August 18, 2025

TechCrunch Top 3

Why Paradigm built a spreadsheet with an AI agent in every cell: Paradigm raised a $5 million seed round and is releasing it's AI-powered spreadsheet to the general public. Read More

Linktree goes dark in India — and the company isn't sure why: Linktree is "investigating" an issue that has made its link-in-bio platform inaccessible in India for several days. Read More

HR giant Workday says hackers stole personal data in recent breach: The HR tech giant said it had no indication of any unauthorized access to customer systems, but has not ruled out a breach affecting customers' personal information. Read More

A message from Persona

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Morning Must-Reads

Duolingo CEO says controversial AI memo was misunderstood: While Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn faced backlash after declaring that Duolingo would become an "AI-first company," he suggested in a new interview the real issue was that he "did not give enough context." Read More

GPT-5 is supposed to be nicer now: OpenAI announced late Friday that it's updating its latest model to be "warmer and friendlier." Read More

Grammarly gets a design overhaul, multiple AI features: Grammarly now has a new document-based interface, built on the back of Coda, the productivity startup it acquired last year. The interface also sports an AI assistant, as well as a few AI tools meant for students and professionals, including an AI grader, proofreader and citation finder. Read More

Anthropic says some Claude models can now end 'harmful or abusive' conversations : Anthropic says new capabilities allow its latest AI models to protect themselves by ending abusive conversations. Read More

'Stranger Things' creators may be leaving Netflix: Netflix could soon lose the creative team behind one of its biggest hits, with the Duffer Brothers reportedly signing an exclusive deal with Paramount. Read More

A message from Antigravity

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A new era of drone flight is here. At just 249g, this 8K 360 drone lets you explore every angle of the sky with unparalleled clarity. Head-tracked FPV goggles put you inside the action, radically transforming how you see the world and tell stories. Lightweight, powerful, and unlike anything you've flown before. This is flight reimagined for life.

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Last but Not Least

Perplexity now supports live earnings call transcripts for Indian stocks: AI startup Perplexity is augmenting its Finance dashboard with the ability to transcribe Indian public companies' quarterly earnings calls live, as well as show schedules for post-results conference calls. Read More