Monday, April 7, 2025

Welcome to TechCrunch AM! This morning, we're exploring hacker vigilantism, the new Hollywood blockbuster template, and how AI is changing VC. We're also looking at Meta's new AI models, Microsoft's foray into genAI gaming, the latest Deel-Rippling drama, why you should try to not die in the next decade, and more. Let's go! — Rebecca

TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch

1. Digital vigilantes: Some hero has hacked and defaced a website that the Everest ransomware gang used to publish stolen files to extort its victims. The site was replaced with a note: "Don't do crime CRIME IS BAD xoxo from Prague." Read More

2. The children yearn for the mines: "A Minecraft Movie" was on track for a $135 million opening weekend in the U.S., beating out "Captain America: Brave New World." It's a sign that video game movies, particularly ones geared towards kids, are becoming a reliable template for Hollywood blockbusters. Read More

3. The future of VC: Artifical intelligence has opened the door to a new era of venture capital, according to Kirsten Green, the founder and managing partner of Forerunner Ventures. Green, whose firm has backed winners like Oura and Chime, spoke to TC's Connie Loizos during a StrictlyVC event in San Francisco. Watch Now

Morning Must-Reads

Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch

👀 Too much of a coincidence: Meta's new AI model released this weekend, Maverick, ranks second on LM Arena. However, it looks like the version that Meta deployed on LM Arena is different from the one that's widely available to developers. Read More

🍎 Blame it on the A-A-A-Apple: The White House is blaming Mike Waltz's iPhone for The Atlantic's EIC Jeffrey Goldberg being added to his war-planning chat on Signal. Apparently, Waltz's phone offered a "contact suggestion update" that saved Goldberg's number under the name of Brian Hughes, a Trump spokesperson. Read More

🎮 AI is coming for games: Microsoft is moving forward into the genAI gaming arena with a new browser-based, playable level of Quake II. Microsoft researchers said they were able to "play inside the world that that model was simulating." The game demo is just that, though – a demo, with plenty of limitations. Read More

🫨 Shakeups: Deel's head of communications, Elisabeth Diana, has resigned from the company amid accusations that Deel planted a spy at its rival Rippling. It's the latest plot twist in this movie-like, corporate espionage drama. Read More

🤑 If Elon can do it… OpenAI is reportedly thinking of buying the AI hardware startup that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is building with former Apple design lead Jony Ive. The AI company could pay around $500 million for the fledgling firm, called io Products. Read More

Around the Web

📉 Drop it like it's hot: Chip stocks continue to plunge along with the rest of the global market on Monday amid Trump's sweeping tariffs hit chip-making hubs like Taiwan, per The Washington Post. Investors are worried that higher chip prices will subdue demand for electronics if those costs are passed onto the customer. Read More

❌ Brand in crisis: Dan Ives, one of Wall Street's most diehard Tesla bulls, has slashed his price target for the stock by 43% due to unprecedented damage to the brand by Elon Musk's involvement in politics and DOGE, Bloomberg reports. "It's time for Musk to step up, read the room, and be a leader in this time of uncertainty," Ives said. Read More

🌈 Cream of the crop: The VC world has grown more cutthroat amid the extended IPO slump and shrinking funds. That makes the investors who are rising to the top all the more impressive. Check out The Information's 2025 list of VCs who are on track to become the next general partners. Read More

Before You Go

🪦 Abundance and longevity: Peter Diamandis thinks we're "in the midst of a healthspan revolution." He feels we're so close to being able to extend our lifespans using AI, sensors and single-cell sequencing, that if people could just hold off from dying for the next 10 years, they'll be able to reap the benefits. Well, maybe if they're rich. Read More