X is beta-testing XChat

Plus: Was ride-sharing patented?

View this email online in your browser By Rebecca Szkutak Friday, May 30, 2025 Welcome to TC PM! Today we dive into the rumors of the upcoming X DM feature called XChat; we learn of an investigation at the White House; and we find that the Department of Energy is pulling money from clean energy projects. Have a great weekend! TechCrunch Top 3 Image Credits: TechCrunch 💬 New DM just dropped: X has started beta-testing XChat, the social media company's new version of direct messaging on the platform. Some rumored features for the new XChat include end-to-end encryption, vanishing messages, file sharing, and more.  🙈 A hack! The White House is investigating the hack of White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles' phone. Earlier this week, someone gained access to her phone and reached out to her contacts while impersonating her voice using AI.  📨 Please, just fix Search: Yesterday Google announced that its AI assistant Gemini will automatically summarize long emails for Gmail users. U.S. users are opted in to this new feature by default but can shut it off. People love getting AI forced on them!   A Message from SAP Balance hyper-growth with efficiency Join this free webinar on June 10 to discover how one fast-growing company leveraged a business systems platform to maintain success while harmonizing revenue growth and operational efficiency. Register Now   Afternoon must-reads Image Credits: Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket / Getty Images 🛠️ More AI tools: AI search engine Perplexity released Perplexity Labs, a toolkit for subscribers to Perplexity's Pro plan that can craft spreadsheets, reports, dashboards, and more. Sounds like Perplexity isn't just going after Google for its search engine users.  😝 Just kidding! WordPress.com owner Automattic is changing course again. The company announced it will unpause its contributions to the WordPress project. Last month the company released WordPress 6.8 and said it would be the last major release in 2025. That might not be true anymore.  🤕 A headache for Uber: Is ride-sharing patented? It may be. Carma Technology filed a lawsuit that alleges Uber is infringing on five of the company's patents. These patents are related to matching riders with drivers, which sure does sound a lot like ride-sharing.  ♻️ Clean energy clawback: The Department of Energy announced that it will be clawing back $3.7 billion of money awarded during the Biden administration for clean energy and manufacturing. The DOE didn't specify why this money was pulled.  🎙️ Dumping DOGE: This episode of Equity dives into Elon Musk's recent announcement that he's stepping away from DOGE — and why. They also dive into why GameStop bought $500 million of Bitcoin, Neuralink's raise, and more.    A Message from HSBC Innovation Banking HSBC helps evolectric transition vehicles to 100% electric Evolectric makes it easy for owners to give their fleets a new lease on life. Discover how HSBC helps connect them to the right investors, resulting in an extended runway and growth plans for both domestic and international markets. Watch Now   Around the web 🥧 Dollars for data: Last month, Brazil rolled out a pilot program that would allow citizens to sell their digital data. While not the first time this idea has been proposed, Brazil could be the first public-private partnership that lets people, not companies, get a slice of the data market.  👀 Surveillance state: A Texas cop searched more than 83,000 Flock safety cameras to track down a woman who had an abortion — including cameras in states where having an abortion is legal. This seems like a great way to override people executing their legal rights.  Featured jobs from CrunchBoard Software Engineer, Revive Health (Boston, MA) IT Finance Assistant, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (Middletown, PA) Technical Business Systems Analyst, Air Line Pilots Association (Tysons, VA) Partnerships Manager, Clearscope (Remote) Sr. IT Security Engineer - Computing Services, Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA) See more jobs on CrunchBoard Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $349 per month.   Check out some of our other newsletters: Startups Weekly TechCrunch Events TechCrunch Mobility Got a tip? Get in touch securely. Want to advertise on TechCrunch? advertise@techcrunch.com Has this been forwarded to you? Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. Update your preferences here at any time Copyright © 2025 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. TechCrunch Media LLC. 9720 Wilshire Boulevard, 6th floor, Beverly Hills, CA Privacy Policy

Grammarly nabs $1B from General Catalyst

Also: Misfit Market expands beyond wonky veggies

View this email online in your browser By Rebecca Bellan Friday, May 30, 2024 Welcome to TechCrunch AM! This morning, we're looking at Grammarly's huge fundraise; Misfit Market's market expansion; and the U.S. trying to slow down China's AI ambitions. We've also got a report on Elon Musk's drug use; Black Forest's image generation model; a startup trying to make buying houses more affordable, and more. Let's go!  TechCrunch Top 3 Image Credits: Grammarly 1. Well-capitalized clauses: Grammarly landed a $1 billion commitment from General Catalyst, which gets a chunk of the company's revenue instead of equity. The nondilutive deal, drawn from GC's Customer Value Fund, will fuel sales, marketing and potential M&A as the AI writing assistant company sharpens its pivot into productivity tools. Read More 2. Waste not, want not: Misfits Market is expanding beyond veggies with the acquisition of The Rounds, a household restocking startup. The deal adds over 250 new items to Misfits' lineup, like cleaning supplies and paper products. Read More 3. Chip off the old block: The U.S. has tightened the screws on China's AI ambitions with new export controls on chip design and testing software. Industry heavyweights Siemens EDA, Synopsys, and Cadence confirmed they've received notices from the Commerce Department. Read More   A Message from TechCrunch Events 7 days to TC Sessions: AI + $600 ticket savings Discover the future of AI June 5 at TechCrunch Sessions: AI in Berkeley. Gain expert insights from Google Cloud, Anthropic, Twelve Labs, Khosla Ventures, Amazon, Toyota, and more on the main stage and in breakouts. Join founders, investors, and researchers for bold ideas, real talk, and high-impact networking. Save more with a guest. Register Now   Morning Must-Reads Image Credits: Matthias Balk/picture alliance / Getty Images 👍 It is not 2025: Google says it has finally fixed a bug that led its AI Overviews to think we're all living in 2024. When one user asked if it was 2025, AI Overviews responded, "No, it is not 2025. The current year is 2024, according to a calendar." Read More 😵‍💫 High stakes: Elon Musk reportedly ramped up his drug use during the 2024 election season as his political activity and family turmoil reached a peak. The New York Times details his increasing use of ketamine, Adderral, mushrooms and Ecstasy. Read More 🖼️ Picture perfect: Black Forest Labs has launched Flux.1 Kontext, a new image-generation model that promises photorealistic renders, speedy inference, and sharp typography – all up to 8x faster than leading rivals. The startup once powered Grok, but is stepping back into the spotlight as competition heats up. Read More 🔋 Power move: Heron Power, founded by ex-Tesla exec Drew Baglino, has raised a $38 million Series A to reinvent a century-old grid essential – the transformer. The startup's solid-state tech promises faster, smaller, smarter voltage control, and it's being backed by energy heavyweights. Read More   A Message from Onshape ITAR/EAR Compliance with Onshape CAD & PDM Onshape Government is the secure CAD and PDM solution for teams handling ITAR/EAR-regulated work. Built for U.S. agencies and defense contractors, it offers cloud-native design, version control, and full compliance on AWS GovCloud. Sign Up   Around the Web 🙈 Do no evil? A Bloomberg Opinion piece looks into Meta's partnership with Anduril to build XR products for warfighters, and how it's the perfect illustration of just how much Silicon Valley has changed in the past few years. Read More 🏘️ House of cards: Canada's Zown wants to tip the scales on home affordability, writes Fast Company. By employing salaried real estate agents, cutting commission fees, and rebating the difference to buyers, Zown hopes to make home ownership more attainable. Read More 🇺🇲 This is Dystopia: A Texas sheriff used Flock's massive network of more than 83,000 license plate reader cameras – many in states where abortion is legal – to search for a woman who reportedly self-managed an abortion, 404 Media reports. Read More Before You Go 🚀 Future forward: VivaTech has named 30 startups in the running for its "2025 Innovation of the Year" award, spotlighting breakthroughs like mind-reading AI and carbon-sinking mining waste. Five finalists will pitch next week, and the winner will land a spot on TechCrunch's Startup Battlefield 200. Read More Featured jobs from CrunchBoard Software Engineer, Revive Health (Boston, MA) IT Finance Assistant, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (Middletown, PA) Technical Business Systems Analyst, Air Line Pilots Association (Tysons, VA) Partnerships Manager, Clearscope (Remote) Sr. IT Security Engineer - Computing Services, Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA) See more jobs on CrunchBoard Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $349 per month.   Check out some of our other newsletters: Startups Weekly TechCrunch AI TechCrunch Mobility Got a tip? Get in touch securely. Want to advertise on TechCrunch? advertise@techcrunch.com Has this been forwarded to you? Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. Update your preferences here at any time Copyright © 2025 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. Yahoo Inc.. 680 Folsom Street, San Francisco, CA Privacy Policy