TechCrunch Daily Crunch

Amazon suspends Prime Video in Russia; Developer tools are not worth infinite money; Swiggy preps for huge IPO Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Google is acquiring security intelligence firm Mandiant for $5.4B; Instagram warns users who share Russian state media, hides following lists in Russia and Ukraine; Apple TV+ to stream weekly Major League Baseball games in its first live sports deal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Google says Chrome on macOS is now faster than Safari; Apple suspends Search Ads on the Russian App Store ‘until further notice;’ Uber boosts Q1 profit guidance as the world gets moving again Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Microsoft halts all new sales in Russia; Disney+ is getting an ad-supported subscription tier later this year; Apple Maps now displays Crimea as part of Ukraine to viewers outside of Russia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Spotify shutters Russia office indefinitely in response to Ukraine invasion; Rivian CEO walks back price hike for any customers who preordered before March 1; SpaceX successfully launches 47 Starlink satellites Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amazon to close 68 physical retail locations, including Amazon Books and 4-star stores; Apple’s next event is March 8 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alphabet’s Wing drones hit 200,000 deliveries as it announces supermarket partnership; Disney+ gains the Marvel series from Netflix and new parental controls; Instagram makes encrypted direct messaging available in Ukraine and Russia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ukrainians turn to encrypted messengers, offline maps and Twitter amid Russian invasion; Panasonic will start making Tesla’s higher-capacity EV batteries by March 2024; TikTok expands max video length to 10 minutes, up from 3 minutes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amazon Music to overtake Pandora as No. 2 US music streamer this year; UK wants to squeeze freedom of reach to take on internet trolls; Carvana acquires Adesa US auction business for $2.2B to jump-start used car sales Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

SEC opens investigation into Elon Musk over possible insider trading; Siri gains a new gender-neutral voice option in latest iOS update; If you give Tumblr $4.99 a month, you won’t have to see ads anymore Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mark Zuckerberg demos a tool for building virtual worlds using voice commands; USPS snubs EVs, Biden with next-gen delivery fleet deal; LinkedIn debuts its own podcast network Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

To combat chip shortage, Bosch to invest $296M to produce semiconductors; Tesla gets wrist slap from EPA for violating Clean Air Act Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Trump’s TRUTH Social launches at the top of the App Store, but no one can get in; Instagram quietly limits ‘daily time limit’ option Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Meta axes a head of global community development after he appears on video in underage sex sting; Walmart is expanding autonomous delivery pilot with GM’s Cruise this year Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Super Bowl ads boosted crypto app downloads by 279%, led by Coinbase; Elon Musk accuses SEC of conducting a ‘harassment campaign’; Amazon reaches deal to continue accepting Visa payments worldwide Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Spotify snaps up podcast measurement and analytics firms Podsights and Chartable; Spyware dealer who sold WhatsApp-hacking tech pleads guilty; New Waymo Via partnership gives it access to 200,000 shippers and carriers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Grubhub expands its ‘Grubhub Goods’ convenience offering nationwide; Twitter launches beta test of anti-abuse tool ‘Safety Mode,’ adds prompts to enable it; Nextdoor revamps with new profiles, feed and more community-building features Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hackers leak names of ‘Freedom Convoy’ donors after GiveSendGo breach; India bans Garena Free Fire, 53 more China-linked apps; Tesla opens entire Supercharger network in the Netherlands to all EVs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Of course, Netflix ordered a movie about the big crypto scandal; Google’s adtech targeted by publisher antitrust complaint in EU; The James Webb Space Telescope takes a selfie and a big step towards its first ‘real’ image Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Astra’s first rocket launch from Florida goes awry; California agency sues Tesla for alleged racial discrimination and harassment; Disney+ outshines Netflix with 11.8M new subscribers in Q1 and strong forecast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

SpaceX loses 40 Starlink satellites to a geomagnetic storm; Tumblr launches a tip jar feature to help bloggers make a buck; Apple launches its own book club, ‘Strombo’s Lit,’ in the Apple Books app Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Peloton CEO steps down as the company cuts 2,800 jobs; Amazon expands its telehealth service nationwide; American Express launches its first all-digital consumer checking account Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Spotify will invest $100M in content from underrepresented creators, says CEO Daniel Ek; Bumble makes its first acquisition with deal for French Gen Z dating app, Fruitz; Google sued in Europe for $2.4BN in damages over Shopping antitrust case Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Spotify CEO hints HiFi tier delay is related to licensing issues; Meta adds ‘personal boundaries’ to Horizon Worlds and Venues to fight harassment Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Facebook isn’t growing anymore; Google Workspace goes all in on shadow IT; Homeland Security establishes the Cyber Safety Review Board to learn the mistakes from past cyber incidents Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

GitHub introduces sponsor-only repositories; Spotify backlash over Joe Rogan did little to boost its streaming rivals Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Apple News launches its first daily local newsletter, targeting Bay Area readers; India proposes 30% tax on crypto and NFTs income; GM’s Chevy Silverado EV already has 110,000 reservations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Spotify, Joe Rogan address COVID-19 content backlash; Pinterest’s AR shopping feature expands to include furniture and home décor; Sony snaps up ‘Halo’ and ‘Destiny’ creator Bungie for $3.6B Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Suite users migrate to free Google accounts; Latest Apple OS betas deliver Face ID with a mask and Universal Control Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

EV battery maker LG Energy Solution becomes South Korea’s second most valuable firm in IPO debut; Messenger upgrades its end-to-end encrypted chat experience; Disney+ is expanding to 42 more countries this summer Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Spotify is removing Neil Young’s music after falling out over Joe Rogan; Apple releases iOS 15.3 with fix for ‘actively exploited’ iPhone flaw; Snap upgrades its AR Shopping features with real-time pricing, more product details Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Neil Young plans to pull his music from Spotify over Joe Rogan COVID misinformation; Google kills off FLoC, replaces it with Topics; YouTube is considering NFTs, CEO’s letter suggests Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Google gets hit with a new lawsuit over ‘deceptive’ location tracking; NBCUniversal is partnering with TikTok for the Winter Olympics; Panasonic’s higher-capacity Tesla battery could enter production in 2023 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Intel eyes Ohio for a pair of chip factories amid global shortage; Europe’s top privacy regulator calls for ban on political microtargeting Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Peloton reportedly pauses bike and treadmill production amid slowed demand; Twitter Blue subscription users are first to gain access to a new NFT Profile Picture feature; Google reportedly planning a new AR headset for 2024 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Instagram launches early test of creator subscriptions in the US; Apple Podcasts introduces new ‘Listen With’ collections to help users discover shows; Netflix’s gaming service adds two more titles on iOS and Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Apple returns to No. 1 as global smartphone shipments grapple with supply chain concerns; Ford and ADT team up to prevent theft from vehicle; Microsoft to buy Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ford signs 5-year agreement with Stripe to scale e-commerce; Amazon rows back on threat to stop accepting UK-issued Visa cards Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

US residents can order free, at-home COVID-19 tests starting on January 19th; House committee investigating Jan. 6 subpoenas Meta, YouTube, Twitter and Reddit Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Meta shuts down its experimental video speed-dating service, Sparked; Instacart doubles down on its ready-made meals; Venmo introduces new gift-wrapping feature with eight animated designs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Canalys: Worldwide PC shipments soared in 2021 to 341 million units; Apple releases iOS 15.2.1 to patch iPhones and iPads against HomeKit flaw; Unicorn exits augur poorly as Justworks delays IPO, citing ‘market conditions’ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

India to own 35.8% in Vodafone Idea after conversion of dues; European parliament found to have broken EU rules on data transfers and cookie consents; IBM looks to sustainability with acquisition of emissions data company Envizi Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Apple paid out around $60 billion to App Store developers in 2021; Tesla ‘Full Self-Driving’ beta features an ‘Assertive’ mode with rolling stops; Panasonic says hackers accessed personal data of job candidates Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Twitter Spaces continues testing podcast-like features; Apple Fitness+ introduces new ‘Collections’ feature and ‘Time to Run’ series; India hits Google with antitrust investigation over alleged abuse in news aggregation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Reflections on another pandemic CES; The NYTimes is buying The Athletic; Meta has a good VR holiday cycle Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Making sense of OpenSea at $13B; Android + Windows; And here’s the *other* company now worth more than $10B Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kindle’s China future in doubt after disappearing from online shelves; Panasonic to use Redwood’s recycled materials in battery cell production at Tesla gigafactory Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Apple’s value touches the $3T mark; Abstra raises $2.3M for no-code apps; Twitter completes MoPub sale Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Apple puts Foxconn India plant on probation after protests over food and accommodation conditions; Fiverr rolls out new Pinterest-like personalized discovery feature Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

More companies bow out of in-person CES presence; Kimberly Bryant’s suspension surfaces ongoing tensions at Black Girls Code; Religious platforms draw investor attention Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices