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Rani Molla

Meta jumps after announcing paid subscriptions for Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, and AI

On Wednesday, Meta announced that it’s rolling out Meta One, a suite of paid versions of its most popular apps that offer extras like profile customization, super reactions, and story insights. Instagram Plus and Facebook Plus will cost $3.99 a month, while WhatsApp Plus is going for $2.99, according to TechCrunch.

The company is also launching two AI subscription tiers — one for $7.99 and another for $19.99 for more advanced users. People can continue using the Meta AI chatbot for free but will now run into limits.

Together, these represent Meta’s first large-scale attempt to monetize everyday consumer use of its flagship apps through subscriptions rather than relying solely on advertising.

The stock is up nearly 3% on the news.

Meta’s head of product Naomi Gleit said in an Instagram post that the company has “more plans on the way for creators, businesses, and Meta AI power users.”

Meta has struggled to justify its enormous AI capital expenditures to investors since it lacks the recurring cloud revenue of its peers. New subscription revenue streams could help reassure investors that Meta has additional ways to monetize its AI investments beyond advertising.

TechCrunch reported earlier this year that Meta had been testing premium subscriptions.

Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions, with more to come, including AI plans | TechCrunch

Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions, with more to come, including AI plans | TechCrunch

Together, these represent Meta’s first large-scale attempt to monetize everyday consumer use of its flagship apps through subscriptions rather than relying solely on advertising.

The stock is up nearly 3% on the news.

Meta’s head of product Naomi Gleit said in an Instagram post that the company has “more plans on the way for creators, businesses, and Meta AI power users.”

Meta has struggled to justify its enormous AI capital expenditures to investors since it lacks the recurring cloud revenue of its peers. New subscription revenue streams could help reassure investors that Meta has additional ways to monetize its AI investments beyond advertising.

TechCrunch reported earlier this year that Meta had been testing premium subscriptions.

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Google DeepMind’s Hassabis: AGI is 3 to 4 years away

Google DeepMind CEO and Nobel Prize-winner Demis Hassabis shortened his prediction for when the era of AGI would be upon us.

Jon Keegan, Rani Molla21m
37%
Rani Molla

Uber raised its stake in Germany-based Delivery Hero to nearly 37%, up from the 19.5% the companies disclosed earlier this month, according to reporting by the Financial Times. The rapid share accumulation follows a takeover bid Uber extended to the struggling food-delivery company over the weekend, offering essentially no premium over where the stock is trading, a move aimed at aggressively countering DoorDash in international markets.

DoorDash is also circling, with reports suggesting it is primarily interested in carving out Delivery Hero’s lucrative Middle Eastern businesses like Talabat and HungerStation.

tech
Jon Keegan & Hyunsoo Rim

Anthropic’s revenue continues to surge, shooting past OpenAI

The drip, drip, drip of leaked financials from OpenAI and Anthropic is turning into a steady flow as the two AI giants jockey for position ahead of their planned IPOs later this year.

The companies’ soaring valuations and annualized recurring revenue (ARR) have been running neck and neck for months, and The Information now reports that Anthropic is generating an estimated 35% more revenue than OpenAI.

According to The Information’s reporting, Anthropic is close to a staggering $45 billion ARR, while OpenAI is at an estimated $33 billion ARR.

Anthropic Nears $45 billion in ARR
(Chartr)

Last month, Anthropic announced that its ARR had reached $30 billion — tripling since the end of 2025. That put it ahead of OpenAI’s $24 billion ARR, which the ChatGPT maker reported at the end of March.

Then last week it was reported that OpenAI held a $1 billion lead in Q1 revenue over Anthropic.

That $45 billion ARR is a whopping 5x the $9 billion Anthropic reported at the end of 2025.

Anthropic Is Likely Generating at Least 35% More Revenue Than OpenAI

Anthropic Is Likely Generating at Least 35% More Revenue Than OpenAI

According to The Information’s reporting, Anthropic is close to a staggering $45 billion ARR, while OpenAI is at an estimated $33 billion ARR.

Anthropic Nears $45 billion in ARR
(Chartr)

Last month, Anthropic announced that its ARR had reached $30 billion — tripling since the end of 2025. That put it ahead of OpenAI’s $24 billion ARR, which the ChatGPT maker reported at the end of March.

Then last week it was reported that OpenAI held a $1 billion lead in Q1 revenue over Anthropic.

That $45 billion ARR is a whopping 5x the $9 billion Anthropic reported at the end of 2025.

tech
Rani Molla

Tesla is recovering in Europe. BYD is still beating it.

Tesla’s recovery across Europe continued last month, but it still lags BYD, according to new data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association. In April, BYD registered more than twice as many cars as Tesla in the EU, UK, and the European Free Trade Association. It’s also growing faster, with BYD up 115% compared with April 2025, while Tesla grew 47% in that time. Year-to-date registration data tells a similar story.

Tesla thinks upcoming approval of its supervised Full Self-Driving tech is integral to its success on the continent.

“It’s worth noting that we do not actually yet have approval for supervised FSD in Europe,” CEO Elon Musk said during an earnings call last year. “So our sales in Europe, we think, will improve significantly once we are able to give customers the same experience that they have in the US.”

Tesla recently received approval for a version of its supervised FSD in the Netherlands, its first European market, and expects “EU-wide” approval in the second or third quarter of this year.

European vehicle regulators could potentially vote on the issue in July.

tech
Jon Keegan

Amid fears of AI killing tech jobs, companies race to fill cybersecurity roles

One of the biggest fears of the AI boom is that the technology will destroy jobs, starting with entry-level programmers and eventually coming for all manner of white-collar work.

This week, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the “jobs apocalypse” isn’t turning out as bad as he’d feared, noting, “I’m delighted to ⁠be wrong about this.”

One tech job that had appeared at risk of AI replacement was cybersecurity engineer. But The New York Times reports that the role is now going through a “hiring frenzy,” and tech recruiters can’t keep up with demand for them.

One of the driving forces behind the surge in cybersecurity roles is the emergence of Anthropic’s Mythos AI model — which is being held back by the company due to its advanced cyber capabilities until companies can shore up defenses.

The demise of software engineering roles in general may have been overblown as well. According to the report, engineers are still needed to manage AI agents, which are increasingly writing the bulk of the code at Big Tech companies.

One Job That Is Growing in the A.I. Era? Cybersecurity Experts.

NYT preview img

One tech job that had appeared at risk of AI replacement was cybersecurity engineer. But The New York Times reports that the role is now going through a “hiring frenzy,” and tech recruiters can’t keep up with demand for them.

One of the driving forces behind the surge in cybersecurity roles is the emergence of Anthropic’s Mythos AI model — which is being held back by the company due to its advanced cyber capabilities until companies can shore up defenses.

The demise of software engineering roles in general may have been overblown as well. According to the report, engineers are still needed to manage AI agents, which are increasingly writing the bulk of the code at Big Tech companies.

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