TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: X Corp.

💬 XChat for all: X plans to start rolling out its new direct message feature, XChat, to all users this week after it appeared to be in beta testing last week. Before it launched, X said it was pausing work on encrypted DMs, possibly because XChat would soon replace the older system.

🎸 AI comp for artists: Music record labels, including Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Sony Music Entertainment are in talks to license their work to AI startups Udio and Suno. These deals could set a framework for how musical artists get compensated in the age of AI.

🚕 If you don't succeed, try again: Tesla filed a trademark application for "Tesla Robotaxi" after previous trademark attempts stalled. The company previously applied for the terms "Cybercab" and "Robotaxi" in 2024 but didn't have much luck due to the commonality of the term "cyber" and the use of "robotaxi" by other companies.

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Afternoon must-reads

Image Credits: SOPA Images / Contributor / Getty Images

🌨️ AI agent flurries: Snowflake is the latest enterprise to acquire a data company with the hopes of bolstering its data offerings in the age of AI agents. It bought Crunchy Data, and though terms of the deal were not disclosed, a source pegs the deal to be worth around $250 million.

🏷️ Speaking of data acquisitions: IBM also announced a data company acquisition today — it acquired Seek AI, a startup that lets users ask questions about enterprise data using natural language. IBM also announced a new AI accelerator, Watsonx AI Labs.

🔓 It definitely shouldn't do that: Compliance company Vanta confirmed a bug that exposed customer data to other Vanta customers. This bug wasn't caused by an outside actor, and the company expects it to be patched up within the next few days.

💰 Cha-Chime: Neobank Chime is going public. The company announced that it's pricing its shares between $24 and $26, which will give it a valuation of up to $11.2 billion. While the company was valued at $25 billion in 2021, $11.2 billion is nothing to scoff at.

🛠️ Data center drag: Microsoft has a data center problem. While the tech giant looks to become increasingly sustainable, the company's data center buildout is proving to be quite the hurdle. Since 2020, the company's carbon emissions have been up 23.4%.

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Around the web

👩‍⚖️ I object! There are many startups looking to build AI for lawyers, but the lawyers keep turning to LLMs like ChatGPT and getting caught citing AI-hallucinated cases. Why does this keep happening? Elle Woods would never.

😵‍💫 Speaking of AI delusions: A pro artificial intelligence subreddit, r/accelerate, has started banning users who believe they have created or become a god after their interactions with large language models. I'm sure this only happens when everything is going really well.