TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: OLIVIER DOULIERY / Contributor / Getty Images

🤳 What's next for TikTok: While TikTok returned to the App Store and Google Play Store last week, the app's future remains uncertain. A number of investors are competing for the opportunity to purchase it, and the platform's U.S. business could have its valuation soar to upward of $60 billion. We put together a helpful timeline of what's happened so far, who's lining up to buy the app, and what could come next. Read more

📵 Musk puts a block on Signal: X is blocking links to Signal.me, a URL shortener used by private messaging app Signal that allows users to send out a link used to contact them directly through the service. The change comes as DOGE takes aim at federal agencies, leaving workers turning to Signal's encrypted messaging platform to securely share information. Read more

⏸️ DeepSeek on pause: South Korean officials temporarily restricted downloads for DeepSeek's app pending an assessment of how the company handles user data. The restrictions will not affect usage of the existing app and web service, but the Personal Information Protection Commission is encouraging users to avoid giving DeepSeek personal information until it makes a decision. Read more

A Message from Stripe

Get your complimentary pass for Stripe Sessions 2025

Join Stripe at Sessions 2025—the internet economy conference—happening May 6–8 in San Francisco. See the future of global commerce, experience new technology in action, and get to know your peers across industries. Register soon to secure your complimentary pass using code S25Techcrunch.

Afternoon must-reads

Image Credits: boonchai wedmakawand / Getty Images

⚖️ A major AI copyright ruling: A U.S. federal judge found that Ross Intelligence's use of Thomson Reuters' content to train its AI legal research platform infringed on Reuters' intellectual property. While the outcome could have implications for many similar lawsuits, it's not necessarily a slam dunk for all copyright claims against AI companies. Read more

🔢 A fun way to learn math: Edtech startup Polymath wants to make learning math much more fun by combining gamified mechanics inspired by Roblox and Minecraft with adaptive math lessons. Its newly announced $1 million pre-seed funding round will help its platform reach additional markets. Read more

📺 Saved in the 11th hour: Following warnings that YouTube TV will no longer have access to content from Paramount, including CBS and CBS Sports, the companies announced that they'd reached a deal that averts any disruption to channel availability. Now your "Survivor" watch parties can continue as usual. Read more

Around the web

🤖 NYT explores AI tools: Semafor reports that The New York Times is looking into AI tools that could be used to summarize stories as well as write code, social copy, and SEO headlines. The newsroom is reportedly building an internal tool called Echo in addition to approving the use of GitHub Copilot, Google's Vertex AI and NotebookLM, and OpenAI's API (but not ChatGPT). Read more

🕵️ AI comes for true crime: 404 Media found a YouTube channel called True Crime Case Files that, before it was shut down, uploaded more than 150 AI-generated "true crime" videos highlighting crimes and murders that never occurred — and raked in millions of views. 404 Media spoke to the creator about how — and why — he did it. Read more

🎮 Will tariffs affect the Switch 2? Tariffs on Chinese goods imported to the U.S. could have major ramifications on the price of video game consoles — including the highly anticipated Nintendo Switch 2. As Polygon reports, companies heavily rely on China to produce video game consoles and components, which could lead to rising prices on your next handheld. Read more