Tuesday, February 25, 2025

Welcome to TechCrunch AM! It's Dom, and I will be guest-writing this newsletter for the rest of the week. We have a lot to dive into, including the latest on Elizabeth Holmes' appeal to overturn her conviction, Apple's App Store commission shenanigans, yet another massive data breach, and so much more. Let's dive in!

TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: Philip Pacheco / Getty Images

1. Dream denied: A California court has denied two appeals filed by Theranos' founder Elizabeth Holmes and its COO Sunny Balwiani to overturn their fraud convictions. Their $425 million joint restitution order will also remain in place. Read More

2. The internet will do its thing: This weekend, Elon Musk's DOGE ordered the Office of Personnel Management to ask thousands of federal employees to send over a list of what they had accomplished last week. Predictably, that email address got leaked, and random internet users are now flooding the inbox with utter nonsense. Read More

3. Don't skimp on security: Employee screening services provider DISA has suffered a data breach that affects more than 3.3 million people. Hackers may have stolen information including social security numbers, credit card digits, and other government-issued identification. Read More

Morning must-reads

Image Credits: CHRIS DELMAS/AFP / Getty Images

C.R.E.A.M: Apple Store executive Phil Schiller testified in court on Monday that he had raised concerns over the 27% commission Apple had wanted to charge developers for payments made outside its App Store. The tech giant initiated that rule after it lost a lawsuit brought by Epic Games over App Store fees. Read More

Art for protests: More than a thousand artists in the U.K.have released a silent album to protest a government push to attract more AI companies by adjusting the nation's copyright laws. The new laws propose that developers can train AI models on online content created by artists without permission or payment unless the creators opt out. Read More

Capital entanglement: Israeli startup Quantum Machines has raised $170 million in a round led by PSG Equity. The company says more than half the companies in the world working on quantum use its product, which helps companies reduce errors in quantum computing research. Read More

Big bucks for Europe: Private equity firm Thoma Bravo has raised $1.9 billion for its first European fund. The firm will invest in mid-stage software companies across the continent. Read More

Let AI do the work: Google has launched a new, free version of its Gemini Code Assist, called "Gemini Code Assist for Individuals." The tool lets developers talk to a Google AI model and have it help edit their code, similar to GitHub's Copilot, except Google is offering a high usage cap. Read More

Around the web

Big tech won't think of the children: At least nine states want app store operators, like Apple and Google, to protect minors by implementing age verification and parental consent mechanisms on their app stores, the Wall Street Journal reported. Read More

Shareholder showdown: Apple is gearing up for a shareholder meeting that will see its DEI policies coming under fire from conservative groups. The Financial Times reports that not only will the company's DEI policies come under scrutiny, but so will its partnership with OpenAI as some shareholders fear privacy concerns. Read More

Speaking of activism, the FT also has the rundown on how Silicon Valley is standing with President Donald Trump to muzzle activism in the Bay, striking fear into employees who are afraid of speaking out. Read More

Before you go

Edit anywhere: Adobe has finally launched Photoshop on the iPhone, and an app for Android is coming later this year. The app offers a similar set of editing tools as the desktop version, including layering and masking, but optimized for use on mobile screen, and will let you access both free and paid tiers. Read More