Microsoft offers buyout for up to 7% of US employees

Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories this afternoon

View this email online in your browser  April 23, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Microsoft offers buyout for up to 7% of US employees: If a worker's years of service at Microsoft plus their age equals 70 or more, they will be eligible for a voluntary retirement buyout. Read More Meta to cut 10% of jobs, or 8,000 employees, report says: According to an internal memo, Meta plans to begin its sweeping layoffs on May 20. Read More OpenAI releases GPT-5.5, bringing company one step closer to an AI 'super app': OpenAI says its latest model offers increased capabilities across a broad variety of categories. 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 One agent. Hundreds of jobs to do. Pull reports. Process applications. Reconcile payments. Transfer data. Deck's computer use agents handle the full range of ops work — across any software, any workflow, any industry. Try It Free Afternoon Must-Reads Surveillance vendors caught abusing access to telcos to track people's phone locations, researchers say: The Citizen Lab found two separate surveillance vendors abusing the backbone of cellular networks to spy on several victims across the world. Read More Another customer of troubled startup Delve suffered a big security incident: TechCrunch has confirmed that Delve was the compliance company that performed the security certifications for Context AI, the AI agent training startup that last week disclosed a security incident. Read More Vercel says some of its customers' data was stolen prior to its recent hack: The app and website hosting company has found evidence of a second compromise of customer accounts after expanding its initial investigation following a breach in early April. Read More Don't stop hiring humans — stop hiring the wrong humans, Artisan's founder says: Artisan may be known for their bold “Stop Hiring Humans” campaign but the reality is every founder needs to assemble the right team if they want to scale. Read More Bret Taylor's Sierra buys YC-backed AI startup Fragment: Sierra, the AI customer service agent startup founded by technologist Bret Taylor, announced today that it has acquired the YC-backed French startup Fragment. Read More A message from TechCrunch Events StrictlyVC San Francisco takes off on April 30 StrictlyVC kicks off the event series in SF next week. Join unfiltered fireside chats on fundraising, what it takes to build a physical AI breakthrough, and more with industry leaders like Eclipse Ventures co-founder Lior Susan, Replit co-founder Amjad Masad, and more. Make high-value connections that actually move the needle. Tickets are limited. Register Now Last but Not Least Tesla drops Musk's $29B 'interim' award after Delaware court restored larger pay package: The company is following through on its promise to not let Musk "double dip" if he won his appeal to restore Tesla's 2018 compensation package, worth $56 billion. 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

Surveillance vendors caught abusing access to telcos to track people's phone locations, researchers say

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

View this email online in your browser  April 23, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Surveillance vendors caught abusing access to telcos to track people's phone locations, researchers say: The Citizen Lab found two separate surveillance vendors abusing the backbone of cellular networks to spy on several victims across the world. Read More Tesla drops Musk's $29B 'interim' award after Delaware court restored larger pay package: The company is following through on its promise to not let Musk "double dip" if he won his appeal to restore Tesla's 2018 compensation package, worth $56 billion. Read More Another customer of troubled startup Delve suffered a big security incident: TechCrunch has confirmed that Delve was the compliance company that performed the security certifications for Context AI, the AI agent training startup that last week disclosed a security incident. 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 Vercel says some of its customers' data was stolen prior to its recent hack: The app and website hosting company has found evidence of a second compromise of customer accounts after expanding its initial investigation following a breach in early April. Read More Grab a ticket today: The first StrictlyVC of 2026 kicks off in just a week in San Francisco: StrictlyVC San Francisco is in just a week. Now’s the time to grab yourself a ticket. Join VCs and founders at Sentro Filipino Cultural Center on April 30. Read More Beehiiv rolls out new creator tools, including webinars and customizable paywalls: Beehiiv is clearly done being just a newsletter platform based on today's launch of a new webinar feature, customizable paywalls, and more. Read More India's app market is booming — but global platforms are capturing most of the gains: Non-gaming apps, led by streaming and AI, are driving growth, even as India's spending per user lags global peers. Read More AI galaxy hunters are adding to the global GPU crunch: Astronomers are turning to GPUs to find needles in the galactic haystack. Read More A message from TechCrunch Events StrictlyVC San Francisco takes off on April 30 StrictlyVC kicks off the event series in SF next week. Join unfiltered fireside chats on fundraising, what it takes to build a physical AI breakthrough, and more with industry leaders like Eclipse Ventures co-founder Lior Susan, Replit co-founder Amjad Masad, and more. Make high-value connections that actually move the needle. Tickets are limited. Register Now Last but Not Least Tesla just increased its spending plan to $25B — here's where the money is going: Tesla's planned capex for 2026 is three times higher than what the company has historically spent. Its CFO said, as a result, Tesla will have a negative free cash flow the rest of the year. 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