 

Google said any unauthorized use of API keys will be investigated and it historically has treated customers compassionately when there is clear evidence of fraud or error. 

“We take reports of credential abuse and the financial security of our customers extremely seriously; and as you know are investigating these specific cases you have pointed to and we will work directly with any impacted users to resolve charges resulting from fraudulent activity,” Google said. ®

One of the most entertaining moments in VC this week was a piece of rage-bait marketing from General Catalyst.

In a now-viral post on X that parodies the old Mac vs. PC commercials, the venture firm — better known as GC — posted a “VC vs GC” video on Wednesday. The VC was played by a tall actor in a baggy shirt and vest with a distinctly large, bald head — an apparent dig at Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Marc Andreessen. (But the real Andreessen never looks that disheveled).

Investors can’t seem to get enough of RJ Scaringe or his ideas.

In less than a decade, the serial entrepreneur best known for his EV company Rivian has raised more than $12.3 billion from venture capital firms, as well as from strategic and institutional investors for his three — and counting — startups. If the latest $400 million raise for his new venture Mind Robotics is an indicator, investors are still happily piling in.

Outsized raises for newly minted startups have become more common in recent years. But those hundred-million-plus seed rounds have generally been reserved for buzzy defense tech startups or AI companies founded by former OpenAI or Anthropic employees.

Those supersized seeds certainly weren’t flowing toward something as niche as an electric micromobility startup. And yet in 2025, Scaringe raised $105 million for exactly that — a startup called Also, which he founded that same year. The total has since surpassed $300 million, with DoorDash among its backers.

Jiten Behl, partner at Eclipse and former chief growth officer at Rivian, has spent years watching and learning from Scaringe. His firm is now one of Scaringe’s biggest backers, leading rounds in both Also and Mind Robotics — Scaringe’s industrial AI and robotics startup that he also founded last year.

Storytelling and communication are one of his superpowers, according to Behl, who joined Rivian when the company had just a handful of employees.

“When RJ explains a certain issue, topic, opportunity, vision, he just has this very unique ability to communicate it so effectively, and it comes across so credible,” Behl said. “He’s not trying to undersell the difficulty or oversell the opportunity, and that’s an art.”

Scaringe isn’t the only serial entrepreneur to repeatedly attract massive amounts of capital, but founders who can raise billions across multiple ventures remain rare. A self-professed car enthusiast who earned his doctorate in mechanical engineering from MIT, Scaringe joins a small cadre of entrepreneurs that includes Tesla CEO and SpaceX co-founder Elon Musk, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Anduril and Oculus founder Palmer Luckey, and Jack Dorsey, who founded Square (now called Block) and Twitter.

The difference, at least in the view of some investors TechCrunch spoke to, is that he is able to separate selling the idea from selling himself. “He is very comfortable and confident in his own personality, and he’s not trying to be an Elon,” Behl said, noting that many have tried to make the comparison over the years.

“It’s not about him,” another insider familiar with Scaringe’s companies told TechCrunch. “When you talk to him, he has enthusiasm about the product that is completely external.”

Of course, there is confidence and even a little ego, the same source mused, but “it doesn’t weigh on you.” The source also added that Scaringe has a unique ability to make you feel like the most special person in the room — a sentiment others echoed.

Giving that kind of undivided attention to an investor, supplier, or exec at a manufacturer is a challenge at the scale Scaringe is attempting. He is running three companies, often traveling between Palo Alto, Irvine, Rivian’s factory in Normal, Illinois, and a second factory soon to open in Georgia. And then there is family — Scaringe has three sons with his ex-wife.

Joe Fath, another partner at Eclipse, credits his open-mindedness and collaborative nature for helping him attract investment and juggle these connected, yet disparate businesses.

He noted that Scaringe also “has the rare combination of being a truly great engineer while also having an exceptional instinct for product design,” said Fath, who previously worked at a major Rivian backer, T. Rowe Price. “Very few founders can operate at that level technically while also understanding what resonates emotionally with customers — both consumers and commercial buyers. That combination is incredibly uncommon and has clearly been part of what makes Rivian’s products, and now Also and Mind’s, so differentiated.”

The pace of Scaringe’s fundraising over the past eight years is particularly notable and doesn’t seem to be slowing.

More than $11 billion, and by far the largest slice of VC and strategic capital, went into Rivian — most of it between 2018 and its blockbuster IPO in 2021. That’s a startling timeline, especially considering the company, initially called Mainstream Motors, had existed since 2009. For years, Rivian operated as a small, unknown entity until its breakout moment in late 2018 at the Los Angeles Auto Show, when it revealed prototypes of its all-electric R1T truck and R1S SUV.

The money soon flowed, and from every direction. In early 2019 and just a couple of months after that reveal, Rivian raised a $700 million funding round led by Amazon. U.S. automaker Ford would invest $500 million and make plans to collaborate on a since-scrapped future EV program. Cox Automotive contributed $350 million. Rivian would close out the year with a $1.3 billion round — its fourth in 2019 — led by funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, with additional participation from Amazon, Ford, and funds managed by BlackRock.

In July 2020, Rivian raised $2.5 billion and another $2.65 billion six months later. As whispers of an IPO got louder, Rivian closed another $2.5 billion private funding round led by Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, D1 Capital Partners, Ford Motor, and funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates Inc. Third Point, Fidelity Management and Research Company, Dragoneer Investment Group, and Coatue also participated.

Then the IPO came. Rivian raised nearly $12 billion in gross proceeds after locking in $78 per share. Its market cap hit $100 billion when it debuted on Nasdaq in November 2021. Today, it stands at $18.2 billion, a significant comedown that also reflects the broader struggles of the EV sector.

The ability to raise that much capital, despite those headwinds, is exceptional. But Scaringe didn’t stop with Rivian. If anything, the pace has accelerated. Also and Mind Robotics have together raised more than $1.3 billion so far, with Mind Robotics moving especially fast: $115 million in its first year, $500 million in March, and another $400 million just this week.

Rivian also continues to land notable backers through high-profile deals like the $5.8 billion joint venture with Volkswagen Group and a robotaxi partnership valued at up to $1.25 billion with Uber.

“Now, the big question is, how much can he do?” Behl said. “That’s a question [that] already assumes that he’s reaching his limit. The thing is, he doesn’t look at it that way. His perspective is that there is huge value to be created, there is huge impact to be created, and I just have to do it.”

Watch the 2026 Eurovision Grand Final tonight at 8pm (May 16) to see 25 acts compete for the glitziest crown in music. The winner will, as ever, be chosen by wildly unfair judging based on ancient ties between nations and the prevailing political climate.

But after two pulsating semi-finals, who exactly is in the mix to come out on tops. The general consensus is that will probably be Finland (Linda Lampenius & Pete Parkkonen with “Liekinheitin”), Greece (Akylas and “Ferto”) or Denmark (Søren Torpegaard’s “Før vi går hjem”).