January 18, 2026

TechCrunch Top 3

Musk wants up to $134B in OpenAI lawsuit, despite $700B fortune: Musk's legal team argues he should be compensated as an early startup investor who sees returns "many orders of magnitude greater" than his initial investment. Read More

AI cloud startup Runpod hits $120M in ARR — and it started with a Reddit post : Their startup journey is a wild example of how if you build it well and the timing is lucky, they will definitely come. Read More

Supreme Court hacker posted stolen government data on Instagram: Nicholas Moore pleaded guilty to stealing victims' information from the Supreme Court and other federal government agencies, and then posting it on his Instagram @ihackthegovernment. Read More

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Sunday Must-Reads

How a hacking campaign targeted high-profile Gmail and WhatsApp users across the Middle East: The phishing campaign targeted users on WhatsApp, including an Iranian-British activist, and stole the credentials of a Lebanese cabinet minister and at least one journalist. Read More

Why Silicon Valley is really talking about fleeing California (it's not the 5%): As highlighted Friday in the New York Post, the proposed wealth tax would hit founders on their voting shares rather than the actual equity they own. Read More

ChatGPT users are about to get hit with targeted ads: OpenAI says that users impacted by the ads will have some control over what they see. Read More

TikTok quietly launches a microdrama app called 'PineDrama': Think TikTok, but every single video you come across is a short episode of a fictional story. Read More

From OpenAI's offices to a deal with Eli Lilly — how Chai Discovery became one of the flashiest names in AI drug development: The startup has partnered with Eli Lilly and enjoys the backing of some of Silicon Valley's most influential VCs. Read More

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