April 01, 2026

TechCrunch Top 3

WhatsApp notifies hundreds of users who installed a fake app made by government spyware maker: The Meta-owned company said it identified around 200 users who were tricked into installing a fake version of WhatsApp that was actually Italian-made spyware. Read More

Meta’s natural gas binge could power South Dakota: Meta's upcoming Hyperion AI data center will be powered by 10 new natural gas plants. Read More

Apple releases security fix for older iPhones and iPads to protect against DarkSword attacks: The security update protects a raft of older iPhones and iPads from attacks linked to leaked hacking tools called DarkSword. 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.

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Complimentary pass to Sessions with code s26techcrunch100

Join Stripe at Sessions 2026—the internet economy conference—happening April 29–30 in San Francisco. Join fellow business leaders, founders, and developers to explore the latest in financial technology, global commerce, and strategies for growth. Register with code s26techcrunch100 for a complimentary pass.

Afternoon Must-Reads

Hasbro says it was hacked, and may take 'several weeks' to recover: The American toy-making giant noted that it was continuing to "implement measures to secure its business operations," suggesting that the hackers may still be in the company's systems. Read More

A new dating app, Sonder, has a deliberately annoying sign-up process (and it’s working): Sonder profiles are completely unstructured, encouraging users to build something that looks like a mood board or a digital collage. Think MySpace rather than LinkedIn. Read More

SpaceX files confidentially for IPO in mega listing potentially valued at $1.75 trillion, report says: The company has also lined up an unusually large number of 21 banks to manage the mega IPO, internally codenamed “Project Apex." Read More

The reputation of troubled YC startup Delve has gotten even worse: Delve faces new allegations that it violated the open source license of its customer, Sim.ai, by taking the customers's tool and passing it off as its own. Read More

Mercor says it was hit by cyberattack tied to compromise of open source LiteLLM project: The AI recruiting startup confirmed a security incident after an extortion hacking crew took credit for stealing data from the company's systems. Read More

A message from Stripe

Complimentary pass to Sessions with code s26techcrunch100

You missed these chats from Disrupt:

Kindred talks home-swapping platform for travelers, Chef Robotics introduces AI into commercial kitchens, and Character.AI addresses chatbot safety with teens.

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Last but Not Least

Cognichip wants AI to design the chips that power AI, and just raised $60M to try: The firm says it can reduce the cost of chip development by more than 75% and cut the timeline by more than half. Read More

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