Thursday, May 22, 2025

Welcome to TC PM! Today we are looking into Anthropic's two new AI models; we have the details on a startup bringing AI tech to the porcelain throne; and we learn that RevenueCat is expanding its business.

TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: Anthropic

🧱 More models: AI startup Anthropic launched two new AI models, Claude Opus 4 and Claude Sonnet 4, at the company's first developer conference. Like many other model releases we've seen in the last few weeks, these models are designed to help write and edit code.

🧻 The AI throne: Throne is building a device that attaches to your toilet and uses AI to analyze its contents to monitor gut health. The idea for a "smart toilet" started as a joke, but now the company has raised $4 million. Would this work on a Skibidi Toilet? We should ask the kids.

🚀 Ninth time's the charm: The Federal Aviation Administration gave SpaceX the green light to perform its ninth test flight of its Starship rocket. The last two test flights resulted in back-to-back explosions, so while SpaceX did get clearance to try again, the FAA is expanding the surrounding "hazard area."

Afternoon must-reads

Image Credits: mheim3011/iStock / Getty Images

👀 Cough, cough: Senate Republicans voted today to overturn California's waiver that allowed it to set stricter air pollution standards for vehicles. Another vote today also repealed the state's waiver to set stricter emissions standards for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.

🪄 The AI was scheming: One of the AI models that Anthropic released today, Claude Opus 4, had to go through some revisions before it could be released. That's because it had a tendency to "scheme" and deceive, according to third-party research institute Apollo Research. The drama!

😸 Cash cat: RevenueCat, which helps power subscriptions in mobile apps, is expanding its business. The startup will now help developers decide whether they should offer web-based payments after the recent Apple U.S. App Store ruling. The company can helps apps set that up, too.

✌️ Tech shutdown: Mozilla is shutting down some of its subsidiaries, including Pocket, a read-it-later app it acquired in 2017, and Fakespot, a browser extension that helps people spot fake reviews. The company didn't provide a specific reason for the shutdowns.

🙅 Time for a takedown: Microsoft and law enforcement announced a court-authorized takedown of Lumma, an info-stealing malware that has been found on more than 394,000 Windows PCs. Lumma is also used as a backdoor for hackers to drop additional malware.

Around the web

🙊 Microsoft reacts: Since pro-Palestine protests broke out at its Microsoft Build conference earlier this week, the company confirmed it has made some email changes to reduce "politically focused emails." These changes entail blocking words like "Palestine" and "Gaza," but not "Israel."

😵‍💫 I think I'm following: Remember Napster? The music-streaming platform went bankrupt in 2002 and was recently acquired for $207 million. The metaverse company that bought it, Infinite Reality, is rebranding to Napster and is pivoting to, you guessed it, an AI company.