Kettering Health’s network derailed by ransomware attack

Also: Bing now lets you use Sora for free

View this email online in your browser By Rebecca Bellan Tuesday, June 3, 2025 Welcome to TechCrunch AM! This morning, we have notes on the latest health system hack; Bing's integration of OpenAI's Sora; and Photoshop on Android. We've also got fresh funds for data analytics and fintech; air taxis in Saudi Arabia; an executive shakeup at Indeed; TikTok's new feature for artists; plastic-eating fungi, and more. Let's go!  TechCrunch Top 3 Image Credits: Kettering Health 1. Invest in security: Kettering Health is still working to return to normal operations two weeks after it was hit by a ransomware attack that shut down its entire network of medical and emergency centers. A stark reminder of how important cybersecurity is to protecting critical infrastructure. Read More 2. One reason to use Bing: Microsoft Bing is integrating OpenAI's Sora video generation model to let users generate videos from text prompts. This is a win for those who want to use Sora, but don't want to pay OpenAI, since it's available for free on Bing for the moment. Read More 3. Photoshop to go: Got a burning desire to photoshop a dog's face on your friend's body while you're on the go? The venerable image manipulation software's finally on its way to Android. This comes four months after Adobe launched Photoshop for iPhones. Read More   A Message from TechCrunch Events T-3 Days: Play AI trivia, win 2-for-1 TC Sessions: AI tix Know your AI? Take our trivia challenge and you could score 2 tickets for the price of 1 to TechCrunch Sessions: AI! Hear from OpenAI, Google Cloud, Toyota, Anthropic, Khosla Ventures, and more on June 5 at UC Berkeley. One day packed with breakouts, keynotes, and serious networking. Start AI Trivia   Morning Must-Reads Image Credits: Speedata 💰 Big data: Tel Aviv-based Speedata has raised $44 million to boost its analytics processing unit (APU) tech that's designed to accelerate big data analytics and AI workloads. Existing investors like Walden Catalyst and new investors like Intel's Lip-Bu Tan participated in the round. Read More 🚁 Rise up: Joby Aviation might have a major distributor for its eVTOLs in Saudi Arabia. The company signed an MoU with Abdul Latif Jameel (ALJ) to distribute up to $1 billion worth of air taxis across its network in the Middle East over the coming years. Read More 🪑 Time for a change: Indeed's CEO Chris Hyams is stepping down as CEO after 15 years at the firm. Hisayuki Idekoba, CEO of Recruit, Indeed's parent firm, will step in as CEO -- it's a role Idekoba has held before, and he's returning after a six-year break. Read More 🤳 Get those gains: TikTok has launched TikTok for Artists, a music insights platform that the company says will help artists help connect with fans, improve promotional efforts, and understand what to upload. Read More 🌈 Pot of gold: Irish fintech NomuPay has raised $40 million from SB Payment Service, a subsidiary of Japanese telco SoftBank, at a $290 million valuation. NomuPay helps merchants process cross-boarder payments in Asia, Europe, MENA, and the U.S. Read More   A Message from TechCrunch Events Ready for real AI talk? Join TC Sessions: AI on June 5 The doors to TechCrunch Sessions: AI open this Thursday! Hear insights from top minds like Logan Kilpatrick (Google DeepMind), Oliver Cameron (Odyssey), Jared Kaplan (Anthropic), Hao Sang (OpenAI), Kordel France (Toyota), and more on the main stage and in breakouts. Network with AI leaders at all levels and explore cutting-edge innovations. Register Now   Around the Web 🍄 Solarpunk dream: Researchers at the University of Sydney have discovered a newly isolated marine-derived fungus that can degrade polypropylene, reports Reuters. This could create a breakthrough in the battle against plastic waste. Read More 🧐 Breaking the sandbox: Tracking code from Meta and Russia-backed Yandex has been found embedded in millions of websites with the express purpose of de-anonymizing visitors – specifically Android users – by exploiting browser and OS behaviors to link web activity with mobile app identities, reports Ars Technica. Read More Before You Go 📺 WWDC: Apple is hosting its developer conference from June 9 to June 13, and we're expecting some operating system updates as well as, what else, more news on AI. Catch all the coverage and watch it live on TechCrunch. 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. Yahoo Inc.. 680 Folsom Street, San Francisco, CA Privacy Policy

xAI's XChat rolls out this week

Plus: Tesla tries again

View this email online in your browser By Rebecca Szkutak Monday, June 2, 2025 Welcome to TC PM! Today we learn that XChat is rolling out to all users this week — but don't get too excited just yet; we dig into two different data company acquisitions; and we dive into Microsoft's data center problem. Power on! TechCrunch Top 3 Image Credits: X Corp. 💬 XChat for all: X plans to start rolling out its new direct message feature, XChat, to all users this week after it appeared to be in beta testing last week. Before it launched, X said it was pausing work on encrypted DMs, possibly because XChat would soon replace the older system. 🎸 AI comp for artists: Music record labels, including Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Sony Music Entertainment are in talks to license their work to AI startups Udio and Suno. These deals could set a framework for how musical artists get compensated in the age of AI.  🚕 If you don't succeed, try again: Tesla filed a trademark application for "Tesla Robotaxi" after previous trademark attempts stalled. The company previously applied for the terms "Cybercab" and "Robotaxi" in 2024 but didn't have much luck due to the commonality of the term "cyber" and the use of "robotaxi" by other companies.    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: SOPA Images / Contributor / Getty Images 🌨️ AI agent flurries: Snowflake is the latest enterprise to acquire a data company with the hopes of bolstering its data offerings in the age of AI agents. It bought Crunchy Data, and though terms of the deal were not disclosed, a source pegs the deal to be worth around $250 million.  🏷️ Speaking of data acquisitions: IBM also announced a data company acquisition today — it acquired Seek AI, a startup that lets users ask questions about enterprise data using natural language. IBM also announced a new AI accelerator, Watsonx AI Labs.  🔓 It definitely shouldn't do that: Compliance company Vanta confirmed a bug that exposed customer data to other Vanta customers. This bug wasn't caused by an outside actor, and the company expects it to be patched up within the next few days.  💰 Cha-Chime: Neobank Chime is going public. The company announced that it's pricing its shares between $24 and $26, which will give it a valuation of up to $11.2 billion. While the company was valued at $25 billion in 2021, $11.2 billion is nothing to scoff at.  🛠️ Data center drag: Microsoft has a data center problem. While the tech giant looks to become increasingly sustainable, the company's data center buildout is proving to be quite the hurdle. Since 2020, the company's carbon emissions have been up 23.4%.    A Message from Invest Puerto Rico Expand your business in Puerto Rico Stop searching. Start succeeding. Puerto Rico delivers everything ambitious companies need: seamless access to U.S. and global markets, competitive advantages like R&D excellence, and brilliant bilingual talent ready to accelerate your growth. See why it's not about what's next in innovation. It's where, and that's in Puerto Rico. Learn More   Around the web 👩‍⚖️ I object! There are many startups looking to build AI for lawyers, but the lawyers keep turning to LLMs like ChatGPT and getting caught citing AI-hallucinated cases. Why does this keep happening? Elle Woods would never.  😵‍💫 Speaking of AI delusions: A pro artificial intelligence subreddit, r/accelerate, has started banning users who believe they have created or become a god after their interactions with large language models. I'm sure this only happens when everything is going really well.  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