Wednesday, June 25, 2025

Welcome to TC PM! Today we have news of layoffs at Bumble and Intel; we learn of a fun update at a wind turbine startup; and we dive into yet another acquisition made to boost adoption of AI agents.

TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg / Getty Images

🐝 Layoffs at Bumble: Dating app Bumble is laying off 30% of its workforce in an effort to realign its operating structure. This will affect 240 positions, which the company estimates will save it $40 million per year. Bumble cut 30% of its workforce in February 2024, too.

🤔 Points are being made: Vermont senator Bernie Sanders has an interesting proposition for AI companies. On a recent episode of Joe Rogan's podcast, Sanders said that companies should use AI to reduce their employees' workweeks to four days as opposed to reducing staff. I like this idea.

💨 Catching wind: Airloom is building a new kind of wind turbine that looks very different from its pinwheel counterparts. The company broke ground on its pilot site today and hopes to deploy its first commercial-scale systems by 2028.

A Message from GDIT

No theories. Technology that just works.

From safeguarding warfighters at the edge to applying AI to secure U.S. intelligence, GDIT delivers and operates the mission technology and IT systems that underpin our nation's security, infrastructure, and services.

Learn More

Afternoon must-reads

Image Credits: Intel

🐮 Cow gut health: Today's episode of Equity features Hoofprint Biome CEO Kathryn Polkoff. Polkoff talked about her company's strategy of using enzymes to change a cow's microbiome to cut methane production, investor interest in the company, and more.

🚙 Intel downsizes: Intel will shutter its automotive architecture business and lay off most of its staff. The exact number of employees affected was not disclosed. This comes as the semiconductor giant looks to refocus on its core businesses.

🎾 Game, set, match: Apple is bringing more to its Apple Sports app it launched last year with the addition of tennis, right as Wimbledon is getting underway. The app also got a refreshed home screen that's meant to make it easier for fans to follow their favorite teams.

💰 Another AI agent acquisition: Rubrik is the latest company to make an acquisition to bolster its technology stack in order to accelerate the adoption of AI agents. The company acquired Predibase, which was founded in 2021 and raised $28 million in VC.

💬 More AI features: Meta announced that it is adding more AI features to WhatsApp, including AI-generated summaries of unread messages. The summaries created by this optional feature would only be viewable by you, not the whole chat.

A Message from HSBC

The HSBC 2025 Fintech report is here

Discover where fintech is headed. Unpack key industry shifts and how they're shaping the global financial ecosystem.

Download the report

Around the web

☹️ Content moderation woes: Companies like TikTok outsource a lot of their content moderations to external companies. Content moderators in Turkey say working conditions have deteriorated rapidly in the last two years, and they are exposed to long working hours of wading through horrific content.

🚀 International debris: SpaceX's recent rocket launches have ended in explosions that send debris flying for miles — including over the Mexican border. Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, says they'll be looking into the security and environmental impact of these events.