Timef 04/03/2025

Thatch, a startup that aims to transform the health insurance experience for employers and employees alike, has raised $40 million in a Series B round of funding, it tells TechCrunch exclusively. Index Ventures led the financing, which included participation from existing backers Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), General Catalyst, SemperVirens, PeopleTech Partners, The General Partnership, and new […]

A simple trick can remove malicious Android spyware apps that require a password to uninstall.

OpenAI’s new image-generation feature is on track to be one of the company’s most popular product launches ever. According to Brad Lightcap, who oversees day-to-day operations and global deployment at OpenAI, over 130 million users have generated more than 700 million images since the new image generator launched in ChatGPT last week. “[W]e appreciate your […]

The quality of AI-generated voices is good enough for things like creating audiobooks and podcasts, having articles read aloud to you, and basic customer support. But many businesses don’t think AI voice tech is quite reliable enough to deploy. That’s why two MIT grads, Moin Nadeem and Nikhil Murthy, founded Phonic, a company offering an […]

Calling founders, VCs, and startup experts — share your scaling strategies! TechCrunch All Stage 2025 is assembling top minds in startups and venture capital on July 15 in Boston. If you have valuable insights on scaling, now’s your chance to share them with 1,200+ founders, investors, and entrepreneurs. Lead thought-provoking sessions, interactive roundtables, and actionable […]

TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, has been at the center of controversy in the U.S. for four years now due to concerns about user data potentially being accessed by the Chinese government. Earlier this year, the app experienced a temporary outage in the U.S. that left millions of users in suspense before it […]

The US is barreling toward a recession for no good reason, and dragging the world—and a few thousand penguins on remote Antarctic islands—down with it.

As of April 3, the Shark Matrix Robot Vacuum is on sale at Best Buy for $249.99 as part of its Deal of the Day. Normally it retails for $499.99, so you're saving 50%.

Shop the iRobot Roomba j9+ at Amazon and save $400 on the combo robot vacuum, bringing it back down to its lowest price ever.

The Shark PowerDetect cordless stick vacuum is on sale at Amazon for $299, down from the normal price of $429.99. That's a 30% discount.

The soft device was developed by engineers at Northwestern University to suit the small, fragile hearts of newborn babies with congenital heart defects.

Spotify announced Gen AI ads, among other changes to its advertising business, at an event in New York City on Thursday. Notably, the company introduced a new programmatic offering, the Spotify Ad Exchange (SAX), which allows advertisers to reach Spotify’s logged-in users via real-time auctions. On the latter, Spotify announced new partnerships with Google’s demand-side […]

The hoodie is a work-from-home security blanket. But in the office, it’s a trap.

Experts say hackers who used to focus on Windows operating systems are increasingly targeting Apple IDs as part of a new phishing campaign.

TechCrunch All Stage — the ultimate founder summit — is shaping up to be a powerhouse event where 1,200 founders and VCs across all stages will come together to forge meaningful connections and gain practical insights they can immediately apply to scale their startups. Join us on July 15 at SoWa Power Station in Boston […]

Runway, a startup developing a range of generative AI models for media production, including video-generating models, has raised $308 million in a Series D funding round. General Atlantic led the round, which had participation from Fidelity Management & Research Company, Baillie Gifford, Nvidia, SoftBank, and others. The fresh capital will be put toward AI research […]

Runway, a startup developing a range of generative AI models for media production, including video-generating models, has raised $308 million in a Series D funding round. General Atlantic led the round, which had participation from Fidelity Management & Research Company, Baillie Gifford, Nvidia, SoftBank, and others. The fresh capital will be put toward AI research […]

At a presentation unveiling the Nintendo Switch 2, longtime Nintendo producer Kouichi Kawamoto revealed that at one point, he considered calling the Switch’s successor the “Super Nintendo Switch.” It would have been a nice nod to Nintendo’s second console, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, which followed the original NES about 35 years ago. But Kawamoto, […]

With President Donald Trump’s latest round of tariffs coming out today — a day he is calling “Liberation Day” — a Web3 startup thinks it could track tariffs automatically on goods coming into and out of the USA using its blockchain platform. The claim may well be bold — and typical of many such bold claims […]

Nintendo Switch 2 is very impressive, but also very expensive. Here are some reasons why it's enticing anyway.

Switch 2 is a massive upgrade over Switch 1 in almost every way. A hands-on comparison of the two consoles.

Nintendo's pricey new Switch 2 has been updated to create a product that feels both familiar and improved. WIRED spent some time with it.

These mid-tier earbuds have 15 hours of battery life with noise canceling, and a magnetic design that keeps them charged—no case required.

Expanding into the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) remains a costly and complex challenge for global businesses, thanks to fragmented regulations and banking systems. Dubai-based fintech Fuse aims to simplify that with a cross-border payments API and has raised $6.6 million in seed funding to make it happen. Founded in 2023 by George Davis, […]

Caller ID app Truecaller said on Thursday that it crossed the 450 million user mark earlier this week. The company said that it added 50 million users in the past 10 months and 15.5 million users since the beginning of 2025. India is the company’s biggest user base, so it wasn’t surprising to see Truecaller […]

These are the best umbrellas we’ve tested. They’ll protect you from showers and heavy rain and will hold up for the long haul.

Plaid, which connects bank accounts to financial applications, has sold about $575 million worth of common stock at a $6.1 billion post-money valuation, the fintech company confirmed to TechCrunch. The valuation is about less than half of the $13.4 billion that San Francisco-based Plaid was valued at when it raised a $425 million Series D […]

As of April 3, the Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 are on sale at Amazon for $179. Normally they're listed for $229, so you're saving 22%.

We've rounded up some predictions for "The White Lotus" Season 3 finale, including who we think will die and who will survive.

Unitree, a Chinese robotics company that developed a backflipping robot, has now introduced a humanoid robot capable of doing a side flip.

As of April 3, the JBL Go 4 portable speaker is on sale at Amazon for $39.95, 20% off its list price of $49.95.

Djamo is one of several digital banking startups targeting Africa’s underbanked. But unlike many that focus on large markets like Nigeria, Egypt, or South Africa, Djamo has carved out a niche in Francophone West Africa, specifically the Ivory Coast and, more recently, Senegal. It now serves over one million customers across both countries. The Y […]

SpaceX has taken four people on the first spaceflight over Earth's North and South Poles on a three- to five-day mission, called Fram2.

Save up to $2,000 a trip with a one-year subscription to Dollar Flight Club's premium plan, now on sale for just $9.99 (reg. $69).

Get a refurbished Apple MacBook Pro (3.1GHz i5, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD) on sale for $330 through April 30 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

Family AdGuard subscription blocks ads, prevents malware, and offers parental controls on multiple devices for $15.97.

What's new to Hulu, Netflix, Max, Prime Video, and more? Here are the must-sees and the better-off-to-avoids.

As of April 3, Garmin Instinct 2 Solar GPS Outdoor Watch is on sale for $229.99 at Amazon — $170 off its regular price of $399.99.

As of April 3, Toshiba 65-inch M550 Series QLED 4K UHD Smart Fire TV is on sale for $379.99 at Best Buy — $200 off its regular price of $579.99.

An art studio hopes its concept for a phone case that can flip around to cover most of your screen will help cure your screen addiction.

As of April 3, PNY 1.5TB PRO Elite Prime microSD card is available for $109.99 on Amazon. It offers 200MB/s read and 150MB/s write speeds.

The teaser trailer for Blumhouse's "Five Nights at Freddy's 2" has arrived, with Josh Hutcherson and Elizabeth Lail returning.

Answers to each clue for the April 3, 2025 edition of NYT's The Mini crossword puzzle.

Home Depot confirmed that news it would charge for parking was an April Fools' Day prank by an unaffiliated hardware publication.

Tired of storage limits? Get 10TB of lifetime cloud storage for $279.99 with our discount code — no subscriptions, just space that’s yours forever.

How to watch f1 for free. Live stream the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix for free from anywhere in the world.

Hints and answers to today's Hurdle all in one place.

Apple, Amazon, and other tech companies reliant on global supply chains stand to lose the most from Trump's trade policies, but some software firms expect more demand for their services.

Connections: Sports Edition is a New York Times word game about finding common sports threads between words. How to solve the puzzle.

The NYT Strands hints and answers you need to make the most of your puzzling experience.

Connections is a New York Times word game that's all about finding the "common threads between words." How to solve the puzzle.

Here's the answer for "Wordle" #1384 on April 3, as well as a few hints, tips, and clues to help you solve it yourself.

President Donald Trump says taxing imports will strengthen domestic manufacturing. Hours before announcing new tariffs, his administration cut support for centers that help US firms do just that.

The Heard and McDonald Islands are among the dozens of targets of President Donald Trump's latest round of tariffs. But they have no exports, because no one lives there.

The Dimension 20 cast (Brennan Lee Mulligan, Ally Beardsley, Lou Wilson, Siobhan Thompson, and Zac Oyama) locked in to draft their ultimate teams of characters from Intrepid Heroes campaigns.

Billionaire Tim Stokely partnered with a crypto company to bid for TikTok as the social media company faces a deadline to either sell or be banned in the US. Amazon also placed a last minute bid.

The Meta chief, who was at the White House on Wednesday, has discussed the case with the president and his aides. A trial is set to start in less than two weeks.

Aetherflux, the space solar startup founded by billionaire co-founder of Robinhood Baiju Bhatt, has raised a $50 million in a Series A round as it works to launch its first low Earth orbit demonstration in 2026.  The San Carlos, California-based startup, which came out of stealth last October, aims to eventually launch a constellation of […]

The iPhone maker spent years trying to move production of some products out of China to avoid tariffs. But now that may not matter.

Circle, the issuer of USDC, a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar, filed to go public on Tuesday. The company, which makes money from interest earned on its reserve assets, reported that its 2024 revenue and reserve income was $1.68 billion, up from $1.45 billion the year prior. Circle’s 2024 net income was $156 million, […]

Unload repetitive or time-consuming tasks onto AI — you'll get tools like Gemini, Meta AI, ChatGPT, and more with the 1min.AI Advanced Business Plan.

When OpenAI unveiled its o3 “reasoning” AI model in December, the company partnered with the creators of ARC-AGI, a benchmark designed to test highly capable AI, to showcase o3’s capabilities. Months later, the results have been revised, and they now look slightly less impressive than they did initially. Last week, the Arc Prize Foundation, which […]

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, whose company makes Fortnite and tools for other developers, including Unreal Engine, called out Apple and Google as “gangster-style businesses” engaged in illegal practices while speaking at a Y Combinator event on Wednesday. The executive also emphasized how the big tech companies’ practices directly affected his own business by scaring […]

Starting Wednesday, Meta says it will begin combining the Instagram accounts of the Second Lady of the United States, Usha Vance, and the former Second Gentleman of the United States, Doug Emhoff. As a result, the 1.2 million people who were previously following the Instagram account of Kamala Harris’s husband, @secondgentleman46archive (recently archived by the […]

Rippling released the affidavit of the its employee who admitted he was spying for Deel. 

As it prepares to transition from a nonprofit corporation to a for-profit, OpenAI says it’s convening a group of experts to “help OpenAI’s philanthropy understand the most urgent and intractable problems nonprofits face today.” This group, which OpenAI says will incorporate feedback from “leaders and communities” in health, science, education, and public services, particularly within […]

"A Minecraft Movie," starring Jason Momoa and Jack Black, is a quirky take from "Napoleon Dynamite"s Jared Hess. Review.

Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, Tumblr, WooCommerce, and a range of other online services, is reducing its workforce. The layoffs will impact 16% of staff across divisions, an Automattic blog post published Wednesday reveals. Ahead of the layoffs, Automattic’s website listed 1744 employees, which means north of 270 people may have lost their jobs. (Automattic […]

"Sketch," starring Tony Hale and D'Arcy Carden, hits theaters Aug. 6.

Best Buy is offering a $20 reward for every $150 you spend on Nintendo Switch games, gift cards, and select accessories. The promotion will end on Aug. 3.

A lawyer for Xiaofeng Wang and his wife says they are "safe" after FBI searches of their homes and Wang's sudden dismissal from Indiana University, where he taught for over 20 years.

TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, has been at the center of controversy in the U.S. for four years now due to concerns about user data potentially being accessed by the Chinese government. Earlier this year, the app experienced a temporary outage in the U.S. that left millions of users in suspense before it […]

Cut streaming costs with BitMar and find free movies and TV shows online with no subscription. Get a lifetime pass for A$23 until 27 April.

Amazon is making a last-second bid to buy TikTok, according to a new report.

Epic Games announced on Wednesday the launch of a Loci integration to assist creators with the labor-intensive process of tagging 3D assets as well as to help detect potential intellectual property (IP) violations. Loci, which uses computer vision models to understand 3D content, automatically tags 3D assets, making content easier to search, share, and discover. […]

Epic Games announced on Wednesday the acquisition of Loci, an AI platform for automated tagging 3D assets. The deal will help creators with the labor-intensive process of tagging as well as to help detect potential intellectual property (IP) violations. Loci, which uses computer vision models to understand 3D content, automatically tags 3D assets, making content […]

Amazon has submitted a bid to acquire all of TikTok, according to a new report from The New York Times. The last-minute bid comes as TikTok faces an April 5 deadline to shed its Chinese ownership or face a ban in the U.S. However, the parties involved in the deal talks do not appear to […]

As of April 2, you can get a Nespresso Vertuo coffee and espresso maker for just $129.99, down from $219. That's a 41% discount and an $89 price cut.

As of April 2, get the Google Pixel Tablet for $200 off at Woot.

Redwood Materials has been on an expansion tear in recent years — growth that has extended the lithium-ion battery recycling and materials startup’s footprint well beyond its Carson City, Nevada headquarters as it locked up deals with Toyota, Panasonic, and, GM, started construction on a South Carolina factory, and made an acquisition in Europe. And […]

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

The Sonos Arc is on sale for $599 at Amazon, down from the normal price of $899. That's a 33% discount.

In case you missed it during the Nintendo Switch 2 livestream, here's a roundup of all the specs.

A new platform from data training company Scale AI will let artificial intelligence developers find their models’ weak spots.

We went hands-on with Sony’s latest home theater gear, including its fiery new OLED TV.

Here's everything you need to know from the Nintendo Direct Switch 2 event.

Google DeepMind on Wednesday published an exhaustive paper on its safety approach to AGI, roughly defined as AI that can accomplish any task a human can. AGI is a bit of a controversial subject in the AI field, with naysayers suggesting that it’s little more than a pipe dream. Others, including major AI labs like […]

The best Amazon deals on April 2 include the Sonos Arc, Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE+, Fire TV Soundbar Plus, iPad Mini, and Dreame D10 Plus.

As of April 2, you can get the ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium for just $218.99 at Amazon. That's 12% off the list price and a $31 discount.

Donkey Kong fans, rejoice. Nintendo announced a new DK game during its Switch 2 event.

Nintendo announces new Switch 2 exclusive game from Elden Ring creators.

The Apple AirTag 4-pack is just $67.99 at Amazon, down from the normal price of $99. That's a 31% discount.

Here's every Switch 2 game revealed in the Nintendo Direct livestream.

As of April 2, get 'Super Mario Odyssey' for Nintendo Switch for $20 off at Woot.