A 19-year-old's space company

Plus: A McHack

View this email online in your browser By Rebecca Szkutak Friday, July 11, 2025 Welcome to TC PM! Today we look at a YC-backed space startup that is seeing strong investor interest; we dive into a new solo GP fund; and we learn about not one, but two conspiracies.  TechCrunch Top 3 Image Credits: Apolink 🚀 Blast off: Apolink is a Y Combinator-backed startup looking to build a real-time connectivity network for satellites in low Earth orbit. It just raised an "oversubscribed" seed round that resulted in $4.3 million in fresh funds and a $45 million valuation. Not bad for a 19-year-old founder.  🍔 McWhoops! Security researchers discovered that they could hack into McDonald's AI hiring chatbot, McHire (genius). How? By simply entering "123456" as both the username and password. In doing so, the researchers found they could access personal info on 64 million people. Yikes! 🔓 Security flaw: Speaking of security bugs, U.S. cybersecurity agency CISA said hackers are actively exploiting a security flaw in a widely used Citrix NetScaler. CISA has given federal government departments just one day to patch their systems.    A Message from Persona Verify more users without sacrificing security Verify users during onboarding to fight fraud, meet compliance requirements, build trust, and protect your business and customers. Persona's low-code identity verification platform adapts to risk signals in real time — increasing friction for potential fraudsters while fast-tracking good users so you can maximize conversion and minimize risk. Learn More   Afternoon must-reads Image Credits: Matt Cardy / Getty Images 🌝 To the moon: Bitcoin has been on a bit of a tear this week, hitting a new all-time high today at $118,900. Some industry analysts think that if it reaches $150,000, it could set off a buying frenzy.  💰 AI mania: Startup Cognition just landed a notable customer for its AI coding agent Devin — Goldman Sachs. The financial giant is looking to use Devin to augment its workforce of more than 12,000 human developers and plans to roll out "hundreds of instances of Devin."  💵 New fund just dropped: Sarah Smith Fund, a new VC firm by, yes, Sarah Smith, just raised $16 million for its first fund. The solo GP said that while she thinks company building requires a team effort, she believes early-stage investing is best done by a solo investor. 🤗 Talking bots: On today's episode of Equity, the hosts dig into Hugging Face's release of its Reachy Mini open source desktop robots. The hosts also dug into Linda Yaccarino's exit from X, how Rivian's micromobility spinoff raised $200 million, and more.    A Message from Head Head AI replaces your entire marketing team The arrival of Head, the world's first true AI marketer, isn't just sparking debate — it's signaling a reckoning. As AI like Head takes over your influencer, affiliate marketing, and more, it is rapidly outpacing human capabilities. Is this the end of marketing careers as we know them? The FOMO is real, the urgency undeniable. Face the AI Future   Around the web 🔎 Speaking of conspiracies: The Department of Justice released 11 hours of "raw" footage of Jeffrey Epstein's prison cell the night before he was found dead. While this was to dispel claims that Epstein was murdered, the video's metadata shows that it was modified. Interesting! 🙄 Loser behavior: It's not new that snark subreddits can be brutal when creators post or say something the trolls don't like. But a new trend in these subreddits is that people are falsely reporting creators to government agencies like ICE and CPS. Who has the time?  Featured jobs from CrunchBoard Software Engineer, Revive Health (Boston, MA) IT Finance Assistant, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (Middletown, PA) Technical Business Systems Analyst, Air Line Pilots Association (Tysons, VA) Partnerships Manager, Clearscope (Remote) Sr. IT Security Engineer - Computing Services, Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA) See more jobs on CrunchBoard Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $349 per month.   Check out some of our other newsletters: Startups Weekly TechCrunch Events TechCrunch Mobility 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. Update your preferences here at any time Copyright © 2025 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. TechCrunch Media LLC. 9720 Wilshire Boulevard, 6th floor, Beverly Hills, CA Privacy Policy

Grok 4 checks Musk’s posts before answering controversial questions

EXCLUSIVE: AWS is launching an AI agent marketplace

View this email online in your browser By Rebecca Bellan Friday, July 11, 2025 Welcome to TechCrunch AM! This morning, we've got some clarity on why Grok 4's responses are so out of pocket; AWS's new agent marketplace; and more tech layoffs. We've also got Tesla's planned robotaxi expansion; Belkin saying goodbye to a host of smart devices; AI for public policy, and more. Let's go! TechCrunch Top 3 Image Credits: SAUL LOEB / AFP / Getty Images 1. The answer is Elon: A TechCrunch investigation found that Grok 4 – xAI's newest "maximally truth-seeking AI model" – is consulting Elon Musk's social media posts before trying to answer questions on controversial topics. In other words, it looks like Grok 4 is designed to provide answers based partly on its founder's politics. Read More 2. Agents for sale: TechCrunch got the scoop that AWS is launching an AI agent marketplace next week, and Anthropic is one of its partners. The marketplace will let startups offer their AI agents directly to AWS customers, with the cloud service taking a cut of each sale. Read More 3. The AI bloodbath continues: Recruit Holdings, parent of Indeed and Glassdoor, is laying off about 1,300 employees across the two companies. Recruit isn't shying away from the fact that the layoffs are a byproduct of its increased focus on AI. Read More   A Message from Fidelity It's not 2021 anymore. Understanding the 2025 VC landscape. The latest report from Fidelity Private Shares, Navigating the VC Playbook in 2025, breaks down where capital is flowing, why AI is skewing the data, and how M&A is becoming the top exit path. Whether you're fundraising or planning ahead, this is a must read for growing companies. Download Here   Morning Must-Reads Image Credits: Tim Goessman / Bloomberg / Getty Images 🚕 Tesla has applied to test and operate AVs — both with and without human safety drivers — in Arizona as it works to bring robotaxis to the Metro Phoenix area. Elon Musk has also said Tesla will launch in the Bay Area in a "month or two," but regulatory hurdles await. Read More 🪦 RIP: Belkin is ending technical support for its older Wemo smart devices as of January 31, 2026, as well as the app used to control the devices. That impacts a range of products, including smart plugs, light switches, baby monitors, and kitchen appliances. Read More ☸️ What do you bench? Former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger capped off his 40-year stint at the semiconductor giant late last year. For his next act, he's working on a benchmark to measure AI alignment and ensure AI models support humanity. Read More 📷 Spinning out: After 14 years of developing inside Intel, 3D imaging company RealSense is striking out on its own. The company sells cameras to help machines like robots, drones and AVs gain better perception of the physical world around them. Read More 🤝 AI for public policy: Helios raised $4 million in seed funding to build an AI-native operating system for public policy professionals. Its product, Proxi, is an all-in-one platform that deploys a web of secure AI agents to support anything from strategic advisory and writing policy to data analysis and stakeholder mapping. Read More   A Message from HSBC The HSBC 2025 Fintech report is here Discover where Fintech is headed. Unpack key industry shifts and how they're shaping the global financial ecosystem. Download the report   Around the Web 🧘 Meet the Jaguar: Visionary Apple engineer Bill Atkinson passed away in June, leaving behind a legacy that extends beyond the original Macintosh. Members of OneLight, a private psychedelic community, knew Bill as "Grace Within," per The Pattern Project blog. Atkinson spent his final years refining and sharing the tech behind LightWand, a vape pen for administering the psychedelic called Jaguar. Read More 🧐 To AGI, or not to AGI: Wired explores a key clause in Microsoft and OpenAI's deal that gives Microsoft exclusive access to OpenAI's technology until OpenAI achieves AGI. At the clause's core is a "raging divide between AGI true believers and those who think it's still a long way off. Read More Before You Go 💬 Gottem! Developer Maurice Kleine has shipped an app called Mockly that generates believable images of fake conversations on apps like iMessage, Discord, Instagram, X, Tinder and WhatsApp. As TC's Amanda Siberling writes, it's "either a boon for meme-making or the bane of your existence." Read More Featured jobs from CrunchBoard Software Engineer, Revive Health (Boston, MA) IT Finance Assistant, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (Middletown, PA) Technical Business Systems Analyst, Air Line Pilots Association (Tysons, VA) Partnerships Manager, Clearscope (Remote) Sr. IT Security Engineer - Computing Services, Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA) See more jobs on CrunchBoard Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $349 per month.   Check out some of our other newsletters: Startups Weekly TechCrunch AI TechCrunch Mobility 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. Update your preferences here at any time Copyright © 2025 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. TechCrunch Media LLC. 9720 Wilshire Boulevard, 6th floor, Beverly Hills, CA Privacy Policy