TechCrunch Top 3

After sale of its shoe business, Allbirds pivots to AI: Allbirds is ditching wool sneakers for AI servers, rebranding as NewBird AI after locking in a $50M convertible financing facility. Read More

Snap is cutting 1,000 jobs, 16% of its workforce: The company cites advancements in AI for the cuts. Read More

Sweden blames Russian hackers for attempting 'destructive' cyberattack on thermal plant: Sweden's minister for civil defense said Russian hackers are "now attempting destructive cyber attacks against organizations in Europe." 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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TechCrunch is heading to SusHi Tech Tokyo 2026 — Asia's largest global innovation conference. 750 startups, 49 city leaders, and top VCs converge at Tokyo Big Sight April 27–29. The SusHi Tech Challenge winner earns automatic entry into the TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Battlefield Top 200.

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Morning Must-Reads

Adobe's new Firefly AI assistant can use Creative Cloud apps to complete tasks: Adobe says the assistant can work across apps like Firefly, Photoshop, Premiere, Lightroom, Express, Illustrator and its other apps to do tasks for you. Read More

Anthropic's rise is giving some OpenAI investors second thoughts: One investor who has backed both companies told the FT that justifying OpenAI's recent round required assuming an IPO valuation of $1.2 trillion or more — making Anthropic's current $380 billion valuation look like the relative bargain. Read More

Amazon unveils a slimmer Fire TV Stick HD, opens Ember Artline TVs for preorder: On Wednesday, Amazon announced the launch of its new Fire TV Stick HD and Ember Artline televisions, both now available for preorder. Following the initial release of the first-generation Fire TV Stick HD two years ago, Amazon has created a new model that is its thinnest streaming device to date, the company says. Launched in 2024, the Fire TV Stick HD served as an entry-level device, effectively replacing both the previous Fire TV Stick and the Fire TV Stick Lite. This approach aimed to simplify Amazon's range of Fire TV streaming devices by consolidating two entry-level options into one. The new model is around 30% slimmer than the previous one, which could appeal to customers looking for portability without compromising on performance. Additionally, the Fire TV Stick HD is said to operate around 30% faster, which will help apps load more quickly. It also comes equipped with Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3 for enhanced connectivity. A key feature of the Fire TV Stick HD is Alexa+, Amazon's AI assistant. Users in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. can request information about actors, find new shows, and manage smart home devices using voice commands thanks to the AI. Amazon is also introducing a new “Adaptive Display” setting for the HD model, designed to enhance accessibility by making text, menus, and content more visible and easier to navigate. The feature will increase the size of smaller elements like text and menus while scaling up the artwork so everything feels more balanced. Customers Read More

Spotify launches the ability to purchase physical books in the US and UK: Spotify users in the US and UK can officially purchase physical books through the Android app. iOS users will get the feature next week. Read More

This energy startup’s bet on 100-year-old grid tech is paying off: Ayr Energy is using a shortage of power conversion equipment to break open a decades-old market. Read More

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Last but Not Least

This startup is betting tokenmaxxing will create the next compute giant: Parasail raised $32 million in a Series A, signaling a fractured future of models and compute. Read More