Apple's John Ternus will run one of the world's most powerful companies; the job is a minefield

Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories this afternoon

View this email online in your browser  April 21, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Apple's John Ternus will run one of the world's most powerful companies; the job is a minefield: Apple's top job comes with almost unrivaled power and money, but it comes with plenty of baggage, too. Read More ChatGPT's new Images 2.0 model is surprisingly good at generating text: ChatGPT Images 2.0, the newest image-generation model from OpenAI, shows just how much AI capabilities have evolved over the last few years. Read More Sam Altman throws shade at Anthropic's cyber model, Mythos: 'fear-based marketing': This week, during a podcast appearance, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman called out his competitor's new cybersecurity model, noting that the company was using fear to make its product sound more impressive than it actually is. 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 AI agents that operate any software If your team uses it, Deck can run it. Computer use agents that log in, click through, and complete work across any web application — APIs or not, no exceptions. Try It Free Afternoon Must-Reads Former Pinterest team redesigns email with Extra — and it’s actually good: Extra, from a team of former Pinterest designers and engineers, reimagines email around your life instead of the traditional inbox. Read More Apple’s Cal AI crackdown signals it’s still policing the App Store: Apple tells TechCrunch Cal AI was removed not for web payments alone, but for deceptive billing, manipulative tactics, and App Store rule violations. 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 on April 30, the government's spy powers will not automatically lapse. Read More Revolut eyes valuation of up to $200B in eventual IPO: Fintech giant Revolut, which secured a full banking license in the U.K. in March after years of waiting, was most recently valued at $75 billion in a secondary share sale. Read More Cash App is targeting a new kind of customer: 6- to 12-year-olds: The company is expanding its youth-focused services in an effort to build a relationship with Gen Alpha and the upcoming generation of adolescents in the U.S. Read More A message from TechCrunch Events StrictlyVC San Francisco takes off on April 30 StrictlyVC kicks off the event series in SF next 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 Tim Cook is stepping down as CEO of Apple. Here's a look at his 15-year legacy, from new products and services to China expansion.: Cook, who joined Apple in 1998, succeeded Steve Jobs as CEO in 2011 and went on to transform Apple into a $4 trillion powerhouse.  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

Tim Cook stepping down as Apple CEO, John Ternus taking over

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

View this email online in your browser  April 21, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Tim Cook stepping down as Apple CEO, John Ternus taking over: The transition has been expected for some time and ends one of the longer and more impactful runs a CEO has had at any company. Cook had inherited a company that many industry watchers and enthusiasts struggled to separate from its famed founder. What he leaves behind is a $4 trillion business with annual revenue that has more than quadrupled on his watch. 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 on April 30, the government's spy powers will not automatically lapse. Read More Who is John Ternus, the incoming Apple CEO?: Starting on September 1, Ternus will lead one of the world's most valuable companies, but if you're not a dedicated Apple enthusiast, you've probably never heard of this man, who has largely remained out of the spotlight until now. 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 Fidelity Your Pitch Isn’t the Only Thing Investors Are Evaluating.   Investors don’t just listen to what you say - they look at how your company operates. Is ownership clear? Do your numbers match your story? Can you answer follow-up questions without digging through spreadsheets? The Fundraise-Ready Startup Kit equips founders with the materials investors expect to see, before pressure is on. Because confidence in the room doesn’t come from slides. It comes from preparation.  Learn More Morning Must-Reads Anthropic takes $5B from Amazon and pledges $100B in cloud spending in return: Amazon has made another circular AI deal: It's investing another $5 billion in Anthropic. Anthropic has agreed to spend $100 billion on AWS in return. Read More It's not just one thing — it's another thing: This sentence construction ("It's not just this — it's that") has become so common in AI-generated writing that it's no longer just a clue that a piece of writing may be synthetic — it's almost a guarantee. Read More Cash App is targeting a new kind of customer: 6-12 year olds: Tech companies are constantly on the hunt for new customers, and Cash App, the fintech company owned by Jack Dorsey's Block, believes it has found a promising new demographic: children. The company, which already offers financial services to teens, said this week that it is expanding its youth-focused services in an effort to build a relationship with Gen Alpha and the upcoming generation of adolescents in the U.S. The new program will let parents create financial accounts for children between the ages of 6 and 12. The children won't have access to the app, and these accounts will be managed by their parents, who will have the ability to deposit and monitor funds. The children, meanwhile, will receive a debit card linked to the accounts that they can use to spend the money. Image Credits: Cash App The accounts can also receive P2P payments from a small number of approved users (such as grandparents), and will be eligible to earn up to 3.25% in interest, the company says. The idea is to teach children about financial responsibility, according to Kristen Anderson, group product lead for Core Networks at Cash App. "Cash App has been serving teen accounts for a number of years, and we've seen through our customer base that there is just this desire to be able to bring kids into the experience earlier," Anderson told TechCrunch. Anderson described the new facility as a way for children to "learn about savings and savings goals," in conjunction with the app's Read More GRAI believes AI can make music more social, not replace artists: AI music startup GRAI says fans want to remix tracks, not generate songs from scratch. Read More Google rolls out Gemini in Chrome in APAC countries: Google is rolling out Gemini in Chrome in Australia, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, and Vietnam. The company is rolling this feature out to both desktop and iOS in all of these countries except Japan. Read More Last but Not Least Amazon taps Sweden's Einride for its electric big rigs: The agreement comes just as Einride is finalizing a merger with blank-check company Legato Merger Corp. to go public. 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