December 19, 2025

TechCrunch Top 3

Known uses voice AI to help you go on more in-person dates: Known has raised $9.7 million from investors, including Forerunner and NFX, along with PearVC and Coelius Capital. Read More

Krafton hikes India bet with new $670M fund: Called the Unicorn Growth Fund, the investment vehicle is a collaboration between Krafton and South Korean internet conglomerate Naver and investor Mirae Asset. It aims to deploy around $669.3 million over four years. Read More

Hacks, thefts and disruption: The worst data breaches of 2025: TechCrunch looks back at the biggest data breaches, disruptive cyberattacks, and damaging hacks of 2025, from the raiding of U.S. government databases to a hack every month in South Korea. Read More

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Morning Must-Reads

Apple becomes a debt collector with its new developer agreement: Apple says it can now collect any money a developer owes the tech giant at any time. Read More

Netflix acquires gaming avatar maker Ready Player Me: The gaming startup will allow Netflix subscribers to create avatars that can extend across gaming titles. Read More

ChatGPT's mobile app hits new milestone of $3B in consumer spending: ChatGPT has reached $3B in lifetime mobile consumer spending in just 31 months, faster than TikTok and major streaming apps. Read More

Meta is developing a new image and video model for a 2026 release, report says: Meta aims to make the text-based model better at coding while also exploring new world models that understand visual information and can reason, plan, and act without needing to be trained on every possibility. Read More

ChatGPT launches an app store, lets developers know it's open for business: OpenAI is looking to populate its flagship chatbot with a host of new user experiences. Read More

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You missed these chats from Disrupt:

Kindred talks home-swapping platform for travelers, Chef Robotics introduces AI into commercial kitchens, and Character.AI addresses chatbot safety with teens.

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Last but Not Least

OpenAI is reportedly trying to raise $100B at an $830B valuation: The ChatGPT maker is aiming to raise the funding by the end of the first quarter in 2026, and the company may ask sovereign wealth funds to invest in the round. Read More