Apple's new CEO, and why Elon Musk wants to buy Cursor for $60B

About this episode

The episode discusses the transition of Apple's CEO and the implications for the tech ecosystem, alongside major deals in the industry.

A new era is on the way for Apple as Tim Cook plans to step down from his CEO role in September, handing the reins to hardware chief John Ternus. Ternus may be inheriting one of the most durable businesses in tech, but he’s also stepping into a very different ecosystem than the one Cook spent decades shaping. The App Store’s 30% cut is under pressure, the behind-the-scenes power Apple once held over developers is being challenged, and AI-native apps are changing what it means to build on Apple’s platform. On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O’Kane dig into what this transition means for startups and a closer look at some of the week’s biggest deals — including SpaceX's $60B option on Cursor. Listen to the full episode to hear about: Why Anthropic’s Mythos model is raising questions about both safety and marketing The $5 billion Amazon-Anthropic deal that looks a lot like every other circular AI infrastructure play What the SpaceX-Cursor agreement (and that $10 billion breakup fee) says about Elon Musk's AI strategy post-xAI merger Why fintech Revolut and AI chip startup Cerebras' public market plans have us wondering whether…

People in this episode

Hosts: Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, Sean O'Kane

Topics covered

• Apple CEO transition
• Elon Musk
• AI strategy
• startup ecosystem
• IPO market
• tech deals

Keywords

• Apple
• Tim Cook
• John Ternus
• Elon Musk
• SpaceX
• Cursor
• Anthropic
• IPO
• AI

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Apple, SpaceX, Cursor, Anthropic, Amazon

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