TechCrunch Industry News

GitHub says it now has 100M active users

26 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Code-hosting platform GitHub has announced that 100 million developers are now using the platform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoi...

After inking its OpenAI deal, Shutterstock rolls out a generative AI toolkit to create images based on text prompts

26 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When Shutterstock and OpenAI announced a partnership to help develop OpenAI’s Dall-E 2 artificial intelligence image-generating platform with Shutte...

Twitter won’t force you to the ‘For You’ timeline on web anymore

25 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In another flip-flop move, Twitter says that it will now remember the feed — the algorithmic “For You” or chronological “Following” — its ...

Zillow introduces Calendly-like instant booking for rental property tours

25 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Real estate marketplace Zillow has introduced an instant tour booking feature for renters on its platform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit pod...

Forward Networks raises $50M for digital twin technology to help model, manage and secure complex enterprise networks

24 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Digital twins — virtual representations of actual systems — have become an important component in how engineers and analysts build, visualize and ...

Zenfi takes in new funding to bring Mexicans some financial peace

24 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Luis Rubén Chávez, founder and CEO of Zenfi: "If Credit Karma, SoFi, Marcus and Copilot Money had a kid, it would be us.” Learn more about your ad...

Spotify cuts 6% of its workforce, impacting 600 people

23 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Music streaming service Spotify has announced that it will be conducting a round of layoffs that will impact around 6% of its global workforce. Learn ...

GM, please build the baby EV pickup of my dreams

23 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In an industry obsessed with making everything huge (at least here in the U.S.), you may not’ve expected GM to show interest in an electric baby pic...

Smores is a music discovery app with a TikTok-like feed

20 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Music streaming platforms all claim to use both artificial intelligence and manual curation to find new songs from emerging artists. Learn more about ...

Zitti soaks up some funding sauce so restaurants can manage their food supply chain

19 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Zitti's payment software platform streamlines the transaction between restaurants and food suppliers through payment, price comparison and vendor disc...

Cumul.io, a low-code embedded analytics platform for SaaS companies, raises $10.8M

19 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Cumul.io, the company behind a low-code business intelligence (BI) analytics platform for software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies, has raised €10 mil...

Uber, Bolt drivers hope for increased earnings foiled as Tanzania reinstates 25% commission

18 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Barely a year after Tanzania capped the commissions that e-hailing firms like Uber and Bolt charge their partners at 15%, the authority in charge has ...

Wristcheck wants to make used luxury watches more affordable

18 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In an age when almost everything can be bought online, watch resale is done in a surprisingly archaic way, namely, face-to-face with little price tran...

The Edit LDN raises seed round to serve sneakerheads around the world

17 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Before founding The Edit LDN, Moses Rashid frequented sneaker festivals and exhibitions to buy limited edition shoes. Learn more about your ad choices...

Twitter’s third-party client issue is seemingly a deliberate suspension

17 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Last Friday, a ton of popular Twitter clients including Tweetbot, Twitterrific, and Echofon were down. Users couldn’t log into their accounts or loo...

Paris to hold vote on shared scooters

16 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This weekend, Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo told Le Parisien that Parisians will get to vote whether they want to ban free-floating electric scooters or...

Crypto.com cuts 20% jobs amid ‘unforeseeable’ industry events

16 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Crypto exchange Crypto.com is cutting its global workforce by 20%, it said on Friday, as it navigates ongoing economic headwinds and “unforeseeable”...

Third-party Twitter apps are facing issues, users say

13 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

People using third-party Twitter clients are facing a number of issues including unable to log in and access Twitter feeds. Tweetbot, Echofon, and Twi...

Our obsession with pets means startups aimed at Vets are booming, as Digitail shows

13 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

With our mysterious, unsustainable, and psychological attachment to pets, combined with a boom in pet ownership since those lonely pandemic times, mea...

Google is finally rolling out emoji reactions for Meet video calls

12 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Google is finally rolling out emoji reactions to people using Google Meet for video calls starting today. The company said that this feature will be f...

Inflow, a platform for managing ADHD through cognitive behavioral therapy, raises $11M

12 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Inflow, a company developing a platform to manage ADHD using cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) techniques, has raised $11 million in a Series A roun...

Twitter makes algorithmic timeline default on iOS

11 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Twitter is making the algorithmic timeline named “For You” the default feed on iOS. If you are getting a sense of déjà vu, you are not dreaming....

How companies at CES are taking on climate change (or pretending to)

11 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

I can’t get it out of my head: A honkingly big Caterpillar sign that read, “JOIN US AS WE BUILD A BETTER WORLD.” Learn more about your ad choice...

FCC moves to form Space Bureau as its role in regulating orbit intensifies

10 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Federal Communications Commission regulate lots of industries and practices relating to telecommunications and the internet, but it is now cementi...

Urine luck: these CES startups want to take a closer look at your waste

10 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

You wait for years for a urine analysis company, then all of them hit their flow all at once. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.c...

US tech giants say Indian panel’s recommended competition act ‘absolutist and regressive’

09 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

An influential industry group that represents Google, Meta and Amazon among other tech firms has expressed concerns about the digital competition law ...

Tesla slashes Model 3, Model Y prices in China for the second time in three months

09 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Tesla quietly announced new pricing for the China market. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Snap is shutting down its desktop camera app that allows users to apply filters during video calls

06 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Snap is shutting down its camera app for the desktop that allows users to apply filters like cat ears and pirate hats on video calls. Learn more about...

Ring brings back the Peephole Cam, now starting at $129

06 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In 2019, Ring launched the Peephole Cam, a camera that fits over existing door peepholes to record goings on outdoors, in apartment building hallways ...

Alexa, find me an EV charging station

05 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Amazon’s conversational voice assistant, Alexa, has made its way into many electric vehicles in recent years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visi...

Bird Buddy’s new smart hummingbird feeder can photograph and identify 350 different bird species

05 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Bird Buddy, the maker of a smart bird feeder that snaps photos of your bird visitors which are collected in a companion mobile app, is out today with ...

Nowatch is a health-focused smartwatch without the watch part

04 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Your health is all you’ve got, and you can’t change what you can’t measure, so it’s little wonder that health trackers are everywhere. Learn m...

Apple is increasing battery replacement service charges for out-of-warranty devices

04 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Apple is increasing service charges for battery replacement of out-of-warranty iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks starting March 2023. Learn more about your...

Tesla delivers 405,278 vehicles in Q4, missing Wall Street expectations

03 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Tesla reported Sunday 405,278 vehicles delivered in the fourth quarter of 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There’s now an open source alternative to ChatGPT, but good luck running it

03 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The first open-source equivalent of OpenAI’s ChatGPT has arrived, but good luck running it on your laptop — or at all. Learn more about your ad ch...

Fidelity slashes the value of its Twitter stake by over half

02 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Fidelity, which was among the group of outside investors that helped Elon Musk finance his $44 billion takeover of Twitter, has slashed the value of i...

India to explore prohibition of unbacked crypto in its G20 presidency

02 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

India said on Thursday that under its G20 presidency, it will prioritize the development of a framework for global regulation of unbacked crypto asset...

Spotify wants to help you ring in 2023 with its New Year’s Hub

30 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Spotify has launched a New Year’s Hub to help its users ring in 2023, the streaming service announced on Thursday. The company says the one-stop des...

Alibaba CEO to oversee cloud arm following major server outage

30 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

When Alibaba’s former CEO Jack Ma passed the torch to Daniel Zhang, he established a system that regularly rotates executives to ensure the company ...

Twitter suffers another outage

29 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

If Twitter isn’t loading fine for you, you’re not alone. Tens of thousands of users are complaining that they are unable to access the Elon Musk-o...

Movano’s new smart ring is focused on women’s health

29 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Movano’s getting a week’s jump on what might well prove a banner CES for the smart ring. Today the Bay Area-based firm debuted Evie, a smart ring ...

This tool helps you trim your follow list on Twitter

28 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Twitter is a mess, but it’s still addictive. While some folks might have headed to Mastadon, those who stick around might still want to get the best...

Baidu starts offering nighttime driverless taxis in China

28 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Baidu, the Chinese internet giant that became known for its search engines, is making some big strides in autonomous driving. Learn more about your ad...

Balance is a Mac timekeeper app that requires you to manually clock in your hours

27 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

There are plenty of time-tracking apps for Mac that automatically log the hours you’ve spent signed-in. Some even offer granular data, telling you h...

This year in tech felt like a simulation

27 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This year in tech, too much happened and very little of it made sense. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Facebook parent Meta to settle Cambridge Analytica class-action lawsuit for $725M

26 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Facebook’s parent company Meta has agreed a $725 million settlement to resolve a class-action lawsuit related to the Cambridge Analytica data harves...

Persistent Jack Sweeney brings back @ElonJet (but delayed) to Twitter

23 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

More than a week after being banned from Twitter, Jack Sweeney, the University of Central Florida sophomore who has been a pain in the side of Elon Mu...

Twitter now displays stock and cryptocurrency prices directly in search results

23 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Amid all the chaos, Twitter rolled out a useful feature that lets you search for listed company stocks and cryptocurrency prices. Learn more about you...

FTX co-founder Gary Wang and Alameda’s Caroline Ellison plead guilty to criminal charges

22 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The FTX/Alameda saga continues, with news late Wednesday that two key Sam Bankman-Fried associates were charged and have been charged with federal cri...

This autonomous ornithopter lands and perches on a single claw

22 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Isn’t it wonderful that there are researchers out there whose job is quite simply to make a robotic bird? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit po...

Google Play now lets children send purchase requests to guardians

21 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Google already offers parents and guardians tools to restrict purchases their children make on Play Store using the family payment method. The company...

Kredito banks $6M as the LatAm business lender eyes international expansion

21 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Kredito created products with few requirements so that customers could more easily access financial products. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ...

Twitter Blue for Business now allows companies to identify their employees

20 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Twitter launched “Blue for Business” last week alongside relaunching Twitter Blue. At that time, the social network had assigned a gold checkmark ...

Google introduces India’s DigiLocker integration to Files app to access official documents

20 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Google has announced that it is bringing India’s online document storage service DigiLocker to the Files app on Android to let users access verified...

YouTube to launch Courses in edtech push in India

19 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

For years, teachers have used YouTube to promote their lessons and persuade learners to join their classes off the platform. Learn more about your ad ...

TLDraw offers a collaborative whiteboard without any login

19 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

There are a ton of tools that cater to the needs of having a collaborative whiteboard. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adch...

Twitter pulls its Spaces group audio feature after Musk run-in with banned journalists

16 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Twitter has apparently pulled its Spaces group audio feature, at least temporarily, after Elon Musk joined a group conversation that included journali...

Lucid wants a slice of China’s crowded EV market

16 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Lucid Motors, the publicly traded electric carmaker, is poised to enter China as it starts hiring in the world’s largest EV market. Learn more about...

Airbnb is rolling out a toggle to show you price inclusive of all fees

15 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Airbnb is rolling out a new toggle to show you the price inclusive of all fees (before taxes) for your stay instead of showing you a per-night price. ...

Oxyle’s tech uses water movement to remove pollutants

15 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

UNESCO calls water pollution one of the main challenges facing societies, with 2 million tonnes of sewage entering the world’s water each day. Oxyle...

YouTube will send a notification to users if their comment is abusive

14 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Toxic and hateful comments on YouTube have been a constant headache for the company, creators and users. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podca...

As China relaxes zero-COVID, tech firms assume a larger role in fighting the virus

14 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

China’s abrupt easing of its zero-COVID policy last week has led to a spike in cases and rising fears of the virus. Learn more about your ad choices...

NASA’s Orion capsule returns to Earth as ispace’s lunar lander takes flight

13 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Sunday was a landmark day for both commercial and public space ventures, with NASA’s Orion capsule returning to Earth just hours after the launch of...

Uber sues NYC Taxi & Limo Commission to block rate increase for drivers

13 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Uber is suing the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission, which last month approved a fare hike for ride-hail apps and taxi drivers amid a post-pan...

Microsoft to acquire 4% stake in London Stock Exchange Group as part of 10-year cloud partnership

12 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Microsoft is to acquire a 4% stake in the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), the company that owns the London Stock Exchange as well as a several oth...

Roblox will let 13+ users import contacts and add recommended friends

12 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Roblox is adding two new ways for people who spend time in its virtual worlds to find old friends and make new ones. Learn more about your ad choices....

Disney+ ad-supported plan is currently unavailable on Roku devices

09 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

On Thursday, Disney+ launched its first-ever ad-supported plan, “Disney+ Basic,” in the U.S. at $7.99 per month, which is the same price as the pr...

Renault China boss is making super-premium EVs that monitor your health

09 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

There’s an ever-growing list of wearables that track people’s health, but what about a vehicle that monitors one’s blood pressure and heart rate...

Zeraki, a Kenyan edtech providing digital solutions for school admin, raises $1.8M

08 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Kenyan edtech Zeraki, a scale-up that is building digital learning and school data analytics platforms, has raised $1.8 million seed funding in a roun...

Uber and Motional launch robotaxi service in Las Vegas

08 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Uber and Motional, the Hyundai-Aptiv joint venture focused on commercializing self-driving technology, have launched a robotaxi service in Las Vegas —...

Google Search’s new topic filters make it easier to refine results and expand searches

07 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Google announced today that it’s making it easier for users to drill down on a search and explore related topics. Search currently has a few filters...

Apple’s first car, delayed until 2026, won’t be self-driving

07 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Apple has talked a big game about its future plans to break into the automotive market. But a report from Bloomberg says that Apple has had to scale b...

Social commerce startup Kapu, by ex-Jumia executive, comes out of stealth with $8M funding

06 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Kapu, a social commerce startup, coming out of stealth today having raised $8 million seed funding, is hoping to help lessen the burden of buying food...

Partech raises fourth seed fund

05 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

French VC firm Partech has closed another seed fund dedicated to early-stage tech startups — the fund is called Partech Entrepreneur IV. Learn mo...

OpenAI’s ChatGPT shows why implementation is key with generative AI

05 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It’s probably not a secret to those doing a lot of focused work in the space, but when it comes to generative AI, it’s quickly becoming apparent t...

India won’t enforce market share cap on UPI until 2025 in a win for Google and Walmart

02 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

India won’t enforce a cap on the market share for players operating on the homegrown payments network until December 31, 2024 in a surprising move t...

Plant-based food brand Huel valued at $560M following Idris Elba-backed round

02 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Much of the company’s sales are outside the UK today, with U.S. “Hueligans,” the company’s loyal fans, representing Huel’s second-biggest ma...

Web3 developer platform Fleek raises $25M led by Polychain Capital

01 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Web3 developer platform Fleek has raised $25 million in Series A funding led by Polychain Capital, the company shared exclusively with TechCrunch. Lea...

Bitcoin ‘rarely’ used for legal transactions, on ‘road to irrelevance’, say European Central Bank officials

01 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

European Central Bank officials alleged on Wednesday that bitcoin is “rarely used for legal transactions." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit p...

New Gorilla Glass just dropped

30 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

According to Corning in-house research, “84% of consumers across three of the largest smartphone markets – China, India, and the United States —...

Pearpop raises $18M at a $300M valuation to scale its social collaboration marketplace

30 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Pearpop, a marketplace for social collaborations, announced today that it has raised an extension to its 2021-era Series A funding round. Learn more a...

Moovit users can now track transit vehicles on map in real time

29 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Israeli urban trip planning app Moovit unveiled a new feature Tuesday that allows users to follow a transit line’s movements along the map in real t...

US government bans Huawei, ZTE, and Hikvision tech over ‘unacceptable’ spying fears

29 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The U.S. government said it is banning telecommunications and video surveillance equipment from several prominent Chinese brands in an effort to prote...

Great Wall of porn obscures China protest news on Twitter

28 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Search any major Chinese city on Twitter, and you will see a cascade of spam tweets showing porn, escort services, and gambling content that are publi...

A new wave of Solo GP VCs is coming to Europe and Hypernova hopes to power it

28 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The US has had solo VC fund managers for many years but the trend is only just starting to catch on in Europe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

Elon Musk says Twitter’s new multicoloured verification will launch next week

25 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

After messing up the first launch of Twitter’s “power to the people” verification system, Elon Musk said that the social network will tentativel...

More headaches for Apple in China as protests erupt at Foxconn

24 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Two weeks after Apple warned of production delays in China amid heightened COVID-19 restrictions, the giant is facing more challenges as worker protes...

Apple TV+ series ‘Severance’ gets exclusive ‘innie’ and ‘outie’ vinyl records

23 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Fans of Apple TV+’s popular sci-fi workplace drama, “Severance,” can have their very own Lumon music-dance experience—maracas not included. Le...

Indian social network Koo gains popularity in Brazil but faces moderation challenges

23 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Elon Musk taking over Twitter has sent some people to look for alternatives such as Mastodon and Hive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcast...

Carv valued at $40M as investors race to back web3 identity builders

22 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Decentralized identity startups are having a moment as investors seek the next generation of killer applications in web3, even in times of market vola...

Custom jeweler Wove bags $3.85M to make engagement ring purchases less stressful

22 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The online custom jewelry company is injecting technology into the engagement and wedding ring buying experience.Custom jeweler Wove bags $3.85M to ma...

Amazon-owned Wickr is shutting down its free encrypted messaging app

21 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Secure communications provider Wickr has announced that it will shutter its free encrypted messaging app, Wickr Me, next year. Learn more about your a...

India’s first private rocket, built by startup Skyroot, makes successful launch

21 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

India’s space agency has successfully launched the Vikram-S after much anticipation and years-long work in a boost to the private sector of the nati...

New Twitter accounts will have to wait 90 days before buying a subscription

18 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Twitter has published a policy change saying that newly-created Twitter accounts will have to wait 90 days before being allowed to subscribe to the ne...

Twitter is working on a feature to divide long text into a thread automatically

18 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Composing a thread on Twitter can be challenging as you need to separate the whole text into 280-character chunks. Learn more about your ad choices. V...

Apple’s iCloud website gets a widget-styled redesign

17 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Apple has finally launched a redesigned iCloud website with apps appearing as widget-styled tiles instead of icons. Learn more about your ad choices. ...

Elon Musk, disaster artist

17 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We’re at the point in the Elon Musk/Twitter debacle where the fact that it’s a shit show is our new normal, and anything that resembles a normal f...

New code suggests Twitter is reviving its work on encrypted DMs

16 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Under Elon Musk, Twitter may be reviving a project that would bring end-to-end encryption to its Direct Messaging system. Learn more about your ad cho...

Pickle picks up $26M for its truck unloading robots

16 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Fulfillment has arguably been the hottest robotics category over the past two years, as companies have looked to stay competitive with Amazon, even am...

Impacked packs up $2.5M to give the packaging industry a greener tint

15 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Packaging is a trillion-dollar-per-year industry that, by and large, has some sustainability challenges. Impacked is a B2B company that’s bringing g...