April 15, 2026

TechCrunch Top 3

After sale of its shoe business, Allbirds pivots to AI: Allbirds is ditching wool sneakers for AI servers, rebranding as NewBird AI after locking in a $50M convertible financing facility. Read More

HBO Max comes to India via exclusive JioHotstar deal: HBO Max will be available to JioHotstar subscribers as an add-on starting at ₹49 (about $0.50) per month, and would feature content from HBO, Max Originals, Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. Television, and DC Studios. Read More

Snap is cutting 1,000 jobs, 16% of its workforce: The company cites advancements in AI for the cuts. Read More

Disrupt 2026: Where deals and ideas ignite

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.

A message from SusHi Tech Tokyo 2026

The Startup Pitch With a Path to TechCrunch Disrupt

TechCrunch is heading to SusHi Tech Tokyo 2026 — Asia's largest global innovation conference. 750 startups, 49 city leaders, and top VCs converge at Tokyo Big Sight April 27–29. The SusHi Tech Challenge winner earns automatic entry into the TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Battlefield Top 200.

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Morning Must-Reads

Reid Hoffman weighs in on the 'tokenmaxxing' debate: Reid Hoffman says tracking AI token use can gauge adoption, but cautions it should be paired with context and not treated as a direct productivity metric. Read More

This energy startup’s bet on 100-year-old grid tech is paying off: Ayr Energy is using a shortage of power conversion equipment to break open a decades-old market. Read More

Sweden blames Russian hackers for attempting 'destructive' cyberattack on thermal plant: Sweden's minister for civil defense said Russian hackers are "now attempting destructive cyber attacks against organizations in Europe." Read More

Anthropic's rise is giving some OpenAI investors second thoughts: One investor who has backed both companies told the FT that justifying OpenAI's recent round required assuming an IPO valuation of $1.2 trillion or more — making Anthropic's current $380 billion valuation look like the relative bargain. Read More

Spotify launches the ability to purchase physical books in the US and UK: Spotify users in the US and UK can officially purchase physical books through the Android app. iOS users will get the feature next week. Read More

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Last but Not Least

Chipmakers AMD, Arm, and Qualcomm are all investing in this buzzy self-driving tech startup: Wayve's $1.2 billion Series D round, which was announced in February, keeps growing. Read More