Tech
NSO Group admits cutting off 10 customers because they abused its Pegasus spyware, say unsealed court documents
On Thursday, WhatsApp scored a legal victory by convincing a U.S. federal judge to publicly release three court documents that include new revelations about the inner workings of Pegasus, the spyware made by Israeli surveillance tech maker NSO Group.
The newly unsealed documents include information coming from depositions of NSO employees during the legal proceedings, internal company documents, as well as — ironically — WhatsApp messages exchanged between NSO employees, which WhatsApp obtained by sending subpoenas to NSO.
The documents also reveal that NSO disconnected 10 government customers in recent years from accessing the Pegasus spyware, citing abuse of its service.
This release of new revelations is the latest development in the lawsuit that WhatsApp filed in 2019, accusing NSO of violating the anti-hacking law, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and breaching WhatsApp’s terms of service, by accessing WhatsApp servers and targeting individual users with spyware sent over the chat app. The accusations are based on a series of cyberattacks against WhatsApp users, including journalists, dissidents, and human rights advocates.
“The evidence unveiled shows exactly how NSO’s operations violated U.S. law and launched their cyber-attacks against journalists, human rights activists and civil society,” WhatsApp spokesperson Zade Alsawah said in a statement sent to TechCrunch. “We are going to continue working to hold NSO accountable and protect our users.”
‘Tens of thousands’ of potential targets
According to the court documents, seen by TechCrunch, NSO had developed a suite of hacking tools to be used against targets using WhatsApp, capable of accessing private data on the target’s phone. The hacking suite was called “Hummingbird,” and two of the suite’s exploits were dubbed “Eden” and “Heaven.”
This suite cost NSO’s government customers — namely police departments and intelligence agencies — up to $6.8 million for a one-year license, and netted NSO “at least $31 million in revenue in 2019, according to one of the court documents.
Thanks to these hacking tools, NSO installed Pegasus on “between hundreds and tens of thousands” of target devices, according to a deposition by NSO’s head of research and development Tamir Gazneli.
Until now, it wasn’t clear who was actually sending the malicious WhatsApp messages to target individuals with spyware. For years, NSO has claimed to have no knowledge of customers’ operations, and not be involved in carrying out the targeted cyberattacks. The newly released court documents cast doubt on some of NSO’s claims.
WhatsApp argued in one of the court documents that, “NSO’s customers’ role is minimal,” given that the government customers only needed to input the phone number of the target’s device and, citing an NSO employee, “press Install, and Pegasus will install the agent on the device remotely without any engagement.”
“In other words, the customer simply places an order for a target device’s data, and NSO controls every aspect of the data retrieval and delivery process through its design of Pegasus,” WhatsApp argued.
The court filings cited an NSO employee as saying it “was our decision whether to trigger [the exploit] using WhatsApp messages or not,” referring to one of the exploits the company offered its customers.
When reached for comment, NSO spokesperson Gil Lainer said in a statement to TechCrunch: “NSO stands behind its previous statements in which we repeatedly detailed that the system is operated solely by our clients and that neither NSO nor its employees have access to the intelligence gathered by the system.”
“We are confident that these claims, like many others in the past, will be proven wrong in court, and we look forward to the opportunity to do so,” said NSO’s Lainer.
NSO’s three exploits targeted WhatsApp users
One technique that NSO used to allow its customers to target WhatsApp users, described in one document, was to set up something the company called a “WhatsApp Installation Server,” or WIS, which WhatsApp calls a “fake client.” This was essentially a modified version of the WhatsApp app that NSO developed and used to send messages — including their malicious exploits — to regular WhatsApp users. NSO admitted setting up real WhatsApp accounts for its customers, per one of the court documents.
WhatsApp was able to defeat both NSO’s “Eden” and “Heaven” exploits with patches and security updates, according to an internal NSO communication.
“Eden/Heaven/Hummingbird R.I.P. announcement,” read a message sent to NSO employees.
The court documents show that NSO’s Heaven exploit was active before 2018, and was designed to direct target WhatsApp devices into communicating with a malicious WhatsApp relay server controlled by NSO.
After WhatsApp patched its systems against NSO’s Heaven exploit, NSO developed a new exploit called “Eden,” which an NSO employee quoted by the court documents said, “need[ed] to go through WhatsApp relay servers,” which the Heaven exploit had sought to avoid. It was the use of the Eden exploit that led to WhatsApp filing its lawsuit against NSO, according to a deposition by another NSO employee.
A third exploit developed by NSO, revealed in the documents, was called “Erised,” a so-called “zero-click” exploit that could compromise a victim’s phone without any interaction from the victim. WhatsApp blocked the use of NSO’s Erised exploit in May 2020, several months after WhatsApp had filed its lawsuit.
Customers cut-off
Another interesting detail that surfaced this week is the admission by one of the NSO employees deposed in the course of the lawsuit that Pegasus was used against Dubai’s Princess Haya, a case that was reported by the The Guardian and The Washington Post in 2021, and later by The New Yorker in 2023.
The same NSO employee said the spyware maker “disconnected” access to Pegasus for 10 customers, citing abuse of the spyware.
At this point in the legal case, WhatsApp is asking the judge to issue a summary judgment in the case, and is awaiting a decision.
Meanwhile, the details that have come out from the lawsuit this week could help other people who have sued NSO in other countries, according to Natalia Krapiva, the tech legal counsel at Access Now, a nonprofit that has investigated some cases of abuse carried out with NSO’s spyware.
“WhatsApp’s sticking with their legal action finally reaps some benefits,” Krapiva told TechCrunch. “While it is true that NSO has not been sharing much information (especially things like Pegasus codes, list of customers, etc.), the information that they did share is already quite useful for this case but also for legal cases against NSO around the world.”
“And the fact that NSO hides information also cuts both ways because it also makes it very difficult for them to present a solid defense,” said Krapiva.
Tech
Volkswagen’s cheapest EV ever is the first to use Rivian software
Volkswagen’s ultra-cheap EV called the ID EVERY1 — a small four-door hatchback revealed Wednesday — will be the first to roll out with software and architecture from Rivian, according to a source familiar with the new model.
The EV is expected to go into production in 2027 with a starting price of 20,000 euros ($21,500). A second EV called the ID.2all, which will be priced in the 25,000 euro price category, will be available in 2026. Both vehicles are part of the automaker’s new of category electric urban front-wheel drive cars that are being developing under the so-called “Brand Group Core” that makes up the volume brands in the VW Group. And both vehicles are for the European market.
The EVERY1 will be the first to ship with Rivian’s vehicle architecture and software as part of a $5.8 billion joint venture struck last year between the German automaker and U.S. EV maker. The ID.2all is based on the E3 1.1 architecture and software developed by VW’s software unit Cariad.
VW didn’t name Rivian in its reveal Wednesday, although there were numerous nods to next-generation software. Kai Grünitz, member of the Volkswagen Brand Board of Management responsible for Technical Development, noted it would be the first model in the entire VW Group to use a “fundamentally new, particularly powerful software architecture.”
“This means the future entry-level Volkswagen can be equipped with new functions throughout its entire life cycle,” he said. “Even after purchase of a new car, the small Volkswagen can still be individually adapted to customer needs.”
Sources who didn’t want to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly, confirmed to TechCrunch that Rivian’s software will be in the ID EVERY1 EV. TechCrunch has reached out to Rivian and VW and will update the article if the companies respond.
The new joint venture provides Rivian with a needed influx of cash and the opportunity to diversify its business. Meanwhile, VW Group gains a next-generation electrical architecture and software for EVs that will help it better compete. Both companies have said that the joint venture, called Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies, will reduce development costs and help scale new technologies more quickly.
The joint venture is a 50-50 partnership with co-CEOs. Rivian’s head of software, Wassym Bensaid, and Volkswagen Group’s chief technical engineer, Carsten Helbing, will lead the joint venture. The team will be based initially in Palo Alto, California. Three other sites are in development in North America and Europe, the companies have previously said.
“The ID. EVERY1 represents the last piece of the puzzle on our way to the widest model selection in the volume segment,” Thomas Schäfer, CEO of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand and Head of the Brand Group Core, said in a statement. “We will then offer every customer the right car with the right drive system–including affordable all-electric entry-level mobility. Our goal is to be the world’s technologically leading high-volume manufacturer by 2030. And as a brand for everyone–just as you would expect from Volkswagen.”
The Volkswagen ID EVERY1 is just a concept for now — and with only a few details attached to the unveiling. The concept vehicle reaches a top speed of 130 km/h (80 miles per hour) and is powered by a newly developed electric drive motor with 70 kW, according to Volkswagen. The German automaker said the range on the EVERY1 will be at least 250 kilometers (150 miles). The vehicle is small but larger than VW’s former UP! vehicle. The company said it will have enough space for four people and a luggage compartment volume of 305 liters.
Tech
The hottest AI models, what they do, and how to use them
AI models are being cranked out at a dizzying pace, by everyone from Big Tech companies like Google to startups like OpenAI and Anthropic. Keeping track of the latest ones can be overwhelming.
Adding to the confusion is that AI models are often promoted based on industry benchmarks. But these technical metrics often reveal little about how real people and companies actually use them.
To cut through the noise, TechCrunch has compiled an overview of the most advanced AI models released since 2024, with details on how to use them and what they’re best for. We’ll keep this list updated with the latest launches, too.
There are literally over a million AI models out there: Hugging Face, for example, hosts over 1.4 million. So this list might miss some models that perform better, in one way or another.
AI models released in 2025
Cohere’s Aya Vision
Cohere released a multimodal model called Aya Vision that it claims is best in class at doing things like captioning images and answering questions about photos. It also excels in languages other than English, unlike other models, Cohere claims. It is available for free on WhatsApp.
OpenAI’s GPT 4.5 ‘Orion’
OpenAI calls Orion their largest model to date, touting its strong “world knowledge” and “emotional intelligence.” However, it underperforms on certain benchmarks compared to newer reasoning models. Orion is available to subscribers of OpenAI’s $200 a month plan.
Claude Sonnet 3.7
Anthropic says this is the industry’s first ‘hybrid’ reasoning model, because it can both fire off quick answers and really think things through when needed. It also gives users control over how long the model can think for, per Anthropic. Sonnet 3.7 is available to all Claude users, but heavier users will need a $20 a month Pro plan.
xAI’s Grok 3
Grok 3 is the latest flagship model from Elon Musk-founded startup xAI. It’s claimed to outperform other leading models on math, science, and coding. The model requires X Premium (which is $50 a month.) After one study found Grok 2 leaned left, Musk pledged to shift Grok more “politically neutral” but it’s not yet clear if that’s been achieved.
OpenAI o3-mini
This is OpenAI’s latest reasoning model and is optimized for STEM-related tasks like coding, math, and science. It’s not OpenAI’s most powerful model but because it’s smaller, the company says it’s significantly lower cost. It is available for free but requires a subscription for heavy users.
OpenAI Deep Research
OpenAI’s Deep Research is designed for doing in-depth research on a topic with clear citations. This service is only available with ChatGPT’s $200 per month Pro subscription. OpenAI recommends it for everything from science to shopping research, but beware that hallucinations remain a problem for AI.
Mistral Le Chat
Mistral has launched app versions of Le Chat, a multimodal AI personal assistant. Mistral claims Le Chat responds faster than any other chatbot. It also has a paid version with up-to-date journalism from the AFP. Tests from Le Monde found Le Chat’s performance impressive, although it made more errors than ChatGPT.
OpenAI Operator
OpenAI’s Operator is meant to be a personal intern that can do things independently, like help you buy groceries. It requires a $200 a month ChatGPT Pro subscription. AI agents hold a lot of promise, but they’re still experimental: a Washington Post reviewer says Operator decided on its own to order a dozen eggs for $31, paid with the reviewer’s credit card.
Google Gemini 2.0 Pro Experimental
Google Gemini’s much-awaited flagship model says it excels at coding and understanding general knowledge. It also has a super-long context window of 2 million tokens, helping users who need to quickly process massive chunks of text. The service requires (at minimum) a Google One AI Premium subscription of $19.99 a month.
AI models released in 2024
DeepSeek R1
This Chinese AI model took Silicon Valley by storm. DeepSeek’s R1 performs well on coding and math, while its open source nature means anyone can run it locally. Plus, it’s free. However, R1 integrates Chinese government censorship and faces rising bans for potentially sending user data back to China.
Gemini Deep Research
Deep Research summarizes Google’s search results in a simple and well-cited document. The service is helpful for students and anyone else who needs a quick research summary. However, its quality isn’t nearly as good as an actual peer-reviewed paper. Deep Research requires a $19.99 Google One AI Premium subscription.
Meta Llama 3.3 70B
This is the newest and most advanced version of Meta’s open source Llama AI models. Meta has touted this version as its cheapest and most efficient yet, especially for math, general knowledge, and instruction following. It is free and open source.
OpenAI Sora
Sora is a model that creates realistic videos based on text. While it can generate entire scenes rather than just clips, OpenAI admits that it often generates “unrealistic physics.” It’s currently only available on paid versions of ChatGPT, starting with Plus, which is $20 a month.
Alibaba Qwen QwQ-32B-Preview
This model is one of the few to rival OpenAI’s o1 on certain industry benchmarks, excelling in math and coding. Ironically for a “reasoning model,” it has “room for improvement in common sense reasoning,” Alibaba says. It also incorporates Chinese government censorship, TechCrunch testing shows. It’s free and open source.
Anthropic’s Computer Use
Claude’s Computer Use is meant to take control of your computer to complete tasks like coding or booking a plane ticket, making it a predecessor of OpenAI’s Operator. Computer use, however, remains in beta. Pricing is via API: $0.80 per million tokens of input and $4 per million tokens of output.
x.AI’s Grok 2
Elon Musk’s AI company, x.AI, has launched an enhanced version of its flagship Grok 2 chatbot it claims is “three times faster.” Free users are limited to 10 questions every two hours on Grok, while subscribers to X’s Premium and Premium+ plans enjoy higher usage limits. x.AI also launched an image generator, Aurora, that produces highly photorealistic images, including some graphic or violent content.
OpenAI o1
OpenAI’s o1 family is meant to produce better answers by “thinking” through responses through a hidden reasoning feature. The model excels at coding, math, and safety, OpenAI claims, but has issues deceiving humans, too. Using o1 requires subscribing to ChatGPT Plus, which is $20 a month.
Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 3.5
Claude Sonnet 3.5 is a model Anthropic claims as being best in class. It’s become known for its coding capabilities and is considered a tech insider’s chatbot of choice. The model can be accessed for free on Claude although heavy users will need a $20 monthly Pro subscription. While it can understand images, it can’t generate them.
OpenAI GPT 4o-mini
OpenAI has touted GPT 4o-mini as its most affordable and fastest model yet thanks to its small size. It’s meant to enable a broad range of tasks like powering customer service chatbots. The model is available on ChatGPT’s free tier. It’s better suited for high-volume simple tasks compared to more complex ones.
Cohere Command R+
Cohere’s Command R+ model excels at complex Retrieval-Augmented Generation (or RAG) applications for enterprises. That means it can find and cite specific pieces of information really well. (The inventor of RAG actually works at Cohere.) Still, RAG doesn’t fully solve AI’s hallucination problem.
Tech
Not all cancer patients need chemo. Ataraxis AI raised $20M to fix that.
Artificial intelligence is a big trend in cancer care, and it’s mostly focused detecting cancer at the earliest possible stage. That makes a lot of sense, given that cancer is less deadly the earlier it’s detected.
But fewer are asking another fundamental question: if someone does have cancer, is an aggressive treatment like chemotherapy necessary? That’s the problem Ataraxis AI is trying to solve.
The New York-based startup is focused on using AI to accurately predict not only if a patient has cancer, but also what their cancer outcome looks like in 5 to 10 years. If there’s only a small chance of the cancer coming back, chemo can be avoided altogether – saving a lot of money, while avoiding the treatment’s notorious side effects.
Ataraxis AI now plans to launch their first commercial test, for breast cancer, to U.S. oncologists in the coming months, its co-founder Jan Witowski tells TechCrunch. To bolster the launch and expand into other types of cancer, the startup has raised a $20.4 million Series A, it told TechCrunch exclusively.
The round was led by AIX Ventures with participation from Thiel Bio, Founders Fund, Floating Point, Bertelsmann, and existing investors Giant Ventures and Obvious Ventures. Ataraxis emerged from stealth last year with a $4 million seed round.
Ataraxis was co-founded by Witowski and Krzysztof Geras, an assistant professor at NYU’s medical school who focuses on AI.
Ataraxis’ tech is powered by an AI model that extracts information from high-resolution images of cancer cells. The model is trained on hundreds of millions of real images from thousands of patients, Witowski said. A recent study showed Ataraxis’ tech was 30% more accurate than the current standard of care for breast cancer, per Ataraxis.
Long term, Ataraxis has big ambitions. It wants its tests to impact at least half of new cancer cases by 2030. It also views itself as a frontier AI company that builds its own models, touting Meta’s chief AI scientist Yann LeCun as an AI advisor.
“I think at Ataraxis we are trying to build what is essentially an AI frontier lab, but for healthcare applications,” Witowski said. “Because so many of those problems require a very novel technology.”
The AI boom has led to a rush of fundraises for cancer care startups. Valar Labs raised $22 million to help patients figure out their treatment plan in May 2024, for example. There’s also a bevvy of AI-powered drug discovery firms in the cancer space, like Manas AI which raised $24.6 million in January 2025 and was co-founded by Reid Hoffman, the LinkedIn co-founder.
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