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

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 (techcrunch.com/2026/04/20/who-is-john-ternus-t…).

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 (techcrunch.com/2026/04/18/the-app-store-is-boo…).

On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity (techcrunch.com/podcasts/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:

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Why Anthropic’s Mythos model (techcrunch.com/2026/04/21/unauthorized-group-h…) is raising questions about both safety and marketing

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The $5 billion Amazon-Anthropic deal (techcrunch.com/2026/04/20/anthropic-takes-5b-f…) that looks a lot like every other circular AI infrastructure play

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What the SpaceX-Cursor agreement (techcrunch.com/2026/04/21/spacex-is-working-wi…) (and that $10 billion breakup fee) says about Elon Musk's AI strategy post-xAI merger

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Why fintech Revolut (techcrunch.com/2026/04/21/revolut-eyes-valuati…) and AI chip startup Cerebras (docs.google.com/document/d/18lBWJdmvxYWTMJPMmV…)' public market plans have us wondering whether this is actually the year the IPO market reopens

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Chapters:

00:00 Intro

00:26 Anthropic's Mythos accessed by “unauthorized groups”

04:28 Is Amazon's $5B Anthropic investment just another circular deal?

09:53 SpaceX and Cursor’s $60B option

18:25 Is this finally the year of the IPO?

21:38 SpaceX, Revolut, and Cerebras: the IPOs to watch

26:41 Tim Cook's retirement plans

29:15 What a new Apple CEO means for startups and the App Store

35:59 Outro

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