TechCrunch Top 3

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🌊 Ripple effect: HR tech startup Rippling — yes the one embroiled in the drama-filled legal battle with Deel — has raised a massive funding round: $450 million in a Series G that values the company at $16.8 billion.

☢️ Google goes nuclear: Google is teaming up with nuclear site developer Elementl Power to develop three sites for advanced nuclear power. Google is promising to add at least 600 megawatts of generating capacity at each of the three sites.

📈 Testing their limits: Epic Games and Spotify are submitting new versions of their respective apps to Apple's App Review that test Apple's App Store policies. Epic wants to bring Fortnite back to the App Store, and Spotify hopes to allow its users to buy individual audiobooks directly and allow Premium subscribers to buy "top up" hours for audiobook listening.

Afternoon must-reads

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🧱 Tuning in: Microsoft Build, the company's annual conference, is a little over a week away, starting on May 19. We've got the details on how you can watch the four-day event.

💳 Debt time: After a disappointing IPO, data center operator CoreWeave is looking to raise $1.5 billion in debt. When the company set out on its IPO road show, it did so with a $2.7 billion fundraising target but settled on $1.5 billion.

🎙️ MARKeting Zuckerberg: On today's episode of Equity, the hosts dive into Mark Zuckerberg's proposed "ultimate business machine," or automated AI ad engine. The hosts also dig into a new countertop cooking robot, Uber's continued push into autonomous vehicles, and more.

👀 Policy shift: SoundCloud, like many large creator platforms, is increasingly embracing AI. The latest version of the company's terms includes a provision giving the platform permission to use uploaded content to train AI.

🏥 Cancer screening made easier: Teal Health's Teal Wand is a prescription device that lets patients self-collect samples and mail them to a lab to receive the same testing that would be done at a doctor's office. The device was just approved by the FDA.

📺 Watch now: During a StrictlyVC event in Athens, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis explored everything from policy changes to new global partnerships, as well as what's behind Greece's tech momentum.

Around the web

🤳 On God, online: Robert Francis Prevost was named the new pope, Pope Leo XIV. This announcement came with a lot of historic firsts. He's the first pope from the United States and, arguably significantly more important, the first pope with existing social media accounts. Let's take a look.

👑 Crown jewel of batteries: Several companies, including Factorial, are working to develop advanced batteries for electric vehicles. The goal is to create batteries with improved features such as faster charging times and longer driving ranges, ultimately making electric cars more affordable and user-friendly compared to gasoline-powered vehicles.