July 27, 2025

TechCrunch Top 3

Google took a month to shut down Catwatchful, a phone spyware operation hosted on its servers: Google has suspended the Firebase account of Catwatchful following a TechCrunch investigation. The spyware operation was caught using Google's own servers to host and run its surveillance app, which was stealthily monitoring thousands of people's phones. Read More

Allianz Life says 'majority' of customers' personal data stolen in cyberattack: Exclusive: Allianz Life said the "majority" of its customers and employees had data stolen in the July cyberattack. The company said it has notified the FBI. Read More

Dating safety app Tea breached, exposing 72,000 user images: Tea, an app that allows women to post anonymous comments about men they've supposedly dated, announced Friday that it has suffered a data breach, with hackers gaining access to 72,000 images. Read More

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Sunday Must-Reads

Meta names Shengjia Zhao as chief scientist of AI superintelligence unit: Shengjia Zhao, a former OpenAI researcher, will round out the leadership team at Meta's new AI lab. Read More

Astronomer winks at viral notoriety with 'temporary spokesperson' Gwyneth Paltrow: After spending the past week-plus in the headlines due to a seemingly inescapable social media scandal, data operations startup Astronomer is trying to shift the narrative with a tongue-in-cheek video starring actress and entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow. Read More

Sam Altman warns there's no legal confidentiality when using ChatGPT as a therapist: In response to a question about how AI works with today's legal system, Altman said one of the problems of not yet having a legal or policy framework for AI is that there's no legal confidentiality for users' conversations. Read More

DOGE has built an AI tool to slash federal regulations: The Department of Government Efficiency has presented plans to use a new AI tool to eliminate half of the federal government's regulatory mandates by the first anniversary of President Donald Trump's return to office, according to The Washington Post. Read More

Tesla wants to bring robotaxis to San Francisco. Here's what's standing in the way.: There will be an employee in the driver's seat -- a big change from how things have been working in Austin. Read More

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Last but Not Least

Intel is spinning off its Network and Edge group: Intel will remain an anchor investor in the stand-alone company, which produced $5.8 billion in revenue in 2024. Read More