May 21, 2026

TechCrunch Top 3

Law enforcement shuts down VPN service used by two dozen ransomware gangs: First VPN promised hackers complete anonymity for their cyberattacks. But Europol said it was able to notify the service’s users that they have now been identified. Read More

Spotify adds AI-powered Q&A and briefing generation features to podcasts: Spotify will let you generate daily or weekly briefs based on your prompts Read More

Hark raises $700M Series A for its secretive 'universal' AI interface: Hark expects to release its first multimodal models this summer, which it says will power a personal AI platform that works with existing products and services. The company expects to follow that with hardware devices built specifically for those systems. Read More

A message from Deck

Migrate customer data from any platform

No source API. No manual export. No complex workaround. Deck logs in, extracts the data, and returns it schema-matched and ready to ingest. If a human can use it, Deck can too.

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Afternoon Must-Reads

Beauty booking startup Fresha hits $1B valuation with KKR backing: Beauty and wellness booking marketplace Fresha says it has raised $80 million investment from KKR’s Next Generation Technology Growth fund, KKR's growth equity arm. Read More

Scammers are abusing an internal Microsoft account to send spam links: The loophole allows spammers and scammers to send emails from a legitimate Microsoft email address typically used for sending genuine account alerts. Read More

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani takes to Twitch to chat with New Yorkers: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is launching a Twitch series today at 4 p.m. ET. Read More

Waymo pauses Atlanta service as its robotaxis keep driving into floods: Waymo's robotaxi service is now suspended in both Atlanta and San Antonio, as the company works to stop its vehicles from driving into flooded roads. Read More

Six search engines worth trying now that Google isn’t really Google anymore: Google is about to look really different, and if you're not a fan of the AI overview feature, then you're not going to like what's coming. Read More

A message from Microsoft and NVIDIA

Design, train & ship scalable AI: NVIDIA at Microsoft Build

Get hands-on with real code, real systems, and real results. Join NVIDIA June 2–3 at Microsoft Build, happening in San Francisco and online. Developer-first activities, sessions, and solution demos available to both on-site and virtual attendees. Virtual passes are still available—sign up now.

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