Amazon, Meta join fight to end Google Pay, PhonePe dominance in India

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

View this email online in your browser  April 30, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Amazon, Meta join fight to end Google Pay, PhonePe dominance in India: PhonePe and Google Pay command 80% of India's UPI instant payments network. Rivals are set to meet with regulators to lobby for restrictions. Read More On the stand, Elon Musk can't escape his own tweets: Elon Musk took the stand for the second day for his attempt to legally dismantle OpenAI. Read More Meta says its business AI now facilitates 10 million conversations a week: Meta said over 8 billion advertisers have used at least one of its gen AI tools 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! Morning Must-Reads Spotify introduces verified artist badges to help distinguish humans from AI: As AI-generated artists and tracks flood music streaming platforms, Spotify is rolling out a new “Verified by Spotify” badge to help listeners more easily identify authentic human artists. To receive the badge, artists must meet certain criteria. Spotify looks for an identifiable artist presence both on and off platform, like concert dates, merch, and linked social accounts on their artist profile. Profiles that primarily represent AI-generated music or AI-persona artists are not eligible for verification. Additionally, artists must have consistent listener activity and engagement over time. Spotify is focusing on artist profiles that people are actively seeking out over a sustained period of time, rather than those who are experiencing one-time spikes in engagement. At launch, more than 99% of artists that listeners actively search for will be verified. Most are independent, representing a broad mix of genres, career stages, and regions, Spotify says. Users will start to see the new badges appear on artist profiles and next to artist names in search results over the coming weeks. The badges will feature "Verified by Spotify" text alongside a green checkmark. Given the vast number of profiles on the platform, Spotify says verification will roll out on an ongoing basis, and that the absence of a badge does not mean a profile will not receive one in the future. Spotify is prioritizing artists with active fan interest and notable contributions to music culture, rather than so-called "functional music" creators — think algorithm-optimized background or focus playlists — whose content is designed Read More Google Cloud surpasses $20B, but says growth was capacity-constrained: Google Cloud topped $20B in quarterly revenue for the first time, fueled by surging demand for AI. But capacity constraints mean it could have grown even faster. Read More Sources: Anthropic could raise a new $50B round at a valuation of $900B: The maker of Claude has received multiple pre-emptive offers at valuations in the $850 billion to $900 billion range, according to sources familiar with the matter. Read More Satya Nadella says he's ready to 'exploit' the new OpenAI deal: Microsoft gets to offer OpenAI's tech to its cloud customers and doesn't have to pay for it. "We fully plan to exploit it," Nadella said. Read More Instagram cracks down on content aggregators: The update targets content aggregators that don't post original content and instead simply re-upload others' posts. Read More Last but Not Least Google gains 25M subscriptions in Q1, driven by YouTube and Google One: Google added 25M paid subscriptions in Q1, reaching 350M total, as YouTube and Google One grow. 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

Parallel Web Systems hits $2B valuation five months after its last big raise

Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories this afternoon

View this email online in your browser  April 29, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Parallel Web Systems hits $2B valuation five months after its last big raise: The AI agent-tool startup founded by former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal has raised $100 million, led by Sequoia, months after raising a previous $100 million. Read More Google Photos uses AI to make the iconic closet from 'Clueless' a reality: Google says the new feature will leverage AI technology to automatically create a copy of your wardrobe that's based on the pieces of clothing appearing in your Google Photos library. Read More Fusion power startup Zap Energy pulls a partial pivot, adding nuclear fission to the mix: Surprise! Fusion startup Zap Energy says it will be developing fission reactors alongside its fusion devices. 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 Oracle NetSuite Your 30-day roadmap to AI-driven insights AI in finance is moving from hype to hands-on. Whether you’re a CFO modernizing finance operations or an analyst looking to work faster and more accurately, this handbook delivers actionable strategies you can use right away—no technical background required. Download Nicolas Boucher’s handbook for ready-to-use prompts, NetSuite AI features, MCP guidance, security best practices, and a 30-day plan to drive measurable impact starting with one use case this week! Get Your Handbook Afternoon Must-Reads Roku’s $3 streaming service, Howdy, reaches 1M subs, per recent report: Roku’s $2.99 streaming service Howdy has topped 1M subscribers, showing demand for cheaper, low-commitment alternatives to pricier streamers. Read More Firestorm Labs raises $82M to take drone factories into the field: A defense startup just raised $82 million to put drone factories inside shipping containers and bring manufacturing to the front lines. Read More Jack Dorsey-backed Vine reboot Divine launches to the public: Divine offers access to an archive of roughly 500,000 Vine videos, restored from a backup of the original service, and allows creators to post new Vines once again. Read More Uber is in the hotel business now, thanks in part to AI: Uber announced several new features on Wednesday during its annual event, which push far beyond the company's original ride-hailing purpose and deeper into its users' lives. Read More Google gains 25M subscriptions in Q1, driven by YouTube and Google One: Google added 25M paid subscriptions in Q1, reaching 350M total, as YouTube and Google One grow. Read More 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 Last but Not Least Apple loses bid to pause App Store fee changes as case heads to Supreme Court: Apple lost its bid to pause court-ordered App Store payment changes, keeping external purchase links in place as its case with Epic heads toward the Supreme Court. 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