Perplexity offers to buy Chrome for billions more than it's raised

Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories this afternoon

View this email online in your browser  August 12, 2025 TechCrunch Top 3 Perplexity offers to buy Chrome for billions more than it's raised: Perplexity tells TechCrunch the terms of the offer include a commitment to keep Chrome's underlying engine, Chromium, open source and to invest $3 billion into it. Read More Hackers breach and expose a major North Korean spying operation: Two hackers broke into the computer of a North Korean government hacker and leaked its contents, offering a rare glimpse inside the secretive nation's spying operations. Read More Anthropic's Claude AI model can now handle longer prompts: Anthropic's popular coding model just became a little more enticing for developers with a million-token context window. Read More A message from TechCrunch Events Hear from Meta, Waymo, NEA, and more at Disrupt 2025 Disrupt 2025 gathers 250+ industry trailblazers and 10,000+ attendees in San Francisco on October 27–29. Explore 200+ sessions on scaling, exits, and the evolving tech landscape. Hear from Elad Gil (Gil & Co), Astro Teller (X, The Moonshot Factory), Tekedra Mawakana (Waymo), May Habib (Writer), and more. Register now to save $600+ before prices hike. Register Now Complete our survey, (maybe) win a prize We want to get to know our audience even better and get your feedback on our coverage and events. Fill out this survey to give us your thoughts, and get the chance to win a prize in return. Take the survey! Afternoon Must-Reads How a once-tiny research lab helped Nvidia become a $4 trillion-dollar company: Nvidia's research lab developed the technology that took the company from a video game GPU startup to a $4 trillion-dollar company. Read More AI companion apps on track to pull in $120M in 2025: The number of AI companion apps has grown more than 60% since 2024. Read More Google will now let you pick your top sources for search results: Google will let you define the top sources to get more stories from those sites. Read More Pronto's 10-minute house-help pitch sparked a 3.6x valuation jump in just 90 days: Pronto has raised $11 million in an all-equity Series A round co-led by General Catalyst and Glade Brook Capital at a post-money valuation of $45 million. Read More Russian government hackers said to be behind US federal court filing system hack: Report: Officials are reportedly blaming a recent breach of the U.S. federal court's filing system on Russia, whose hackers used the access to snoop on midlevel criminal cases in the New York City area and other jurisdictions. Read More A message from TechCrunch Events Showcase your brand to 10,000+ tech leaders Get your brand in front of 10,000+ tech and VC leaders over three action-packed days at Disrupt 2025 this October. Boost your visibility, spark meaningful connections, and position your company at the forefront of innovation. Tables are selling fast. Secure your exhibit space before your competitor beats you to it. Book Now Last but Not Least Anthropic takes aim at OpenAI, offers Claude to 'all three branches of government' for $1: Anthropic's escalation — a response to OpenAI's attempt to undercut the competition — is a strategic play meant to broaden the company's foothold in federal AI usage.  Read More Check out some of our other newsletters: StrictlyVC TechCrunch Events TechCrunch Mobility Want to adjust your daily newsletter schedule? You can do it right here 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. Unsubscribe Member Center Privacy Policy Copyright © 2025 TechCrunch Media LLC 501 2nd Street, Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94107