Two college kids raise a $5.1 million pre-seed to build an AI social network in iMessage

Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories this weekend

View this email online in your browser  April 26, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Two college kids raise a $5.1 million pre-seed to build an AI social network in iMessage: Series, a social networking app that's grown popular on college campuses, announced a $5.1 million pre-seed round from some big names in tech. Read More SpeakOn's dictation device is a good idea marred by platform limitations: This $129 device uses MagSafe to stick on the back of an iPhone to power transcription across apps Read More Apple under Ternus: what comes next for the tech giant’s hardware strategy: John Ternus, Apple's incoming CEO, is a hardware guy, signaling Apple may be putting devices back at the center of its strategy. Read More A message from TechCrunch Events StrictlyVC San Francisco takes off on April 30 StrictlyVC kicks off the event series in SF in less than a week. Join unfiltered fireside chats on fundraising, what it takes to build a physical AI breakthrough, and more with industry leaders like Eclipse Ventures co-founder Lior Susan, Replit co-founder Amjad Masad, and more. Make high-value connections that actually move the needle. Tickets are limited. Register Now Sunday Must-Reads Google to invest up to $40B in Anthropic in cash and compute: Google plans up to $40B investment in Anthropic as AI rivals race to secure massive compute capacity, following the limited release of its powerful, cybersecurity-focused Mythos model. Read More To buy this Bay Area home, you’ll need Anthropic equity: Someone’s offering an unusual deal for a 13-acre property in Mill Valley, just north of South Francisco. Read More Anthropic created a test marketplace for agent-on-agent commerce: In a recent experiment, Anthropic created a classified marketplace where AI agents represented both buyers and sellers, striking real deals for real goods and real money. Read More India's Snabbit seeks fresh funding at a $400M valuation, sources say: Snabbit has scaled rapidly, crossing one million jobs in March, amid growing investor interest. Read More Marked-up Mac minis flood eBay amid shortages driven by AI: Apple’s sold-out Mac mini is spawning marked-up eBay listings as demand surges for the compact desktop, now favored for running local AI models and tools. Read More A message from TechCrunch Events 50% Off SusHi Tech Tokyo — Exclusive TechCrunch Codes TechCrunch readers get exclusive discounts to SusHi Tech Tokyo 2026 — Asia's largest global innovation conference. Use code TGOT5YYACK for 50% off general tickets or TGMP5YYAJD for student tickets. Stream live online, match with startups and investors via the app. April 27–29. Buy Tickets Today 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! Last but Not Least ComfyUI hits $500M valuation as creators seek more control over AI-generated media: ComfyUI, whose tools give creators more control over AI image, video, and audio generation, just raised $30 million. 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

Google to invest up to $40B in Anthropic in cash and compute

Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories this afternoon

View this email online in your browser  April 24, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Google to invest up to $40B in Anthropic in cash and compute: Google plans up to $40B investment in Anthropic as AI rivals race to secure massive compute capacity, following the limited release of its powerful, cybersecurity-focused Mythos model. Read More Marked-up Mac minis flood eBay amid shortages driven by AI: Apple’s sold-out Mac mini is spawning marked-up eBay listings as demand surges for the compact desktop, now favored for running local AI models and tools. Read More ComfyUI hits $500M valuation as creators seek more control over AI-generated media: ComfyUI, whose tools give creators more control over AI image, video, and audio generation, just raised $30 million. 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 Deck Computer use agents for any software Your CRM. Your ERP. Your legacy tools. Deck's computer use agents operate all of it — logging in, navigating menus, completing tasks. If it runs in a browser, Deck runs it. Try It Free Afternoon Must-Reads Another spyware maker caught distributing fake Android snooping apps: Researchers have found a new case where government authorities used a fake Android app to plant spyware on a target’s phone. The company that allegedly developed the spyware was not previously known to sell this type of software. Read More In another wild turn for AI chips, Meta signs deal for millions of Amazon AI CPUs: Meta has commandeered a big chunk of Amazon's homegrown CPUs (not GPUs) for AI agentic workloads, signaling that a new kind of chip race has begun. Read More Uber CTO Praveen Neppalli Naga joins stacked StrictlyVC SF lineup for April 30 event: Surprise! StrictlyVC San Francisco, which will kick off this year’s events lineup for TechCrunch on April 30 at the Sentro Filipino Cultural Center, is getting a new addition to its increasingly stacked lineup of speakers. Uber CTO Praveen Neppalli Naga will join the rest of the lineup to discuss operating at scale in the age of AI. Read More Two college kids raise a $5.1 million pre-seed to build an AI social network in iMessage: Series, a social networking app that's grown popular on college campuses, announced a $5.1 million pre-seed round from some big names in tech. Read More Nuclear startup X-energy raises $1B in data center-driven IPO: Amazon-backed X-energy was able to raise around 20% more money in its IPO as demand for nuclear power surges. Read More A message from TechCrunch Events StrictlyVC San Francisco takes off on April 30 StrictlyVC kicks off the event series in SF in less than a week. Join unfiltered fireside chats on fundraising, what it takes to build a physical AI breakthrough, and more with industry leaders like Eclipse Ventures co-founder Lior Susan, 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 X-energy stock pops 27% on first day of trading following upsized IPO: Investors flocked to nuclear power startup X-energy in its first day of public trading on the Nasdaq. 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