News Digest — 2026-07-07

Top Stories

US investors will soon get access to SK Hynix, another memory maker riding the AI boom

TechCrunch AI · 2026-07-06

SK Hynix, a South Korean memory chipmaker, plans to launch a U.S. IPO offering nearly 17.8 million shares via American depositary receipts, potentially raising $28 billion. The company is benefiting from high demand for memory chips driven by the AI boom, with its first-quarter revenues up 200% and stock price rising 260% this year due to shortages in AI-related memory technologies like HBM and DRAM.

Every major tech layoff in 2026 that has name-checked AI

TechCrunch AI · 2026-07-06

Microsoft cut approximately 4,800 roles in 2026, citing AI-driven automation as a key factor, despite stating that the positions are not being replaced by AI. This follows a broader trend in the tech industry, where AI is both a growth driver and a justification for workforce reductions, with over 120,000 tech jobs eliminated in 2026. Oracle also reported significant layoffs, reducing its workforce by 21,000 over the past year, with AI cited as a contributing factor.

If you use Google, you’re training its AI. Here’s how to opt out.

TechCrunch AI · 2026-07-06

Google has updated its privacy settings to allow the collection and use of user media, such as images, audio, and video, for training its AI models. Users can now opt out of this data usage through new privacy settings in Google Search and related services like Maps, Translate, and Voice Search. The changes were introduced under the guise of enhancing personalization and user control, but have raised privacy concerns.

Reddit is using LLMs to solve a problem LLMs largely created

TechCrunch AI · 2026-07-06

Reddit has developed AI-powered tools using large language models (LLMs) to detect and block spam, much of which is generated by LLMs themselves. The platform reports blocking 23 million spam views daily and catching around 25,000 new spam posts and comments, reducing user exposure to spam by 20% over a three-month period. This highlights a growing challenge in the AI era where platforms must use AI to combat the very content it helped create.

You can now customize Siri’s pace and expressivity in the latest iOS 27 beta

TechCrunch AI · 2026-07-06

Apple has introduced voice customization features for Siri in the latest iOS 27 beta, allowing users to adjust the assistant's pace and expressivity. This update aligns with Apple's effort to make Siri more natural and personalized through generative AI, similar to features seen in competitors like ChatGPT. The changes are currently available only to beta testers.

Technology

Vercel CEO Guillermo Rauch on the fight to split off models from agents

TechCrunch AI · 2026-07-06

Vercel CEO Guillermo Rauch discusses the shift in AI development from prototyping to practical deployment, highlighting the growing use of coding agents and internal AI tools within the company. With 6 million daily deployments and over 1 trillion tokens processed, Vercel is becoming a central player in AI software infrastructure, despite not being a major AI research lab.

The ‘first’ AI-run ransomware attack still needed a human

TechCrunch AI · 2026-07-06

Researchers identified the first known AI-driven ransomware attack, JadePuffer, where an AI agent executed technical tasks autonomously, including network traversal and ransom note generation. However, a human was still involved in setting up the infrastructure, selecting a victim, and obtaining initial credentials prior to the attack. The incident highlights the growing capabilities of AI in cyber operations while underscoring that human oversight remains essential in the setup and planning phases.

World

Microsoft is laying off 4,800 employees

The Verge AI · 2026-07-06

A year after cutting around 9,100 employees, Microsoft is making further layoffs today as it begins its new financial year. The software maker is laying off around 4,800 employees today, approximately 2.1 percent of its workforce. Most of the employees affected by today's cuts are in Microsoft's commercial sales business or the company's Xbox division. […]