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The US DOJ says a former ransomware negotiator pleaded guilty to helping cybercriminals extort companies in cyberattacks in five different incidents (Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai/TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/21/ransomware-negot…

Ransomware negotiator pleads guilty to helping ransomware gang | TechCrunch
A former employee of a cybersecurity firm pleaded guilty to aiding ransomware criminals to maximize their profits, with the goal of taking a cut of the ransom.

WhatsApp says it is testing a new subscription called WhatsApp Plus, which includes features like expanded pinned chats, custom lists, and new chat themes (Ivan Mehta/TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/20/whatsapp-is-testing-a-p…

WhatsApp is testing a premium subscription, put it is mainly cosmetic | TechCrunch
WhatsApp is testing a subscription after Meta debuted a similar subscription for Instagram earlier this year

OpenAI says that ChatGPT Images 2.0 has a stronger understanding of non-Latin text rendering in languages like Japanese, Korean, Hindi, and Bengali (Amanda Silberling/TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/21/chatgpts-new-images-2-…

ChatGPT's new Images 2.0 model is surprisingly good at generating text | TechCrunch
ChatGPT Images 2.0, the newest image-generation model from OpenAI, shows just how much AI capabilities have evolved over the last few years.

Bengaluru-based Sarvam, which is building AI models for local languages, launches its Indus chat app in beta, powered by its Sarvam 105B model (Jagmeet Singh/TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/20/indias-sarvam-launches-indus-ai-chat…

India's Sarvam launches Indus AI chat app as competition heats up | TechCrunch
Sarvam's Indus chat app is currently available in beta.

Projects with open codebases like VLC and Blender are seeing a decline in the average quality of submissions, likely as AI coding tools lower barriers to entry (Russell Brandom/TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/19/for-open-source-prog…

For open source programs, AI coding tools are a mixed blessing | TechCrunch
AI coding tools have enabled a flood of bad code that threatens to overwhelm many projects. Building new features is easier, but maintaining them is just as hard.

X unveils Bluesky-like "Starterpacks" to help users find accounts that match their interests, curated by X and rolling out in the coming weeks (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/21/x-copies-blues…

X copies Bluesky with a 'Starterpacks' feature that helps you find who to follow | TechCrunch
X says the new feature, similar to Bluesky's Starter Packs, will arrive in the coming weeks.

NeoCognition, which wants to build AI agents that self-learn like humans, emerges from stealth with a $40M seed co-led by Cambium Capital and Walden Catalyst (Marina Temkin/TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/21/ai-r

AI research lab NeoCognition lands $40M seed to build agents that learn like humans | TechCrunch
Founded by an OSU researcher, the startup is developing AI agents that can become experts in any domain.

Google rejected 1.75M policy-violating Android apps and blocked 80K developer accounts from Google Play in 2025, down from 2.36M apps and 158K accounts in 2024 (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/19/google-says-its-ai…

Google says its AI systems helped deter Play Store malware in 2025 | TechCrunch
Google said it prevented 1.75 million bad apps from going live on Google Play during 2025, a figure that's down from previous years.

OpenAI says users aged 18-24 account for ~50% and under-30s represent 80% of ChatGPT usage in India; Indians use ChatGPT mostly for work (Ivan Mehta/TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/20/openai-says-18-to-24-year-olds-…

OpenAI says 18 to 24-year-olds account for nearly 50% of ChatGPT usage in India | TechCrunch
The company said on Friday that users between 18 and 24 years of age account for nearly 50% of all messages sent by Indians to ChatGPT, and users under 30 accounted for 80% of usage in the country.

General Catalyst plans to invest $5B in India over five years, an increase from the $500M to $1B previously announced, after merging with a local VC in 2024 (Jagmeet Singh/TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/19/general-catalyst-commits-5b-to-ind…

General Catalyst commits $5B to India over five years | TechCrunch
The pledge marks a sharp jump from General Catalyst's earlier $500 million–$1 billion India earmark.