April 24, 2026

Google to invest up to $40B in Anthropic in cash and compute: Google plans up to $40B investment in Anthropic as AI rivals race to secure massive compute capacity, following the limited release of its powerful, cybersecurity-focused Mythos model. Read More

Marked-up Mac minis flood eBay amid shortages driven by AI: Apple’s sold-out Mac mini is spawning marked-up eBay listings as demand surges for the compact desktop, now favored for running local AI models and tools. Read More

ComfyUI hits $500M valuation as creators seek more control over AI-generated media: ComfyUI, whose tools give creators more control over AI image, video, and audio generation, just raised $30 million. Read More

Oct 13–15 at San Francisco's Moscone West, 10,000 founders, investors, and operators gather for high-signal insights, curated connections, and real momentum.

Your CRM. Your ERP. Your legacy tools. Deck's computer use agents operate all of it — logging in, navigating menus, completing tasks. If it runs in a browser, Deck runs it.

Another spyware maker caught distributing fake Android snooping apps: Researchers have found a new case where government authorities used a fake Android app to plant spyware on a target’s phone. The company that allegedly developed the spyware was not previously known to sell this type of software. Read More

In another wild turn for AI chips, Meta signs deal for millions of Amazon AI CPUs: Meta has commandeered a big chunk of Amazon's homegrown CPUs (not GPUs) for AI agentic workloads, signaling that a new kind of chip race has begun. Read More

Uber CTO Praveen Neppalli Naga joins stacked StrictlyVC SF lineup for April 30 event: Surprise! StrictlyVC San Francisco, which will kick off this year’s events lineup for TechCrunch on April 30 at the Sentro Filipino Cultural Center, is getting a new addition to its increasingly stacked lineup of speakers. Uber CTO Praveen Neppalli Naga will join the rest of the lineup to discuss operating at scale in the age of AI. Read More

Two college kids raise a $5.1 million pre-seed to build an AI social network in iMessage: Series, a social networking app that's grown popular on college campuses, announced a $5.1 million pre-seed round from some big names in tech. Read More

Nuclear startup X-energy raises $1B in data center-driven IPO: Amazon-backed X-energy was able to raise around 20% more money in its IPO as demand for nuclear power surges. Read More

StrictlyVC kicks off the event series in SF in less than a week. Join unfiltered fireside chats on fundraising, what it takes to build a physical AI breakthrough, and more with industry leaders like Eclipse Ventures co-founder Lior Susan, Replit co-founder Amjad Masad, and more. Make high-value connections that actually move the needle. Tickets are limited.

Meta's loss is Thinking Machines' gain: Meta has been poaching talent from Thinking Machines Lab. But it's a two-way street. Read More

Want to adjust your daily newsletter schedule? You can do it right here

April 24, 2026

Another spyware maker caught distributing fake Android snooping apps: Researchers have found a new case where government authorities used a fake Android app to plant spyware on a target’s phone. The company that allegedly developed the spyware was not previously known to sell this type of software. Read More

In another wild turn for AI chips, Meta signs deal for millions of Amazon AI CPUs: Meta has commandeered a big chunk of Amazon's homegrown CPUs (not GPUs) for AI agentic workloads, signaling that a new kind of chip race has begun. Read More

Porsche is adding an all-electric Cayenne coupe to its lineup: Porsche will start selling the Cayenne Coupe Electric in late summer. Read More

Oct 13–15 at San Francisco's Moscone West, 10,000 founders, investors, and operators gather for high-signal insights, curated connections, and real momentum.

Investors don’t just listen to what you say - they look at how your company operates. Is ownership clear? Do your numbers match your story? Can you answer follow-up questions without digging through spreadsheets? The Fundraise-Ready Startup Kit equips founders with the materials investors expect to see, before pressure is on. Because confidence in the room doesn’t come from slides. It comes from preparation. 

Redwood Materials loses COO amid layoffs, restructuring: Former Tesla executive Chris Lister is retiring, and at least three other VPs have left Redwood around the recent restructuring, TechCrunch has learned. Read More

Bret Taylor's Sierra buys YC-backed AI startup Fragment: Sierra, the AI customer service agent startup founded by technologist Bret Taylor, announced today that it has acquired the YC-backed French startup Fragment. Read More

Nothing introduces an AI-powered dictation tool: Nothing's new on-device dictation tool supports over 100 languages. Read More

DeepSeek previews new AI model that 'closes the gap' with frontier models: DeepSeek says both models are more efficient and performant than DeepSeek V3.2 due to architectural improvements, and have almost "closed the gap" with current leading models, both open and closed, on reasoning benchmarks. Read More

Uber CTO Praveen Neppalli Naga joins stacked StrictlyVC SF lineup for April 30 event: Surprise! StrictlyVC San Francisco, which will kick off this year’s events lineup for TechCrunch on April 30 at the Sentro Filipino Cultural Center, is getting a new addition to its increasingly stacked lineup of speakers. Uber CTO Praveen Neppalli Naga will join the rest of the lineup to discuss operating at scale in the age of AI. Read More

StrictlyVC kicks off the event series in SF next week. Join unfiltered fireside chats on fundraising, what it takes to build a physical AI breakthrough, and more with industry leaders like Eclipse Ventures co-founder Lior Susan, Replit co-founder Amjad Masad, and more. Make high-value connections that actually move the needle. Tickets are limited.

Instagram tests a new 'Instants' app for sharing disappearing photos: The app lets users share disappearing photos with their friends that can be viewed only once and remain available for 24 hours. Read More

Want to adjust your daily newsletter schedule? You can do it right here