Trump administration plans to cut cybersecurity agency's budget by $700 million

Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories to start your morning

View this email online in your browser  April 07, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Trump administration plans to cut cybersecurity agency's budget by $700 million: The budget proposal would force CISA to operate with a significantly lower budget than previous years, citing the government's claims that the election misinformation programs were used to "target the President." Read More Google quietly launched an AI dictation app that works offline: Google's new offline-first dictation app uses Gemma AI models to take on the apps like Wispr Flow. Read More AI startup Rocket offers vibe McKinsey-style reports at a fraction of the cost: Rocket's new AI platform combines strategy, product building, and competitive intelligence, aiming to move beyond code generation. Read More Disrupt 2026: Where deals and ideas ignite Oct 13–15 at San Francisco's Moscone West, 10,000 founders, investors, and operators gather for high-signal insights, curated connections, and real momentum. Register Now! A message from Framer Launch your company's website in minutes Framer helps teams design, build, and launch their marketing sites lightning fast. With the ability to publish hundreds of CMS pages in a single click, operate at a global scale with seamless localization, and even host unified content across multiple domains, teams have never been able to ship faster. Trusted by companies like Miro, Bilt, and Zapier. Join Framer Today Morning Must-Reads A teenage Minecraft YouTuber raised $1,234,567 for a meme prediction market called Giggles. It broke me.: Justin Jin’s company Giggles – which he describes as “putting a trading app and TikTok together” – started as a joke. Read More Why a former AirPods engineer is now building heat pumps: Merino Energy has simplified the heat pump dramatically in a quest to make them cheaper and easier to install. Read More OpenAI alums have been quietly investing from a new, potentially $100M fund : Zero Shot, a new venture capital fund with deep ties to OpenAI, is aiming to raise $100 million for its first fund. It has already written some checks. Read More Hermeus raises $350M to build autonomous hypersonic fighters: The defense aviation startup is coming off two successful flight demonstrations, and with the next one, it's aiming to go supersonic. Read More 4 days left to save close to $500 on TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 passes: 4 days left to save up to $482 on your TechCrunch disrupt 2026 ticket. These low rates will disappear on April 10 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Register here. Read More A message from Fidelity Your Pitch Isn’t the Only Thing Investors Are Evaluating.   Investors don’t just listen to what you say - they look at how your company operates. Is ownership clear? Do your numbers match your story? Can you answer follow-up questions without digging through spreadsheets? The Fundraise-Ready Startup Kit equips founders with the materials investors expect to see, before pressure is on. Because confidence in the room doesn’t come from slides. It comes from preparation.  Learn More Last but Not Least Picsart now lets creators make money from their designs: The program invites creators to create original content with Picsart tools for a specific campaign, share it on their social channels, and earn revenue based on how their audience engages. Read More Check out some of our other newsletters: StrictlyVC TechCrunch Events TechCrunch Mobility Want to adjust your daily newsletter schedule? You can do it right here Got a tip? Get in touch securely. Want to advertise on TechCrunch? advertise@techcrunch.com Has this been forwarded to you? Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. Unsubscribe Member Center Privacy Policy Copyright © 2026 TechCrunch Media LLC 501 2nd Street, Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94107

Watch this video of how a job interviewer exposes a North Korean fake IT worker

Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories this afternoon

View this email online in your browser  April 06, 2026 TechCrunch Top 3 Watch this video of how a job interviewer exposes a North Korean fake IT worker: An apparent North Korean worker was caught visibly stumped during a remote job interview when asked to insult the country's leader. Read More Google quietly launched an AI dictation app that works offline: Google's new offline-first dictation app uses Gemma AI models to take on the apps like Wispr Flow. Read More Iran threatens 'Stargate' AI data centers: Iran said it will target U.S.-linked data centers with new missile strikes, as the war between the U.S. and Iran escalates. Read More Disrupt 2026: Where deals and ideas ignite Oct 13–15 at San Francisco's Moscone West, 10,000 founders, investors, and operators gather for high-signal insights, curated connections, and real momentum. Register Now! A message from Fidelity Your Pitch Isn’t the Only Thing Investors Are Evaluating.   Investors don’t just listen to what you say - they look at how your company operates. Is ownership clear? Do your numbers match your story? Can you answer follow-up questions without digging through spreadsheets? The Fundraise-Ready Startup Kit equips founders with the materials investors expect to see, before pressure is on. Because confidence in the room doesn’t come from slides. It comes from preparation.  Learn More Afternoon Must-Reads North Korea's hijack of one of the web's most used open source projects was likely weeks in the making: North Korean hackers pushed out malicious updates to a popular open source project by hacking a top developer's computer in a long-running campaign. Read More OpenAI’s vision for the AI economy: public wealth funds, robot taxes, and a four-day workweek: OpenAI proposes taxes on AI profits, public wealth funds, and expanded safety nets to address job loss and inequality, blending redistribution with capitalism as policymakers debate AI’s economic impact. Read More Startup Battlefield 200 applications open: a chance for VC access, TechCrunch coverage, and $100K: Nominate your startup, or one you know that deserves the spotlight, and finish the process by applying. Selected 200 have a chance at VC access, TechCrunch coverage, and $100K for Startup Battlefield 200. Applications close on May 27. Read More Spain's Xoople raises $130 million Series B to map the Earth for AI: The company is also announcing a deal with L3Harris to build the sensors for Xoople's spacecraft. Read More Apple is taking its App Store fight to the Supreme Court — again: Apple plans to ask the Supreme Court to review its App Store fight with Epic Games, as it challenges a ruling limiting its ability to charge fees on external payments. Read More A message from Deck Automate any task. No integration needed. Most task automation starts with an engineering request — API credentials, OAuth setup, a connector no one has time to build. Deck's computer use agents don't need any of it. They log in, click through, and complete work. Try It Free Last but Not Least Convicted spyware maker Bryan Fleming avoids jail at sentencing: The pcTattletale founder escapes a custodial sentence following the first successful prosecution of a spyware maker in the U.S. in over a decade. Read More Check out some of our other newsletters: StrictlyVC TechCrunch Events TechCrunch Mobility Want to adjust your daily newsletter schedule? You can do it right here Got a tip? Get in touch securely. Want to advertise on TechCrunch? advertise@techcrunch.com Has this been forwarded to you? Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. Unsubscribe Member Center Privacy Policy Copyright © 2026 TechCrunch Media LLC 501 2nd Street, Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94107