Tech
A startup called Germ becomes the first private messenger that launches directly from Bluesky’s app
Here’s something that you’ve never seen on Big Tech social platforms: The decentralized open social network Bluesky has integrated new technology from a startup called Germ Network in order to bring end-to-end encrypted (E2E) messaging to the Bluesky app. The move makes Germ DM the first private messenger that can be launched natively within the Bluesky app.
Alongside the launch, Germ is also releasing new guidance that would allow other apps built on the underlying AT Protocol that powers Bluesky to do the same thing.
The move is a notable example of how open social networking ecosystems work differently from the Big Tech platforms that dominate the space today, as new functionality and features can be developed by the community, not just by the company itself.
Bluesky announced the integration with Germ earlier this month, noting that the experimental integration will allow Germ users to add a button to their profile so others can message them on Bluesky in an E2E encrypted environment.
Meanwhile, Germ’s standalone app is also available in a public beta on iOS in North America and Europe. That app had seen thousands of downloads so far, but after the official integration announcement, daily active users jumped by 5x, the team said.
California-based Germ is a startup founded by Tessa Brown, a communications scholar who previously taught at Stanford, and Mark Xue, who worked as a privacy engineer at Apple on technologies like FaceTime and iMessage. The idea, the company previously explained to TechCrunch, was to offer an alternative to other E2E encrypted platforms like iMessage, Signal, and WhatsApp that’s built on newer technologies.
Today, Germ takes advantage of Messaging Layer Security (MLS), a new standard approved by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), and the AT Protocol (or ATProto), which powers Bluesky, Skylight, and a growing number of other social apps.
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Instead of requiring a user’s phone number, Germ integrates with ATProto to enable its encrypted chats. That means Germ’s messages cannot be decrypted by another service, including itself or Bluesky.
To use the new messenger, you’ll simply click on the badge on a friend’s profile on Bluesky, which opens an iOS App Clip — a lightweight, temporary app. You click “open” on this app experience and then authenticate by logging in with your ATProto handle. You can then send a message to a friend immediately. You’ll also be nudged to download the full Germ DM app, but this is optional.
If you want to add the badge to your own profile, you’ll download the Germ DM app on iOS and authenticate your Bluesky credentials there. (Note: We had to force-quit the Bluesky iOS app and restart it before the Germ badge appeared.)
The company has been building up to the official Bluesky integration for many months, starting with a private beta in August, which was launched using “magic links” shared in users’ bios. Now, users who set up Germ to work within Bluesky will receive a new badge that’s displayed on their profiles, allowing them to remove the link-in-bio option they were using before. (The links will still work, but the badge is easier and more noticeable, of course.)
Germ told TechCrunch their startup has been in conversation with the ATProto developer community, including Bluesky’s app and protocol teams, since the ATmosphere Conference in Seattle last year.
“We’ve been transparent about our planning and roadmap, and shipping our private beta in August generated valuable feedback from users and developers about the desire to replace our links in bios with native UI,” said Xue, who serves as CTO at Germ Network. “Both our team and Bluesky’s saw value in better AppView support for the Germ link.”
The changes to Bluesky’s app were led by head of product Alex Benzer, as the company was looked to experiment with implementing third-party services within Bluesky.
“Working directly with the Bluesky team has been a treat,” Brown, Germ’s CEO, told TechCrunch. “They ship fast, prioritize the user experience, and care about their users’ access to end-to-end encrypted messaging. We’re thrilled to be the first secure messenger they’ve brought natively into their app.”
While it’s true that the AT Protocol could eventually implement E2E encryption, that is not a focus today. As Bluesky protocol engineer Daniel Holms recently explained, the company has several reasons not to design a system itself.
“The reality is that E2EE is hard,” he wrote in a blog post. “And this inherent complexity isn’t something that the protocol team at Bluesky can just handle – it gets pushed out to every dev trying to build a client that works with encrypted data,” Holms said.
Xue agreed, adding, “We align with the ATProto ethos that people should be able to communicate using the apps and tools they choose. We believe that by solving the hard problems for ATProto users in safe, transparent, and user-friendly ways, they’ll continue to choose us,” he said.
Shortly after Bluesky added support for the Germ badge, another AT Protocol-based client, Blacksky, did as well.
Brown noted the team is currently focused on shipping more everyday messaging features, not on monetization. But further down the road, Germ may test paid features.
“We expect that our first paid features will be centered on the needs of prosumer power users like creators, journalists, and politicians—for example, support for multiple handles and private AI-powered screening for first messages from new connections,” she said.
Tech
ElevenLabs lists BlackRock, Jamie Foxx, and Eva Longoria as new investors
Voice AI company ElevenLabs revealed new investors that are part of its $500 million Series D fundraise, which was first announced in February. The additions include institutions such as BlackRock, Wellington, D.E. Shaw, and Schroders; enterprises like Nvidia, Salesforce Ventures, Santander, KPN, and Deutsche Telekom; and individual investors such as Jamie Foxx, Eva Longoria, and Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk.
The startup also noted that it surpassed $500 million in ARR (annual recurring revenue), after ending last year with nearly $350 million in ARR. The company’s co-founder and CEO, Mati Staniszewski, said last month that ElevenLabs added $100 million in net new ARR in Q1 2026, ending the quarter at roughly $450 million in ARR.
The company has also accelerated its valuation rapidly, growing from $6.6 billion last September to $11 billion this February.
“Voice is the highest-stakes channel for any customer interaction, and the bar for quality, latency, and security is extremely high. ElevenLabs is not just a category leader – it is becoming a foundational enabler of Deutsche Telekom’s broader Industrial AI vision. From voice-as-a-service to multilingual automation and in-network AI agents, we believe the company is uniquely positioned to reshape how businesses interact with customers across all channels,” Karine Peters, managing director at Deutsche Telekom’s venture arm T.Capital, said in a statement.
In the past quarter, the voice AI company has signed enterprise contracts with the likes of Deutsche Telekom, Revolut, and Klarna.
ElevenLabs said that, besides the fundraising, it also closed a $100 million tender, a second in roughly six months after the company issued one last September. Staniszewski said in a blog post that the company will give an opportunity to retail investors to invest in ElevenLabs through Robinhood Ventures, but didn’t provide details about the program.
Staniszewski noted that consumers won’t trust systems that sound robotic or “interact strangely” and emphasized the importance of building “human-level AI voice models.” Last month, the company acquired the team from Polish voice AI startup Papla to bolster its research team.
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Tech
Kaspersky suspects Chinese hackers planted a backdoor into Daemon Tools in ‘widespread’ attack
Security researchers at Kaspersky say they have identified a malicious backdoor planted in the popular and long-running Windows disc imaging software, Daemon Tools.
The Russian cybersecurity company said on Tuesday that data collected from computers around the world running the Kaspersky antivirus software shows a “widespread” attack is under way, targeting thousands of Windows computers running Daemon Tools.
The hackers, whom Kaspersky has linked to a Chinese-language speaking group based on an analysis of the malware, used the backdoor in Daemon Tools to plant additional malware on a dozen computers across the retail, scientific and manufacturing sectors, as well as government systems. Kaspersky said the hacking of these specific computers implied a “targeted” effort.
The company said the targeted organizations are located in Russia, Belarus, and Thailand.
Kaspersky said the backdoor was first detected on April 8.
Kaspersky said it had contacted Disc Soft, the company that maintains Daemon Tools, but did not say if the developer responded or took action. Kaspersky said the supply chain attack is “still active,” suggesting that the hackers can still plant malware on thousands of computers running the disc imaging software.
This is the latest in a string of so-called “supply chain” attacks that have targeted developers of popular software in recent months. Hackers are increasingly taking aim at the accounts of developers who work on widely used code and software, and abusing that access to push malicious code to anyone who relies on the software. This approach lets the hackers break into a large number of computers at once when their malicious code is delivered as a software update.
Earlier this year, hackers associated with the Chinese government hijacked the popular text editing software Notepad++ to deliver malware to a number of organizations with interests in East Asia. Security researchers also warned of another attack last month targeting users who visited the website of CPUID, which makes the popular HWMonitor and CPU-Z tools.
TechCrunch downloaded the Windows installer from Daemon Tools’ website, and the file appeared to contain the backdoor when we checked it with the online malware scanner service VirusTotal.
It’s not known if the macOS version of Daemon Tools was compromised, or if other apps made by Disc Soft are affected.
When contacted for comment, a Disc Soft representative said they are “aware of the report and are currently investigating the situation.”
“Our team is treating this matter with the highest priority and is actively working to assess and address the issue. At this stage, we are not in a position to confirm specific details referenced in the report. However, we are taking all necessary steps to remediate any potential risks and to ensure the security of our users,” the representative said.
Do you know more about the cyberattack targeting Daemon Tools users? Did you receive an antivirus alert saying you were affected? We want to hear from you. To contact this reporter securely, reach out via Signal username zackwhittaker.1337.
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Tech
Etsy launches its app within ChatGPT as it continues its AI push
Etsy announced Tuesday the launch of its native app within ChatGPT, opening up a new way for shoppers to explore its catalog of over 100 million listings.
The new experience is designed to move beyond the limitations of traditional keyword queries. Instead of typing something like “wooden coffee table,” then scrolling and adjusting filters, users can now express what they’re looking for in natural language. For instance, “Help me find a Mother’s Day gift under $100 for my mom who loves gardening.”
Now live in beta, the feature allows users to tag @Etsy directly within a prompt. From there, the Etsy app in ChatGPT surfaces relevant product listings that users can browse, compare, and click through to Etsy for additional details or purchase.
This isn’t Etsy’s first experiment inside ChatGPT. Back in September, Etsy became an early partner in ChatGPT’s Instant Checkout integration, which let users buy products directly inside the chat interface. However, the initiative ended in March, suggesting it didn’t perform as OpenAI had hoped. It was reported that Etsy didn’t see a large volume of sales from the integration, leading Etsy to start building a native app within ChatGPT instead.
Alongside this launch, Etsy also revealed it’s testing a beta conversational search experience within its platform, specifically geared toward helping users find gifts. The gift assistant acts as a personal shopper, offering a guided, conversational way to discover ideas, narrow down preferences, and surface relevant products.
This builds on Etsy’s broader AI push, which includes an AI-powered discovery experience featuring curated collections and a suite of seller tools, including a tool that helps generate product titles and descriptions, as well as a writing assistant to help draft messages to buyers. In 2024, Etsy introduced a new “Designed” label to identify AI content, part of an effort to increase transparency as AI-generated artwork becomes more prevalent on the platform.
The news of a ChatGPT integration comes a week after Etsy reported its Q1 2026 earnings, surpassing revenue expectations with $631 million, and marketplace gross merchandise sales were up 6% year over year. Notably, active buyers increased for the first time in two years to 86.6 million. Etsy also touted 5.6 million active sellers on the platform.
In February, the company announced it was selling Depop to eBay for $1.2 billion in cash, a move aimed at doubling down on its core marketplace.
Etsy joins a growing list of companies building native apps within ChatGPT, including Angi, SeatGeek, Tubi, and Wix. Developers have been able to build apps within the chatbot since October.
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