# Enterprise AI Deployment, Legacy App Sunsets, and Turnaround IPOs

**Podcast:** TechCrunch Daily Crunch
**Published:** 2026-07-03

## Transcript

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Microsoft launches its own AI deployment company.
I'm Emron Shaikh, and your Friday Daily Crunch, featuring three big tech headlines, starts right now.
The Department of Homeland Security is investigating a breach of its platform, which federal, state, and local governments and law enforcement use to share intelligence.
with one senior lawmaker warning that the information spill could risk national security.
News sites NextGov, which first broke news of the incident, and Bleeping Computer report that DHS officials are probing a cyberattack on its Homeland Security Information Network, or HSIN, which allows government agencies and local officials to plan, coordinate, and share information and intelligence about major events and respond to emergencies.
The hackers reportedly broke into HSIN servers.
during late May and early June, potentially exposing information shared using the platform, per NextGov.
When reached by email, an unnamed DHS spokesperson said that the department is aware of a recent cyber incident involving a specific, unclassified legacy information-sharing environment.
We immediately took action to isolate the affected systems, mitigate the vulnerability, and launch a comprehensive forensic investigation, said the statement.
The investigation is ongoing, and the spokesperson declined to comment further.
Now, it's unclear what data was stolen or how much was taken, and Homeland Security did not answer TechCrunch's questions about the incident.
A previously reported security lapse during 2023 revealed that HSIN contained personal information shared among law enforcement related to the surveillance of Americans.
TV Time, a popular app for tracking the shows you're watching and engaging in community discussions, is shutting down.
The company announced via in-app messages that TV Time's app will be discontinued, no longer offering service after July 15, 2026.
Now, the company blamed the expense of running the platform as a reason behind the decision, but a shift to a more AI-focused business seems to be the real culprit here.
While we loved supporting TV time, it was no longer sustainable to continue operating the service as a free app, and there was not enough demand for a paid app, the message read.
Continuing, to everyone who tracked, discovered, and shared their love of TV and movies with us, thank you.
Your passion and enthusiasm made TV time more than an app.
You made it a community.
TV Times shutdown marks the end of one of the larger TV fan communities online and underscores how the growth of the AI industry is shifting companies' priorities.
As businesses race to build AI products, consumer apps are sometimes shuttered, even if they have active user bases.
Another example of this trend is read-it-later app Pocket, which still had loyal users but closed down as its owner Mozilla prioritized building out Firefox and AI-powered browsing experiences.
Owned by Whip Media, TV Times app has north of 26 million lifetime installs, per data from app intelligence provider app figures, and saw nearly 29,000 new downloads over the past 30 days.
The company says the app will be removed from the app stores on July 15th, but before then, users can request the download of their data through a GDPR-compliant export tool.
On Thursday, Microsoft announced a new operating business called Microsoft Frontier Company, focused on delivering successful enterprise AI deployments with Microsoft's existing AI tools.
Now, the project will be backed by a $2.5 billion investment from Microsoft, as well as 6,000 industry and engineering experts.
In a statement announcing the venture, Microsoft's commercial business CEO Judson Althoff resisted the forward-deployed engineer, FTE, label that is often applied to these ventures.
This goes beyond what has been labeled as forward-deployed engineering, Althoff wrote, continuing and will be the largest, most capable, outcome-driven engineering organization in the industry.
Nonetheless, the venture bears a striking similarity to a number of FDE-based AI ventures announced in recent months.
Just two days earlier, Amazon Web Services announced an internal commitment of $1 billion for its own AI deployment venture, explicitly embracing the FDE model.
Both OpenAI and Anthropic have launched joint ventures along similar lines, although those efforts also involve outside capital from private equity firms.
Microsoft's existing client base will give the new effort a significant head start, as the company has already deployed engineers to much of the Fortune 500.
The announcement cites an early partnership with the London Stock Exchange Group, as well as Unilever, Lando Lakes, and Accenture.
Now let's find out the latest in startup business news all in about one minute with our friend, producer Dennis.
Imran, thank you, and earlier this year, shares of traditional SAAS companies tumble amid investor fears that software built with AI could eventually displace those businesses.
Despite such concerns, Bending Spoons, a company that acquires and revitalizes stagnating but well-known tech firms, says its shares surged in its market debut.
It closed at $40.50 on Wednesday.
That's nearly 40% above its $29 IPO price.
At that price, the 13-year-old Milan, Italy-based company has a market capitalization of $25.7 billion, more than double its last private valuation.
of $11 billion.
The company raised $1.68 billion in its offering.
Bending Spoons has grown rapidly by acquiring aging but once popular brands like AOL, Eventbrite, Meetup, and Vimeo, then turning them profitable, typically through aggressive cost-cutting, launching new features, and raising prices.
While the company's approach is similar to private equity, there is one key difference.
Bending Spoons has no plans to sell these businesses.
And folks, that's your Daily Crunch.
Today's stories were reported by Russell Brandom, Zach Whitaker, Sarah Perez, and more awesome TechCrunch journalists.
We'll see you here tomorrow, same Tech Time, same Crunch channel.
And until then, find us at TechCrunch.com.