Thursday, April 3, 2025

Welcome to TC PM! Today we take a look at Tesla's recent hit and how it got there; we dig into how the recently announced tariffs will affect tech companies; and we've got more on OpenAI's image-generating tool.

TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: Andrew Harnik / Getty Images

😬 Tesla troubles: The public's perception of Elon Musk has begun to sour, as many people, across both parties, aren't happy with his work at DOGE. Tesla has understandably taken a hit because of it. Will it recover? We look at how we got here.

🪧 AI ads: Spotify announced today a slew of new changes to its advertising business. The most notable is that the platform will now integrate AI into its ads business. It also announced Spotify Ad Exchange, a way for advertisers to reach logged-in users through real-time auctions.

💰 Girl, these tariffs: Donald Trump yesterday announced quite a few new tariffs on nearly every country. While most tech stocks are taking a hit, Apple is in particularly rough shape. The company has lost $250 billion in market value since last night.

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Afternoon must-reads

Image Credits: MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP / Getty Images

🤫 Studio silence: The release of OpenAI's image-generating tool a few weeks ago caused a flood of AI images that look like they are from Studio Ghibli. The Japanese animation studio has remained silent thus far, although the studio's mastermind, Hayao Miyazaki, has made his views on AI art clear in the past.

📈 Speaking of OpenAI's image-generating tool: While OpenAI's image-generating tool is being accused by some of violating artist copyright laws, not everyone is concerned. The generator has produced more than 700 million images and is on track to be one of OpenAI's most popular product launches.

📱 Sticky spyware: Consumer-grade phone surveillance apps are already tough to spot, and now some of them are making it hard to delete, too. We've found at least one such Android app that requires a password to uninstall, and we teach you how to delete it without needing a password.

🗳️ Bidding up business: X is allegedly setting up a "handle inquiry" process that will allow Verified Organizations — orgs that spend $1,000 per month on an X subscription — to bid on inactive handles. That's one way to boost revenue.

🩻 New insurance: Thatch is a startup helping employers offer Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement, a different approach to healthcare that went into effect in 2020. Thatch just raised $40 million in a Series B round led by Index Ventures.

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Around the web

🧮 The math doesn't math: When Donald Trump announced new tariffs yesterday, many people were wondering how he came to each country's percentage. Turns out, they seem to be calculated by an oversimplified calculation that AI chatbots recommend.

🚓 Taking a stand: While there is consensus that deepfakes, fake AI-generated media, are bad, there isn't much unity on how to fight them. New Jersey passed a law that now makes creating and sharing deepfakes punishable by up to five years in prison.