TechCrunch Industry News
Episodes
YouTube takes on TikTok Shop with expanded Shopify partnership
21 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As TikTok Shop gains traction, YouTube is expanding its partnership with Shopify to onboard more brands for its YouTube Shopping affiliate program, th...
LiveNation lawsuit, a million on a Zoom call, and Waymo numbers are up
21 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The United States Department of Justice filed a major lawsuit against Live Nation-Ticketmaster in May, arguing that the entertainment giant is acting ...
As CO2 emissions from supply chains come into focus, this startup is aiming at farms
20 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Root helps food and beverage companies collect primary data on their agricultural supply chains. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoi...
GM cuts 1,000 software jobs as it prioritizes quality and AI
20 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
General Motors is cutting around 1,000 software workers around the world in a bid to focus on more “high-priority” initiatives like improving its ...
Rivian launches smaller $1,400 camp kitchen, five years after initial demo
19 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Rivian camp kitchen attracted buzz from almost the moment it appeared as a prototype in 2019 at Overland Expo West. Despite interest in the access...
OpenAI shuts down election influence operation using ChatGPT
19 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
OpenAI has banned a cluster of ChatGPT accounts linked to an Iranian influence operation that was generating content about the U.S. presidential elect...
Meta axed CrowdTangle, a tool for tracking disinformation. Critics claim its replacement has just ‘1% of the features’
16 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Journalists, researchers, and politicians are mourning Meta’s shutdown of CrowdTangle, which they used to track the spread of disinformation on Face...
TipRanks, an AI-based stock tip evaluator created after its founder got burned by bad advice, sells for $200M to Prytek
16 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Prytek had already been a big investor in TipRanks since 2017, most recently leading a $77 million round in the company in 2021. Learn more about your...
The first post-quantum cryptography standards are here
15 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For many companies, this also means that now is the time to start implementing these algorithms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoice...
Kiteworks captures $456M at a $1B+ valuation to help secure sensitive data
15 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Search engine optimization (SEO) has been top of mind for brands for more than a decade to ensure their websites and products capture as many eyeballs...
SoundCloud launches its own merch store, will let artists create their own designs
14 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Music streaming service SoundCloud has launched a merch marketplace called SoundCloud Store. The store will sell SoundCloud-themed items, but will als...
She grew up a gearhead — now her startup has raised $4M to cut CO2 from trucking
14 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The irony was not lost on her. Growing up the daughter of a racing car enthusiast father, Danielle Walsh had become — in her late 20s — the head ...
As Alexa turns 10, Amazon looks to generative AI
13 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
While Amazon has continued releasing Echo devices, including an upgraded Spot announced last month, the company has taken its foot off the gas. Learn ...
Maybe Friend wasn’t crazy for spending $1.8M on a domain after all
13 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Avi Schiffmann, the founder and CEO of Friend, told TechCrunch over email that the purchase has already paid for itself. Learn more about your ad choi...
Rocket Lab’s sunny outlook bodes well for future constellation plans
12 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Rocket Lab surpassed $100 million in quarterly revenue for the first time, a 71% increase from the same quarter of last year. This is just one of seve...
Spotify and Epic Games call Apple’s revised DMA compliance plan ‘confusing,’ ‘illegal’ and ‘unacceptable’
12 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Count Spotify and Epic Games among the Apple critics who are not happy with the iPhone maker’s newly revised compliance plan for the European Union’...
UK launches formal probe into Amazon’s ties with AI startup Anthropic
09 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The U.K.’s antitrust regulator has confirmed that it’s carrying out a formal antitrust investigation into Amazon’s ties with Anthropic, after A...
Airbnb details plans to expand beyond short-term rentals, including co-hosting and relaunching ‘experiences’
08 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky suggested on Tuesday’s Q2 earnings call with investors that the company will soon expand into new products and services, inc...
Lyft to ‘open up a can of whoop ass’ on surge pricing
08 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ride-hail giant Lyft will pilot a new feature called Price Lock that will let a rider purchase a monthly subscription “that caps the price for a spe...
Figure’s new humanoid robot leverages OpenAI for natural speech conversations
07 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Figure 02 is outfitted with speakers and microphones to speak and listen to people at work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com...
Uber highlights autonomous vehicle efforts with Tesla in its rearview mirror
07 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Uber reported strong second-quarter results, with gross bookings and net profit both up decently. But the company has chosen to highlight the success ...
AWS launches Mithra to identify and mitigate malicious domains across its massive system
06 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When a company is the size of Amazon, a lot of bad actors will come after it and its customers, which makes defending the network a monster job. Learn...
How the theft of 40M UK voter register records was entirely preventable
06 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A scathing rebuke by the U.K. data protection watchdog reveals what led to the compromise of tens of millions of U.K. voters' information. Learn more ...
iPad sales help bail out Apple amid a continued iPhone slide
05 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In spite of a drop for the quarter, iPhone remained Apple’s most important category by a wide margin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcas...
AI music startup Suno claims training model on copyrighted music is ‘fair use’
05 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Following the recent lawsuit filed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) against music generation startups Udio and Suno, Suno adm...
Google Cloud now has a dedicated cluster of Nvidia GPUs for Y Combinator startups
02 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Google Cloud is giving Y Combinator startups access to a dedicated, subsidized cluster of Nvidia graphics processing units and Google tensor processin...
Vast plans microgravity lab on its Haven-1 private space station
02 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Commercial space station company Vast is building a private microgravity research lab as part of its wider Haven-1 station plans. The module is set to...
Bumble and Hinge allowed stalkers to pinpoint users’ locations down to 2 meters
01 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Badoo, Bumble, Grindr, happn, Hinge and Hily all had the same vulnerability that could have helped a malicious user to identify the near-exact locatio...
Controversial internet bill KOSA passed by Senate
01 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) has passed in the Senate after Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) pushed the internet bill to a vote. Proposed in ...
Zoe, a microbiome-focused nutrition company, raises $15 million to expand in the U.S.
31 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Zoe sends customers at-home testing materials to collect blood or feces to test blood fat, blood sugar, and gut microbiome health. Following those res...
Disinformation may ‘go nuclear’ rather than ‘go viral,’ researchers say
31 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We say something “goes viral” because we tend to think of rumors and disinformation spreading the way that an infection spreads. But these days it...
A tale of two foldables
30 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Samsung is still foldables’ 500-pound gorilla, but the company successes have made the category significantly less lonely in recent years. Learn mor...
UK’s Zapp EV plans to expand globally with an early start in India
29 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Zapp is launching its urban electric two-wheeler in India in 2025 as it plans to expand globally. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoic...
Data breach exposes US spyware maker behind Windows, Mac, Android and Chromebook malware
29 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Exclusive: The Minnesota-based spyware maker Spytech snooped on thousands of devices before it was hacked earlier this year. Learn more about your ad ...
Lodestar’s robotic arm will be an orbital ‘first responder’ for satellites in need
26 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Satellites are among our most critical infrastructure, providing everything from GPS to disaster coordination, yet their inherent inaccessibility leav...
GM-backed Addionics aims to make lithium-ion batteries cheaper with wavy foil
26 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The startup has developed a way to create copper and aluminum foils that are laced with tiny holes and riddled with undulating peaks and valleys. Lear...
Spotify CEO says company is in ‘early days’ of hi-fi audio plans
25 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek says the streaming service is still in the “early days” of its plans to bring hi-fi support to the platform. During the comp...
How to prevent your software update from being the next CrowdStrike
25 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
There is no fool proof way to prevent a buggy update like CrowdStrike's, but there are best practices that could mitigate the fallout. Learn more abou...
Rosotics wants to manufacture massive orbital shipyards using 3D printing
24 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mesa, Arizona-based Rosotics has kept a low profile. From the startup’s website, one would think they are solely focused on selling large metal 3D p...
Former Tesla humanoid head launches a robotics startup
24 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In spite of maintaining stealth until now, Mytra has already drummed up interest with big names. The startup has a pilot with grocery giant Albertsons...
Linx emerges from stealth with $33M to lock down the new security perimeter: Identity
23 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Identity management is one of the most common fulcrums around which security breaches have pivoted in the last several years, and one of the main reas...
Pesa unlocks new markets to keep remittances flowing to emerging economies
23 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Founders of Pesa, a remittance fintech, know too well how costly, inaccessible and unreliable remittance services drive people to opt for risky inform...
Waymo wants to bring robotaxis to SFO
22 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Waymo would need a ground transportation permit to operate at SFO, which has yet to be approved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoic...
Apple Vision Pro debuts immersive content featuring NBA players, The Weeknd and more
22 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Apple on Thursday announced its upcoming lineup of immersive video content for the Vision Pro. The list includes behind-the-scenes footage of the 2024...
NASA cancels $450M Viper moon mission, dashing ice prospecting dreams
19 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The now-scrapped moon mission would have been the U.S. space agency's first resource-mapping mission off planet Earth. Learn more about your ad choice...
Ford’s EV plans are in flux once again as it invests $3B into its biggest trucks
19 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ford is still pushing forward on electrification, notably by increasing hybrid options. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/ad...
Shaped raises $8M Series A and launches its self-serve recommendations and search service
18 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Whether it’s an online marketplace, store, or social media platform, virtually every site today uses some kind of recommendation service to personal...
The Way app offers a chance to meditate alongside a Zen Master
18 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A new app called The Way is aiming to help people explore the deeper side of meditation through a single, structured path guided by an authorized Zen ...
Ultrahuman’s smart ring gets FDA-approved AFib detection
17 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The smart ring has long played second fiddle to the smart watch. While tech giants like Apple and Google duked it out over wrists for years, the ring ...
Kaspersky to shut down US operations
17 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Russia-based security software maker said its U.S. business is "no longer viable" following a U.S. Commerce Department sales ban. Learn more about...
Google reportedly in talks to acquire cloud security company Wiz for $23B
16 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Google’s parent company Alphabet might be on the verge of making its biggest acquisition ever. The Wall Street Journal reports that Alphabet is in a...
Whistleblowers accuse OpenAI of ‘illegally restrictive’ NDAs
16 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Whistleblowers have accused OpenAI of placing illegal restrictions on how employees can communicate with government regulators, according to a letter ...
Amazon AI chatbot Rufus is now live for all U.S. customers
15 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Amazon’s AI-powered shopping assistant, named “Rufus,” is now live for all U.S. customers in the Amazon mobile app, the retailer announced on Fr...
Archer’s vision of an air taxi network could benefit from Southwest customer data
15 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Archer Aviation and Southwest Airlines are teaming up to figure out what it will take to build out a network of electric air taxis at California airpo...
FTC study finds ‘dark patterns’ used by a majority of subscription apps and websites
12 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Dark patterns refer to a range of design techniques that can subtly encourage users to take some sort of action or put their privacy at risk. Learn mo...
More ex-military officials are becoming VCs as defense tech investment reached $35 billion
12 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As venture capitalists continue to pour money into defense tech startups, they’re turning to a new hiring pool: ex-military officials. Learn mor...
Anthropic’s Claude adds a prompt playground to quickly improve your AI apps
11 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Prompt engineering became a hot job last year in the AI industry, but it seems Anthropic is now developing tools to at least partially automate it. An...
Whataburger app becomes unlikely power outage map after Houston hurricane
11 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Fast food chain Whataburger’s app has gone viral in the wake of Hurricane Beryl, which left around 1.8 million utility customers in Houston, Texas w...
Data workers detail exploitation by tech industry in DAIR report
10 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The essential labor of data work, like moderation and annotation, is systematically hidden from those who benefit from the fruits of that labor. A new...
Quora’s Poe now lets users create and share web apps
10 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Poe, Quora’s subscription-based, cross-platform aggregator for AI-powered chatbots like Anthropic’s Claude and OpenAI’s GPT-4o, has launched a f...
YouTube and LinkedIn have games now, and here’s how you can play them
09 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Here are the latest companies venturing into the gaming scene and details about each offering, including pricing, examples of titles and supported dev...
Waymo robotaxi pulled over by Phoenix police after driving into the wrong lane
09 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A police officer pulled over a self-driving Waymo vehicle in Phoenix after it ran a red light and pulled into a lane of oncoming traffic, according to...
Noplace, a mashup of Twitter and MySpace for Gen Z, hits No. 1 on the App Store
08 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Aiming to bring the “social” back to “social media,” a new app called noplace has surged to the top of the App Store as it launches out of inv...
Fizz, the anonymous Gen Z social app, adds a marketplace for college students
08 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Teddy Solomon just moved to a new house in Palo Alto, so he turned to the Stanford community on Fizz to furnish his room. “Every time I show up to b...
Epic Games calls out Apple for rejecting its Games Store in the EU
05 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Fortnite maker Epic Games has hit a stumbling block in its plans to bring the company’s alternative app store, the Epic Games Store, to the EU. As n...
X weighs adding a downvote button to replies — but it doesn’t want to emulate Reddit
05 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Code references found in the X iOS app indicate that the company could be considering adding downvotes for replies only to improve how they're ranked....
Twitter/X alternative Mastodon appeals to journalists with new ‘byline’ feature
04 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mastodon, the open source, decentralized alternative to X (formerly Twitter), is today rolling out a new feature meant to make the app more appealing ...
Google’s environmental report pointedly avoids AI’s actual energy cost
04 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Google totally dodges the question of how much energy is AI is using — perhaps because the answer is "way more than we'd care to say." Learn more ab...
Figma disables its AI design feature that appeared to be ripping off Apple’s Weather app
03 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Figma CEO Dylan Field says the company will temporarily disable its “Make Design” AI feature that was said to be ripping off the designs of Apple’...
Anthropic looks to fund a new, more comprehensive generation of AI benchmarks
03 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Anthropic is launching a program to fund the development of new types of benchmarks capable of evaluating the performance and impact of AI models, inc...
MIT’s soft robotic system is designed to pack groceries
02 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
RoboGrocery combines computer vision with a soft robotic gripper to bag a wide range of different items. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podca...
Meta changes its label from ‘Made with AI’ to ‘AI info’ to indicate use of AI in photos
02 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
After Meta started tagging photos with a “Made with AI” label in May, photographers complained that the social networking company had been applyin...
MagicSchool thinks AI in the classroom is inevitable, so it’s aiming to help teachers and students use it properly
01 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
These days, when you hear about students and generative AI, chances are that you’re getting a taste of the debate over the adoption of tools like Ch...
Zuckerberg disses closed-source AI competitors as trying to ‘create God’
01 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the conversation, Zuckerberg said there needs to be a lot of different AIs that get created to reflect people's different interests. © 2024 TechC...
Directo turns a TikTok travel hack into a deal-finding Chrome extension
29 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A travel hack that went viral on TikTok teaches users how to save money on hotels and Airbnbs by booking directly with the properties themselves. Now,...
Amazon hit with fresh class action-style suit in UK — $3.4BN in competition damages sought for 200,000+ sellers
28 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Amazon is facing another competition lawsuit in the UK. The latest claim, which was filed Thursday, is seeking more than £2.7BN in damages — or aro...
Climate X founders, who mortgaged their houses to stay afloat, now raise a $18 million Series A
28 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
To date, most of the hottest software platforms in the ClimateTech space have been about carbon accounting, offsets, removals, and regulatory disclosu...
VW to invest up to $5B into Rivian in software deal
27 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
VW Group invest $1 billion into EV startup Rivian as part of a software development deal that could expand to as much as $5 billion. The deal, which w...
Snapchat introduces new safety features to limit bad actors from contacting users
27 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Snapchat on Tuesday announced a new suite of safety features, including updates to its account blocking functionality and enhanced friending safeguard...
Uber Freight and self driving trucks startup Aurora partner for the long haul
26 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Uber Freight and Aurora Innovation have announced a multi-year collaboration that will see Aurora’s autonomous driving technology offered on the Ube...
Apple might partner with Meta on AI
26 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As Apple enters the AI race, it’s also looking for help from partners. During the announcement of Apple Intelligence earlier this month, Apple said ...
Meta makes its AI chatbot available to all users in India
25 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
After a few months of testing during the general elections, Meta is making its Llama-3-powered AI chatbot available to all users in India. However, Me...
Google is pausing its experiment of allowing real-money games on the Play Store
25 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Google said today that it is globally pausing its experiment of allowing real-money games on the Play Store, where there was no central body for this ...
YouTube confirms crackdown on VPN users accessing cheaper Premium plans
24 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
YouTube appears to be taking a firm stance against Premium subscribers who attempt to use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to access cheaper subscripti...
US bans sale of Kaspersky software citing security risk from Russia
24 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
U.S. officials imposed the “first of its kind” ban arguing that Kaspersky threatens U.S. national security because of its links to Russia. Learn m...
Amazon extends generative AI-powered product listings to Europe
21 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Amazon is bringing its generative AI listing smarts to more sellers, revealing today that those in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the U.K. can now...
Spotify quietly lets all podcasters upload videos, surpasses 250K shows
21 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Non-hosted podcasters can now upload videos to Spotify. Over 250K video podcasts are on the platform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastc...
Genspark is the latest attempt at an AI-powered search engine
20 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Genspark taps generative AI to write custom summaries in response to search queries. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoi...
iOS 18 could ‘sherlock’ $400M in app revenue
20 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Apple's changes may affect apps that today have an estimated $393 million in revenue and have been downloaded roughly 58 million times over the past y...
Snap previews its real-time image model that can generate AR experiences
19 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
At the Augmented World Expo on Tuesday, Snap teased an early version of its real-time, on-device image diffusion model that can generate vivid AR expe...
Threads finally launches its API for developers
19 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Meta said today that it finally launched its much-awaited API for Threads so developers can build experiences around it. Learn more about your ad choi...
XReal introduces a $200 device that brings Android apps to its AR glasses
18 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The $200 Beam pro looks like an Android phone, but instead it's a mobile device designed specifically for Xreal’s glasses. Learn more about your ad ...
Former NSA head joins OpenAI board and safety committee
17 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The high-profile addition is likely intended to satisfy critics who think that OpenAI is moving faster than is wise for its customers and possibly hum...
Amazon says it’ll spend $230 million on generative AI startups
17 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Amazon says that it’ll commit up to $230 million to startups building generative AI-powered applications. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit po...
iOS 18 cracks down on apps asking for full address book access
14 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
To give users more control over the contacts an app can and cannot access, the permissions screen has two stages. Learn more about your ad choices. Vi...
Ford’s secretive low-cost EV team is growing with talent from Rivian, Tesla and Apple
14 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A TechCrunch review of LinkedIn data found that Ford has built this team up to around 300 employees over the last year. Learn more about your ad choi...
Apex’s off-the-shelf satellite bus business attracts $95M in new funding
13 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Fresh off the success of its first mission, satellite manufacturer Apex has closed $95 million in new capital to scale its operations. Learn more abou...
Biden administration looks to give Rocket Lab $24M to boost space-grade solar cell production
13 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In addition to the federal funding, the state of New Mexico — where SolAero is based — committed to providing financing and incentives that value ...
Elon Musk threatens to ban Apple devices from his companies over Apple’s ChatGPT integrations
12 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Elon Musk is threatening to ban iPhones from all his companies over the newly announced OpenAI integrations Apple announced at WWDC 2024 on Monday. Le...
The mystery of an alleged data broker’s data breach
12 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Since April, a hacker with a history of selling stolen data has claimed a data breach of billions of records — impacting at least 300 million people...