Plus more of TechCrunch's top stories this afternoon

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July 24, 2025

 

TechCrunch Top 3

Preston Thorpe is a software engineer at a San Francisco startup — he’s also serving his 11th year in prison

Preston Thorpe is a software engineer at a San Francisco startup — he’s also serving his 11th year in prison: A senior software engineer for Turso, Thorpe is part of an experimental program in the Maine state prison system that allows incarcerated people to work remote jobs from custody. Read More

Apple iOS 26 public beta arrives: Apple released iOS 26 in public beta. Here's everything you can expect, from the Liquid Glass design to features powered by Apple Intelligence. Read More

AI companions: A threat to love, or an evolution of it?: As AI companions from companies like Replika, Character AI, and Nomi AI abound, love is no longer strictly human. In this debate, we ask the question of whether it should be, or whether dating an AI could be better than dating a human. Read More

A message from Pacaso

Major investors bet big on this “unlisted” stock

When the founder who sold his last company to Zillow for $120M starts a new venture, people notice. No wonder well-known VCs who backed the likes of eBay, Venmo, and Uber already backed Pacaso. They’ve made $110M+ in gross profits to date by bringing co-ownership to a $1.3T market. They even reserved the Nasdaq ticker PCSO. And you can invest, too.

This is a paid advertisement for Pacaso’s Regulation A offering. Please read the offering circular at invest.pacaso.com. Reserving the ticker symbol is not a guarantee that the company will go public. Listing on the Nasdaq is subject to approvals.

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Afternoon Must-Reads

Amazon introduces a more affordable color screen Kindle

Amazon introduces a more affordable color screen Kindle: Amazon launches a more affordable, $250 Colorsoft Kindle and a version for kids. Read More

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Last but Not Least

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