Anthropic launches Claude Design, a new product for creating quick visuals

Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories this afternoon

View this email online in your browser  April 17, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Anthropic launches Claude Design, a new product for creating quick visuals: The company says Claude Design is intended to help people like founders and product managers without a design background share their ideas more easily.  Read More Hackers are abusing unpatched Windows security flaws to hack into organizations: A security researcher published details of three security vulnerabilities in Windows Defender, and the code used to exploit them. Now hackers are taking advantage of the vulnerabilities in real-life attacks, according to a cybersecurity firm. Read More Sources: Cursor in talks to raise $2B+ at $50B valuation as enterprise growth surges: Returning backers a16z and Thrive are expected to lead the round. 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. Register Now! A message from Eight Sleep Spring's here. Your bed is still in January. Temps are changing and your mattress isn't keeping up. The Pod by Eight Sleep fits on any mattress and adjusts temperature all night with Autopilot, with each side adjusting independently for couples. Users see up to 32% better sleep quality — and there's no wearable to charge. Use code TECHCRUNCH for up to $350 off. Individual results may vary. Shop the Pod Afternoon Must-Reads 'Tokenmaxxing' is making developers less productive than they think: There's a lot more code — but it's a lot more expensive and requires a lot more rewriting. Read More Uber will now pick up your returns from your doorstep: The new returns feature is the company's latest effort to become an everything app. There are limitations to the new service, and there is, of course, a courier fee. Read More Kevin Weil and Bill Peebles exit OpenAI as company continues to shed 'side quests': Kevin Weil and Bill Peebles are leaving OpenAI as the company shuts down Sora and folds its science team, signaling a sharp pivot away from consumer moonshots toward enterprise AI. Read More Bluesky confirms DDoS attack is cause of continued app outages: Bluesky has been experiencing ongoing service disruptions since just before 3 a.m. ET on April 15. Read More Gigs turns your concert history into a personal live music archive: New iPhone app Gigs uses AI to turn old tickets, screenshots, and emails into a personal concert archive with stats, memories, and more. Read More A message from TechCrunch Events Limited tickets left: StrictlyVC San Francisco StrictlyVC kicks off the series in SF on April 30. Be in the room for unfiltered fireside chats on fundraising and AI accuracy with industry leaders like Forum AI founder Campbell Brown, Replit co-founder Amjad Masad, and more. Make high-value connections that actually move the needle. Tickets are limited. Register Now Last but Not Least Loop raises $95M to build supply chain AI that predicts disruptions: The San Francisco startup closed a Series C funding round led by Antonio Gracias' firm Valor, which is a major backer of xAI. Read More Check out some of our other newsletters: StrictlyVC TechCrunch Events TechCrunch Mobility Want to adjust your daily newsletter schedule? You can do it right here 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. Unsubscribe Member Center Privacy Policy Copyright © 2026 TechCrunch Media LLC 501 2nd Street, Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94107

Bluesky confirms DDoS attack is cause of continued app outages

Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories to start your morning

View this email online in your browser  April 17, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Bluesky confirms DDoS attack is cause of continued app outages: Bluesky has been experiencing ongoing service disruptions since just before 3 a.m. ET. on April 15. Read More With US spy laws set to expire, lawmakers are split over protecting Americans from warrantless surveillance: Some lawmakers are calling for widespread reforms following years of surveillance scandals and abuses across successive U.S. administrations. But even if the spy law known as Section 702 expires in April, the government's spy powers will not automatically lapse. Read More Google's AI Mode can now help you find products in stock nearby: Although you can already track hotel prices at the city level, the new update lets you do so for a specific hotel that you're interested in. 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. Register Now! A message from TechCrunch Events Limited tickets left: StrictlyVC San Francisco StrictlyVC kicks off the series in SF on April 30. Be in the room for unfiltered fireside chats on fundraising and AI accuracy with industry leaders like Forum AI founder Campbell Brown, Replit co-founder Amjad Masad, and more. Make high-value connections that actually move the needle. Tickets are limited. Register Now Morning Must-Reads Physical Intelligence, a hot robotics startup, says its new robot brain can figure out tasks it was never taught: The new model, called π0.7, represents what the company describes as an early but meaningful step toward the long-sought goal of a general-purpose robot brain. Read More OpenAI takes aim at Anthropic with beefed-up Codex that gives it more power over your desktop: OpenAI's agentic coding tool has gotten a major makeover, with a variety of new powers and abilities. Read More Slash, a Ramp competitor founded by teenagers, raises $100M at $1.4B valuation: Five years later the founders, now 24 years old, say their startup has achieved $300 million in annualized revenue. Read More From the Startup Battlefield stage to the International Space Station: geCKo Materials built a sticky product: This week on Build Mode, Isabelle Johannessen speaks with Capella Kerst, founder and CEO of geCKo Materials. Read More Luma launches AI-powered production studio with faith-focused Wonder Project: The studio's first project will be about Moses and star Academy Award-winner Ben Kingsley, to be released this spring on Prime Video. Read More A message from Eight Sleep 60% more REM sleep — your brain will thank you REM sleep is when your brain consolidates memories, processes emotions, and restores itself. Pod members see up to 60% more REM sleep by maintaining the precise temperatures your body needs at each sleep stage. Better sleep architecture, better you. Use code TECHCRUNCH for up to $350 off. Individual results may vary. Shop the Pod Last but Not Least SaySo is a new short-form video app that aims to restore users' trust in news: Users are fed up with misinformation and AI slop cluttering their feeds. SaySo is a new short-form video app that delivers news from vetted creators and journalists. Read More Check out some of our other newsletters: StrictlyVC TechCrunch Events TechCrunch Mobility Want to adjust your daily newsletter schedule? You can do it right here 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. Unsubscribe Member Center Privacy Policy Copyright © 2026 TechCrunch Media LLC 501 2nd Street, Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94107