TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch

💬 More models: OpenAI today released GPT-4.5, its much anticipated model that was code-named "Orion." This is OpenAI's largest model to date, and it took more data and compute to train than any of OpenAI's other models. Is that a good thing, though? Read more

🏷️ Stripe sale: Fintech giant Stripe has confirmed that it is holding a tender offer for employees to sell their equity shares at a valuation of $91.5 billion. This is especially notable because it shows Stripe has been able to climb close to the $95 billion valuation it garnered in 2021. Read more

🤝 The deal is done: IBM finished its multi-billion-dollar acquisition of enterprise software company HashiCorp two days after the U.K. antitrust authority greenlighted the deal. This announcement comes 10 months after IBM initially disclosed its intent to purchase HashiCorp. Read more

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Afternoon must-reads

Image Credits: Amazon

💻 Quantum quibbles: Amazon Web Services announced a quantum computing chip called Ocelot. This announcement comes after both Microsoft and Google released quantum chips of their own in recent months. Read more

🔎 Getting granular: Workhelix argues that enterprises are struggling to find value from adopting AI because they're being too broad in their approach. Workhelix helps companies break employee roles down into tasks to better spot areas where automation could help. Read more

🌝 Deep into the night: Deepnight is a YC-backed startup that is looking to build better night vision technology. One of the founders was inspired to launch the company after reading a scientific paper on using AI for low-light imaging. Read more

💰 Crypto heist: The FBI today announced that the North Korean government was behind the recent crypto heist that resulted in the theft of $1.4 billion worth of Ethereum from crypto exchange Bybit. So does the FBI get that $140 million bounty? Read more

🦺 More safety: Apple announced new initiatives today meant to help improve child safety on Apple products. This update makes it easier for parents to set up child accounts, allows parents to share information on their child's age, and more. Read more

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Around the web

🥊 A devastating blow: Funding for startups in Africa has been declining since 2022 and may get worse. Mastercard Foundation decided to pull out of its $100 million commitment to 54 Collective, the most active VC in Africa, which may be forced to conduct layoffs. Read more

😤 Under their nose: There is a growing type of scam that targets elderly individuals of Vietnamese descent. Ads that prompt older people to buy fake health products are going undetected on platforms like YouTube because they are not in languages that tech companies focus on. Read more

Before you go

Katy Perry singing onstage with two backup dancers

Image Credits: A.RICARDO / Shutterstock

🚀 Ladies who launch: Jeff Bezos' rocket company Blue Origin announced the crew for its next launch. The all-female cohort includes multiple scientists in addition to Katy Perry, Gayle King, Kerianne Flynn, and Bezos' fiance, Lauren Sánchez. Equality? Read more