TechCrunch Industry News

Chronosphere acquires Calyptia to extend its observability platform

23 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Chronosphere, a startup that offers a cloud native observability platform, today announced that it has acquired Calyptia. Learn more about your ad ch...

Sony tells Zee it’s terminating the $10 billion India merger

23 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sony called off the merger between its India unit and Zee Entertainment on Monday, ending a two-year acquisition deliberation that would have created ...

X says a bug caused numerous posts to be labeled as ‘Sensitive Media’

22 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A bug on X, formerly Twitter, was causing numerous posts over the weekend to be flagged as “Sensitive Media,” thwarting the company’s own attemp...

TikTok faces Iowa lawsuit accusing the company of ‘lying’ to parents

22 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The state of Iowa is suing TikTok, alleging that the social media company misleads parents about the kinds of content available to young users. Learn ...

Spotify’s astrology-like Daylists go viral, but its micro-genre mastermind was let go last month

20 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Is it a “fearful vocaloid wednesday morning,” a “yearning cottagecore thursday afternoon,” or perhaps a “heartbroken karaoke friday evening”...

Unredacted Meta documents reveal ‘historical reluctance’ to protect children

19 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Internal Meta documents about child safety have been unsealed as part of a lawsuit filed by the New Mexico Department of Justice against both Meta and...

Land Moto accelerates its electric bike battery play with $3M infusion

19 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Cleveland-based electric motorcycle startup Land Moto is looking to diversify by powering up the battery design side of its tech. Learn more about you...

NASA’s robotic, self-assembling structures could be the next phase of space construction

18 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Bad news if you want to move to the Moon or Mars: housing is a little hard to come by. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adc...

Apple tops Samsung in worldwide smartphone shipments for the first time

18 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Apple’s iPhone has overtaken Samsung for the first time ever as the best-selling smartphone in 2023, according to a new report from IDC. Learn more...

FedEx announces its own commerce platform for merchants

17 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Logistics company FedEx announced its own commerce platform called FDX today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Elon’s Tesla robot is sort of ‘ok’ at folding laundry in pre-scripted demo

17 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Elon Musk’s Optimus humanoid robot from Tesla is doing more stuff — this time folding a t-shirt on a table in a development facility. Learn more a...

Google will allow more real-money games on the Play Store

16 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Google announced today that the company plans to support more real-money games (RMG) on the Play Store this year by allowing more types of games in th...

LG opens its first US EV charging factory in Texas 

16 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

LG Electronics has opened its first electric vehicle (EV) charger facility outside of South Korea — in Fort Worth, Texas — to capture a share of N...

As Disney pushes towards streaming profitability, Pixar to undergo layoffs in 2024

15 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Disney-owned animation studio Pixar is poised to undergo layoffs this year, TechCrunch has learned and the company confirmed. Learn more about your a...

Google Cloud rolls out new gen AI products for retailers

12 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Google wants to inject a little generative AI into retail. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Smart molluscs – yes, smart molluscs – could watch our waterways 24/7 for pollution

12 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

If the clams could speak, what would they say? Surely we all ask ourselves this question every day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastch...

App economy recovered in 2023, with $171B in consumer spending, but downloads were flat

11 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

After the app economy slowed for the first time ever in 2022, things picked up pace again over the past year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

X removes support for NFT profile pictures

10 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On Tuesday, Elon Musk’s X wrote about a grand vision for the company in 2024, which includes launching peer-to-peer payments and more AI-powered too...

Threads accidentally rolls out the feature to view latest search results

10 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Multiple Threads users on the iOS app reported earlier today that they are seeing a new “Latest” option to sort search results on the new social n...

After taking credibility hit, Carta announces it is exiting the secondaries business: “We have decided to prioritize trust”

09 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Roughly 72 hours after a prominent startup customer complained that Carta was misusing information with which it was entrusted — scaring many of Car...

Astrobotic lander on its way to the moon with ULA’s historic flight

09 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It’s hard to understate just how much was at stake in Monday’s early morning launch of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket. Learn mor...

RIP? Third-party podcast app Castro appears to be dead, company goes quiet

08 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The once popular third-party podcast app Castro has seemingly shut down, after earlier saying that it was “actively seeking a new home” for its pr...

Logan Paul promises CryptoZoo refunds, as long as you don’t sue him

06 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Logan Paul is offering refunds for CryptoZoo, the failed and allegedly fraudulent Pokémon-inspired NFT game that he launched in 2021. Learn more abou...

Aurora and Continental pass first major hurdle in commercial self-driving trucks deal

05 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Aurora and automotive supplier Continental have wrapped up the first phase of a more than $300 million project to mass produce autonomous vehicle hard...

Superpedestrian to auction 20,000 e-scooters after shutting down

05 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

More than 20,000 electric scooters belonging to Superpedestrian will be auctioned off later this month, along with other equipment from the startup’...

Intel spins out a new enterprise-focused gen AI software company

04 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Intel, intent on making bigger moves in the market for AI-powered enterprise software, is spinning out a new platform company with the backing of Boca...

Telegram’s latest update brings a redesigned call interface that uses less of your phone’s battery

04 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Telegram is rolling out a new update that introduces improved calls with a new design that uses less of your phone’s battery. Learn more about your...

Moonwalker robotic shoes get lighter and smarter

03 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Next week at CES, Austin-based Shift Robotics will debut a revamped version of their viral hit robotic shoes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

OpenAI moves to shrink regulatory risk in EU around data privacy

03 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

While most of Europe was still knuckle deep in the holiday chocolate selection box late last month, ChatGPT maker OpenAI was busy firing out an email ...

Fidelity marks down X valuation by 71.5%

02 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Mutual fund company Fidelity has marked down its investment in X holdings Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Try these apps to reach your New Year’s resolutions in 2024

02 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As the new year approaches, many of us are reminded of all the things we accomplished this year — getting a promotion, being more productive or even...

2023 showed cybersecurity isn’t immune from brutal layoffs

02 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Despite a rise in cyberattacks and breaches, the cybersecurity industry is by no means exempt from the uncertainty inspired by the current economy. 20...

6 great audiobook apps that aren’t Audible

01 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Audiobooks are a great way to bring words on a page to life and fit reading into your schedule throughout the day when you’re doing things like work...

India government agency seeks to block Binance and Kraken

29 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Financial Intelligence Unit, an Indian government agency which scrutinizes financial transactions, said Thursday nine global crypto exchanges — incl...

Meet the cyber-criminals of 2023

29 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Once again we look back at the past year in cybercrime and those who we lost… to the law. This year was no different to last: we saw another round o...

Xiaomi’s first EV is the freshest take on a ‘smartphone on wheels’

28 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi has revealed its first electric car, a sharp-looking sedan called the SU7. Slated to roll out in China next year, it’...

Hackers stole $2 billion in crypto in 2023, data shows

28 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For yet another year, hackers stole billions of dollars in crypto. But for the first time since 2020, the trend is downwards, according to crypto secu...

Apple Vision Pro tipped for late Jan/early Feb release

27 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve known about the Vision Pro for more than half-a-year now (not to mention the years of rumors), but Apple’s first “spatial computing” dev...

Fintech’s biggest hits and misses of 2023

27 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

"As 2023 comes to a close, we’re here to look back at the biggest fintech stories of the year. Silicon Valley Bank’s implosion felt like a fintech...

A dual-use ‘Slack+location+payments’ startup raises Seed to serve humanitarian, military scenarios

23 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When Helsing raised a $223 million Series B round, the tech world saw it as continued confirmation that Defence was unquestionably back on the investi...

Cisco to acquire cloud-native networking and security startup Isovalent

22 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Cisco announced this morning that it intends to acquire Isovalent, a cloud-native security and networking startup that should fit well with the compan...

PaintJet is building big industrial robots for big industrial paint jobs

21 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Construction may well prove to be the next major focus for robotics investment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

AR platform Really launches ‘Fandime’ NFTs to reward users with exclusive movie-related content

21 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Traditionally, being a hardcore movie fan means collecting physical memorabilia like autographed posters to show dedication. Learn more about your ad...

Spill is now in open beta on iOS and Android

20 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It’s been more than a year since Elon Musk purchased Twitter, yet we’re still seeing the reverberations of that deal on other social platforms, in...

OpenAI buffs safety team and gives board veto power on risky AI

20 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

OpenAI is expanding its internal safety processes to fend off the threat of harmful AI. A new “safety advisory group” will sit above the technical...

Google says it will pay $700M as a part of Play Store dispute settlement

19 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Google said today it will pay $700 million — $630 million to U.S. consumers and $70 to a fund used by U.S. states — in a settlement over Play Stor...

Google moves to end geofence warrants, a surveillance problem it largely created

19 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Google will soon allow users to store their location data on their devices rather than on Google’s servers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ...

Meltwater, the media monitoring startup, gets a $65M investment from Verdane

18 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Meltwater, which first made its name around media monitoring and then got active in business intelligence using AI and big data analytics techniques, ...

Waymo launches curbside robotaxi pickup at Phoenix airport

18 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Select Waymo One riders can now get picked up or dropped off by the company’s robotaxis curbside at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Learn...

Credit Karma co-founder Nichole Mustard stepping down after more than 16 years

16 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Credit Karma co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer Nichole Mustard is leaving the company after 16-and-a-half years. Learn more about your ad choices. ...

Microsoft disrupts cybercrime operation selling fraudulent accounts to notorious hacking gang

15 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Microsoft says it has successfully dismantled the infrastructure of a cybercrime operation that sold access to fraudulent Outlook accounts to other ha...

Apple will no longer give police users’ push notification data without a warrant

15 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Apple said it will no longer give over records of users’ push notifications to law enforcement unless the company receives a valid judge’s order. ...

China’s autonomous vehicle regulation requires safety operators, in-car recordings

14 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When it comes to spurring the development of cutting-edge technologies, the Chinese government is rather pragmatic in its policymaking process. Learn...

Verve Motion raises $20M to grow its exosuit business

13 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Verve Motion, a startup building a robotic “exosuit” designed to help workers complete physically demanding tasks in factories and other like envi...

China’s WeRide tests autonomous buses in Singapore, accelerate global ambition

13 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After years of aggressive expansion at home, China’s autonomous vehicle upstarts are now setting their gaze on overseas markets. Learn more about y...

Hasbro to cut 1,100 jobs despite Dungeons & Dragons thriving

12 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Hasbro is laying off 1,100 employees, according to an SEC filing. The company behind franchises like Dungeons & Dragons and Transformers, Hasbro alrea...

US-China tech war escalates over EV battery dominance

12 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Semiconductors have in recent years become a focal point in the U.S.’s efforts to impede China’s technological advancement. Learn more about your...

TikTok to invest $1.5B in GoTo’s Indonesia e-commerce business

11 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

ByteDance’s TikTok will take a 75.01% controlling stake in a joint venture entity formed in partnership with GoTo’s e-commerce unit Tokopedia. Lea...

Threads is rolling out its hashtags without the hash symbol globally

11 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Meta’s social network Threads got a major update Thursday as the company started rolling out tags (without the hash symbol) on the platform. Learn ...

Google’s best Gemini demo was faked

08 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Google’s new Gemini AI model is getting a mixed reception after its big debut yesterday, but users may have less confidence in the company’s tech ...

EU ‘final’ talks to fix AI rules to run into second day — but deal on foundational models is on the table

08 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As European Union lawmakers clock up 20+ hours of negotiating time in a marathon attempt to reach agreement on how to regulate artificial intelligence...

Meta finally starts rolling out default end-to-end encryption for Messenger

07 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After years of promises and limited tests, Meta has started rolling out default end-to-end encryption protection for Messenger. Learn more about your ...

Bing’s new ‘Deep Search’ feature offers more comprehensive answers to complex search queries

07 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Microsoft Bing is getting a new “Deep Search” feature powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adc...

X is now licensed for payment processing in a dozen U.S states

06 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Elon Musk is moving forward with his plans to turn the company formerly known as Twitter, now called X, into an “everything app” that includes its...

Meta set to discontinue cross-messaging between Instagram and Facebook

06 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Meta has silently updated its support pages to indicate that the company won’t let users on Instagram message their Facebook contacts anymore. Lear...

Cruise faces fines in California for withholding key details in robotaxi accident

05 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Cruise keeps getting kicked while it’s down. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

TikTok expands its in-app Ticketmaster ticketing feature to users in 20 countries

05 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

TikTok and Ticketmaster are expanding their partnership into 20 new countries after initially launching it in the United States back in August 2022. ...

Meta faces $600M competition damages claim in Spain as media owners pursue privacy breach lawsuit

04 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Meta is facing a major legal challenge and damages claim in Spain that argues the adtech giant’s years of failing to have a valid legal basis for pr...

Smartphone sales to rebound on AI gains, Morgan Stanley says

04 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Smartphone sales will mount a comeback starting in 2024, defying growing warnings of a prolonged slump across the mobile sector, according to separate...

Former Blue Origin rocket engine manager alleges wrongful termination for whistleblowing on safety

01 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The former program manager of Blue Origin’s BE-4 rocket engines has filed a lawsuit against the company alleging whistleblower retaliation after he ...

Immensa, a MENA-based additive manufacturing and digital inventory platform, raises $20 million 

01 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The global energy spare parts market is valued at over $90 billion, with the Middle East representing about 35% of this sector. Learn more about your...

Here’s your reminder that Google is deleting inactive accounts tomorrow

30 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As Google ramps up its security measures, the company is deleting inactive accounts that haven’t been touched for two years as a way of protecting u...

Polestar’s climate-tweeting bot isn’t actually a bot, for good reason

30 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

“When is a bot a person?,” my colleague Kirsten asked after I learned that Polestar’s climate bot is more human than machine. Learn more about y...

London’s iconic black cabs can soon be hailed on Uber

29 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Uber has secured another win over the struggling taxi industry. Soon, riders in London will be able to hail an iconic black cab in the city. Learn mor...

AWS brings Amazon One palm-scanning authentication to the enterprise

29 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Amazon’s cloud computing subsidiary AWS (Amazon Web Services) has lifted the lid on a new palm-scanning identity service that allows companies to au...

Apple partner Foxconn to invest $1.5 billion in India

28 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Foxconn plans to invest $1.54 billion in India, the latest in its growing expansion plan, following a surge in revenues in the South Asian market. Le...

X loses Paris Hilton’s 11:11 Media partnership in latest brand pull-out

28 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Paris Hilton’s 11:11 Media is pulling out of its partnership with the X. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After two ambitious years, TikTok parent ByteDance starts mass layoffs in gaming

27 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

ByteDance’s gaming ambition has been an expensive, short-lived pursuit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

OpenAI will benefit from unity of purpose with Sam Altman’s return

23 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In case you missed it, Sam Altman is back as OpenAI CEO. His reinstatement comes after a whirlwind few days in which we saw unusual corporate governan...

Florida judge finds Tesla, Elon Musk knew of defective Autopilot system

22 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There is “reasonable evidence” to conclude that Tesla and its officers, including CEO Elon Musk, knew its vehicles had defective Autopilot systems...

Generative AI startup AI21 Labs raises cash in the midst of OpenAI chaos

22 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

One AI startup’s undoing is another’s opportunity. Case in point: today, AI21 Labs, a company developing generative AI products along the lines of...

Chaos at OpenAI adds fuel to the AI talent poaching war

21 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It may be difficult for just any company to court OpenAI employees even if compensation packages are eye-poppingly high because of loyalty to Sam Altm...

Tinder redesigns profile pages with prompts, info tags and quiz

21 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Tinder is revamping its profile pages to make them more informative and create easier starting points for conversations. Learn more about your ad cho...

Altman won’t return as OpenAI’s CEO after all

20 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Capping off a tumultuous weekend at OpenAI that culminated in investors — and a contingent of employees — attempting to convince the company’s b...

Signal details costs of keeping its private messaging service alive

20 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What price privacy? End-to-end encrypted (E2EE) messaging app Signal has put out an interesting overview of the costs required to develop and maintain...

Wattpad Premium subscribers now have access to 5 free monthly Wattpad Originals

17 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Wattpad announced today “Premium Picks,” a new offering that gives Premium and Premium+ subscribers monthly access to five free Wattpad Originals—...

DeepMind and YouTube release Lyria, a gen-AI model for music, and Dream Track to build AI tunes

17 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Back in January, Google made some waves — soundwaves, that is — when it quietly released some research on AI-based music creation software that bu...

Toyota is turning to startup Redwood Materials for critical battery materials

16 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Battery cells produced at Toyota’s future North American EV factory will someday contain a little Redwood Materials DNA. Learn more about your ad c...

GM inserts exec at Cruise as safety review expands, manual self driving paused

16 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

General Motors is taking a more active role in shaping the safety culture at Cruise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoi...

Tesla hits reverse on threat to sue Cybertruck resellers

15 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Tesla seems to be walking back the punitive limits it placed on buyers of its yet-to-be-released Cybertrucks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

Venmo gets a new way to split expenses among groups

15 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

PayPal-owned Venmo is rolling out a new feature starting today that will allow its users to track and manage multiple expenses among groups. Learn mor...

TikTok’s newest feature lets you save favorite songs directly to Spotify or Amazon Music

14 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

TikTok is teaming up with streaming music services, including Spotify and Amazon Music, on a new feature that will allow users to save the songs they ...

Shekel Mobility, a B2B marketplace for auto dealers in Africa, raises $7M led by Ventures Platform and MaC VC

14 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The World Economic Forum states that Africa has an average annual demand for 2.4 million cars and 300,000 commercial vehicles. Learn more about your ...

Bose QuietComfort Ultra earn their name and maybe even their $429 price tag

13 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For years, any time someone asked what brand of headphones they should buy for a flight, the answer was a simple one syllable: Bose. Learn more about...

Ghost, now OpenAI-backed, claims LLMs will overcome self-driving setbacks — but experts are skeptical

13 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It’s not hyperbolic to say that the self-driving car industry is facing a reckoning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adch...

Tumblr to run on skeleton crew as parent company Automattic absorbs staff

10 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

According to a leaked memo, Tumblr’s longterm financial woes have reached a breaking point. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.c...

Lyft picks comfort over sharing in bid to compete with Uber

10 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Lyft is introducing a “more affordable sort of higher-end ride” in an attempt to offer ride-hail products that customers actually want. Learn more...

OpenAI blames DDoS attack for ongoing ChatGPT outage

09 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

OpenAI has confirmed that a DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attack is behind “periodic outages” affecting ChatGPT and its developer tools. Le...

Instagram is finally testing a feature to let you turn off read receipts for DMs

09 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

By Ivan Mehta - Instagram is finally testing a feature that will let users turn off read receipts for Instagram DMs. Learn more about your ad choices...

Samsung unveils ChatGPT alternative Samsung Gauss that can generate text, code and images

08 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Written by Kate Park - Just a few days after OpenAI’s developer event, Samsung unveiled its own generative AI model, Samsung Gauss, at the Samsun...