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

Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories this afternoon

View this email online in your browser  April 20, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Tim Cook stepping down as Apple CEO, John Ternus taking over: Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering John Ternus will take over as CEO at the start of September. 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 Google Photos adds new touch-up tools for 'quick' fixes: You can use the new tools to remove blemishes, refine skin texture, brighten eyes, or whiten teeth in photos. 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 software as-is No APIs. No connectors. No migration. Deck operates your existing software like an employee would — logging in, clicking through, getting the job done. If a human can use it, Deck can too. Try It Free Afternoon Must-Reads Rivian's factory hit by tornado ahead of R2 launch: Nobody was hurt after an EF-1 tornado hit the part of the factory where the R2 SUV is supposed to be built. Read More Mastodon says its flagship server was hit by a DDoS attack: The DDoS attack against Mastodon's flagship server comes less than a week after Bluesky was targeted with junk web traffic. Read More App host Vercel says it was hacked and customer data stolen: Vercel blamed its breach on an earlier hack at Context AI, which allowed hackers to hijack a Vercel employee's account to steal customer data. Read More NSA spies are reportedly using Anthropic’s Mythos, despite Pentagon feud: NSA is said to be using Anthropic's restricted Mythos AI model. Read More Blue Origin's New Glenn put a customer satellite in the wrong orbit during its third launch: The first major failure of Blue Origin's new heavy-launch system could create delays to its ambition to help NASA and the Trump administration return to the moon. Read More Last but Not Least Deezer says 44% of songs uploaded to its platform daily are AI-generated: Deezer says consumption of AI-generated music on the platform is still very low, between 1-3% of the total streams, and that 85% of these streams are detected as fraudulent and are demonetized. 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

Palantir posts mini-manifesto denouncing inclusivity and ‘regressive’ cultures

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

View this email online in your browser  April 20, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Palantir posts mini-manifesto denouncing inclusivity and ‘regressive’ cultures: Palantir's ideological bent has come under more scrutiny as it's worked with ICE and positioned itself as a defender of "the West." Read More Rivian's factory hit by tornado ahead of R2 launch: Nobody was hurt after an EF-1 tornado hit the part of the factory where the R2 SUV is supposed to be built. Read More Blue Origin's New Glenn put a customer satellite in the wrong orbit during its third launch: The first major failure of Blue Origin's new heavy-launch system could create delays to its ambition to help NASA and the Trump administration return to the Moon. 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 TechCrunch Mobility: Uber enters its assetmaxxing era: Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, your hub for the future of transportation and now, more than ever, how AI is playing a part.  Read More Blue Origin successfully re-uses a New Glenn rocket for the first time ever: It's a major milestone for the company's new mega-rocket system, putting it in position to challenge SpaceX's dominance of the global launch market. Read More OpenAI’s existential questions: On the latest episode of Equity, we discuss OpenAI's latest acquisitions and whether they address "two big existential problems" for the company. Read More Cracks are starting to form on fusion energy’s funding boom: Fusion startups and investors risk deepening fissures if some key disagreements aren't settled amicably. Read More The 12-month window: A lot of AI startups exist partly because the foundation models haven't expanded into their category yet. As many jokingly acknowledge, that won't last forever. Read More Last but Not Least App host Vercel says it was hacked and customer data stolen: Vercel blamed its breach on an earlier hack at Context AI, which allowed hackers to hijack a Vercel employee's account to steal customer data. 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