Bluesky’s active user base is shrinking as its focus expands beyond the app

Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories this afternoon

View this email online in your browser  August 11, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Bluesky’s active user base is shrinking as its focus expands beyond the app: Over a year following its post-election surge, Bluesky’s mobile app is seeing a continued decline in active users, though its remaining community is still relatively engaged. Read More Brad Lightcap, OpenAI's longtime COO, is leaving to 'start something new': One of OpenAI's longest-serving executives is headed out the door, although the longtime COO told staff that he was "excited to help you all advance the mission from a different vantage point." Read More General Catalyst leads $1.1B round into 2-month-old River AI: River AI, a startup founded by xAI co-founder Igor Babuschkin, has a fascinating vision for personal agents and secured $1.1 billion out of the gate. Read More A message from Alumni Ventures Invest in High-Potential Startups Like These Alumni Ventures is giving readers early access to high-potential startup opportunities across today’s most active sectors, co-invested alongside name-brand VC firms like Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Bessemer, & Y Combinator. You Get: Curated deal flow of high-potential startups, Investing alongside name-brand vc firms, No cost to see deals, No obligation to invest. See Current Deals Afternoon Must-Reads Delta investigating after someone set up fake Wi-Fi network mid-flight: The Delta flight crew switched off the aircraft's legitimate Wi-Fi network for around 30 minutes due to the incident, according to a spokesperson. Read More Anthropic says it will watermark text generated by its AI models: Anthropic will extend support for watermarking AI generations for older models as well. Read More Joby Aviation builds out defense business with $500M acquisition: Joby Aviation reached an agreement to acquire Resonant Sciences, which will kick off its new defense business. Read More OpenAI launches ChatGPT desktop app for Linux: OpenAI is finally bringing a dedicated ChatGPT desktop app to Linux operating systems. Read More Uber surprised robotics company Serve by selling its entire stake: The divesture comes as the two once-tight companies have started to diverge on the business side. Read More Last but Not Least North Korean remote IT staffer worked for US government agency, says FBI: The investigation shows that North Koreans are able to infiltrate government agencies, as well as private organizations and crypto exchanges. 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