Friday, February 28, 2025

Welcome to TC PM! Today we're looking into Tesla's application for a ride-hail permit in California; the details of a sizable fintech M&A; and the largest cybersecurity breaches so far this year. Have a great weekend!

TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images

🛞 Tesla time: Tesla applied for the necessary permit required to operate a transportation company in the state of California. This is the first step for the company to eventually operate a robotaxi service in the state. Read more

🚜 Crawling construction: Intel's planned chip fabrication plant in Ohio is delayed again. Now construction is scheduled to begin in 2030 with the plant likely opening in 2031. It was originally supposed to begin operating this year. Read more

🦊 Terms of use tussle: Mozilla updated its terms of service to make them "easy to read and understand — there shouldn't be any surprises in how we operate or how our product works." But users were confused by some of the language around how the browser uses data, and Mozilla had to clarify even further. Read more

A Message from Hiive

Hiive 2025 Annual State of the Private Market Report

Curious about how the private market fared over the past year, especially in contrast to public indices? Our 2025 Annual Report takes a closer look at that, plus performance by sector—including AI and web3 analyses—and insights around how liquidity can bolster company growth from the inside.

Read the report

Afternoon must-reads

Image Credits: Flashes

📸 Flashes at last: Bluesky's Instagram alternative Flashes publicly launched its photo-sharing app on the App Store this week, racking up 30,000 downloads within the first 24 hours. I'll be the next download. Read more

🎙️ So much drama: In today's episode of Equity, the hosts talk about the hottest gossip from the startup world this week — the YC startup demo video that sparked strong backlash. They also talk about Alexa's event this week, Lucid's CEO stepping down, and more. Listen here

🤷 Fresh out: After OpenAI released its GPT-4.5 model this week, CEO Sam Altman posted on X that the company was forced to stagger the rollout because it ran out of GPUs. Never fear, though: OpenAI expects to add tens of thousands of GPUs next week. Read more

🏷️ Alkami scoops up Mantl: Digital banking services company Alkami Technology is acquiring digital count origination startup Mantl for $400 million. The deal is expected to close in March, and Mantl will operate as a distinct business unit. Read more

🧑‍💻 Big breaches: Cybersecurity breaches can range in size, scale, and damage. In 2024, more than 1 billion records were stolen in breaches. This year has already seen multiple notable data breaches. We're keeping a list. Read more

A Message from Stripe

Get your complimentary pass for Stripe Sessions 2025

Join Stripe at Sessions 2025—the internet economy conference—happening May 6–8 in San Francisco. See the future of global commerce, experience new technology in action, and get to know your peers across industries. Register soon to secure your complimentary pass using code S25Techcrunch.

Around the web

🤦 Good grief: When news broke last weekend that Pope Francis had been hospitalized in critical condition, the news sent some to St. Peter's Square to pray and others to betting startup Polymarket to place wagers on when he would die. I need the latter of y'all to get a grip and a hobby. Read more

🏒 NHL mentioned: Apple has partnered up with the National Hockey League to bring its referees special Apple Watches that will give the zebras important in-game information like what the time is on the game clock and when a player leaves the sin bin. Read more