TechCrunch Industry News
3,850 episodes — Page 20 of 77
Meta’s new AI council is comprised entirely of white men
Meanwhile, women and people of color are disproportionately impacted by irresponsible AI. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Why Spotify is launching its own font, Spotify Mix
Spotify launched its own font, the company announced on Wednesday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses now let you share images directly to your Instagram Story
Meta is updating its Ray-Ban smart glasses with new hands-free functionality Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Meta, Match, Coinbase and others team up to fight online fraud and crypto scams
The new coalition, Tech Against Scams, will work together to find ways to fight back against the tools used by scammers and to better educate the public against financial scams. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Aurora unveils self-driving truck with Volvo
A new self-driving truck — manufactured by Volvo and loaded with autonomous vehicle tech developed by Aurora Innovation — could be on public highways as early as this summer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Hollywood agency CAA aims to help stars manage their own AI likenesses
Creative Artists Agency, one of the top entertainment and sports talent agencies, is hoping to be at the forefront of AI protection services for celebrities in Hollywood. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
OpenAI to remove ChatGPT’s Scarlett Johansson-like voice
OpenAI is removing one of the voices used by ChatGPT after users found that it sounded similar to Scarlett Johansson, the company announced on Monday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A US trustee wants troubled fintech Synapse to be liquidated via Chapter 7 bankruptcy, cites ‘gross mismanagement’
The prospects for troubled banking-as-a-service startup Synapse have gone from bad to worse this week after the United States Trustee filed an emergency motion on Wednesday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Microsoft warned it could be fined billions by EU over missing GenAI risk info
The European Union has warned Microsoft it could be fined up to 1% of its global annual turnover under the bloc’s online governance regime, the Digital Services Act . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Shipping logistics startup Harbor Lab raises $16M Series A led by Atomico
Cargo ships docking at a commercial port incur costs called “disbursements” and “port call expenses.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Cannabis and gaming payments startup Aeropay is now offering an alternative to Mastercard and Visa
The key to taking on legacy players in the financial technology industry may be to go where they have not gone before Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Netflix to take on Google and Amazon by building its own ad server
The announcement signifies a significant shake-up in the streaming giant's advertising approach. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Restaurant365 orders in $175M at a $1B+ valuation to supersize its food service software stack
The restaurant industry in the U.S. is expected to pass $1 trillion in sales for the first time this year, despite wider economic pressures on consumer Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Accel has a fresh $650M to back European early-stage startups
Accel has invested in more than 200 startups in the region to date, making it one of the more prolific VCs in this market. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Uber to acquire Foodpanda’s Taiwan unit from Delivery Hero for $950M in cash
Uber Technologies announced Tuesday that it will buy the Taiwan unit of Delivery Hero’s Foodpanda for $950 million in cash. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The buzziest EV IPO of the year is a Chinese automaker
Zeekr's market hype is noteworthy and may indicate that investors see value in the high-quality, low-price offerings of Chinese automakers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Anthropic now lets kids use its AI tech — within limits
AI startup Anthropic is changing its policies to allow minors to use its generative AI tools — in certain circumstances, at least. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Microsoft is launching its mobile game store in July
Microsoft will launch its own mobile game store in July, the company announced at the Bloomberg Technology Summit on Thursday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Oura launches two new heart health features
Smart ring maker Oura is launching two new features focused on heart health, the company announced on Friday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bluesky now lets you personalize its main Discover feed using new controls
The social network has announced an updated version of its app that lets you offer feedback about its algorithmic feed so you can better customize it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Always-on video portal lets people in NYC and Dublin interact in real time
A new sculpture going live on Wednesday in the Flatiron South Public Plaza in New York is not your typical artwork. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Match looks to Hinge as Tinder fails
Match Group, the company that owns several dating apps, including Tinder and Hinge, released its first-quarter earnings report on Tuesday, which shows that Tinder’s paying user base has decreased for the sixth quarter in a row. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bedrock Studio is Amazon’s attempt to simplify generative AI app development
Amazon is launching a new tool, Bedrock Studio, designed to let organizations experiment with generative AI models, collaborate on those models, and ultimately build generative AI-powered apps. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Rivian loses $1.45 billion as cost-cutting measures continu
Rivian lost $1.45 billion in the first quarter, showing that its recent company-wide cost-cutting measures have a ways to go before it can approach profitability. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Threads is testing cross-posting from Instagram globally
Meta is encouraging more users to post to its X rival Threads. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Apple teased AI improvements, including the M4’s neural engine, at its iPad event
Tuesday's theme focused on the new hardware devices themselves — devices like new iPads and an updated Apple Pencil — not on the AI advances Apple is making under the hood. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Match-owned Archer hits over half a million installs amid dating app slump
It’s been almost one year since Match Group announced the launch of Archer, the online dating giant’s first app for gay, bi, and queer men. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Farewell, dunks? Threads launches quote controls for all users
Threads users can now exert more control over who can quote their posts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
UnitedHealth data breach should be a wakeup call for the UK and NHS
The ransomware attack that has engulfed U.S. health insurance giant UnitedHealth Group and its tech subsidiary Change Healthcare is a data privacy nightmare for millions of U.S. patients, with CEO Andrew Witty confirming this week that it may impact as much as one-third of the country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NASA is expanding its Wallops Island facility to support three times as many launches
NASA is kicking off a formal environmental assessment of its facilities on Wallops Island, Virginia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NASA orders studies from private space companies on Mars mission support roles
Mars exploration has been always been the exclusive purview of national space agencies, but NASA is trying to change that, awarding a dozen research tasks to private companies as a prelude to commercial support for future missions to the Red Planet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Peloton announces 400 layoffs, 15% of the workforce, as CEO Barry McCarthy departs
Peloton, the exercise equipment maker and creator of online fitness classes, has announced that it’s laying off 15 percent of its workforce — 400 people — as CEO, president, and board director Barry McCarthy steps down after two years in the role. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Amazon CodeWhisperer is now called Q Developer and is expanding its functions
Pour one out for CodeWhisperer, Amazon’s AI-powered assistive coding tool. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Elon Musk guts Tesla’s charging team after winning over major automakers
Tesla has gutted its charging team in a new round of layoffs, despite recently winning over major automakers like Ford and General Motors and making its connector the defacto standard in North America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bumble’s “Opening Move” feature takes the pressure off women to come up with a new message every time
As Bumble prepares for its app relaunch this summer, the women-first dating platform announced a series of product updates on Tuesday, including a new feature that lets women prepare questions to send to matches, additional dating intention preferences and prompts, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The first-ever race between four self-driving cars and a Formula 1 driver just happened in Abu Dhabi
Wander the pits at any professional motorsports event, especially something like Formula 1, and you’ll see endless computer displays full of telemetry Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Zomato’s quick commerce unit Blinkit eclipses core food business in value, says Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs said in a report late Thursday that Indian food delivery giant Zomato’s quick commerce arm Blinkit is now more valuable than its core food delivery business, as per the bank’s sum-of-the-parts analysis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
OpenAI inks strategic tie-up with UK’s Financial Times, including content use
OpenAI, maker of the viral AI chatbot ChatGPT, has netted another news licensing deal in Europe, adding London’s Financial Times to a growing list of publishers it’s paying for content access. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Google’s new ‘Speaking practice’ feature uses AI to help users improve their English skills
Google is testing a new “Speaking practice” feature in Search that helps users improve their conversational English skills. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The IBM-HashiCorp coupling could be more complicated than it seems
At a quick glance the IBM-HashiCorp deal seems like a good one for both sides, but upon closer inspection, perhaps not. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
TikTok pulls feature from Lite app in EU over addiction concerns
TikTok suspended a gamification feature in the European Union following an intervention by the bloc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mark Zuckerberg says Threads has 150 million monthly active users
Meta’s Twitter/X rival Threads is growing at a stable pace. The social network now has more than 150 million monthly active users Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tesla profits drop 55%, company says EV sales ‘under pressure’ from hybrids
Tesla profits fell 55% to $1.13 billion in the first quarter from the same year-ago period as a protracted EV price-cutting strategy continued to cut into the automaker’s bottom line Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
X is launching a TV app for videos ‘soon’
X, the company formerly known as Twitter, is launching a dedicated TV app for videos uploaded to the social network soon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Framework’s repairability philosophy is set to expand beyond the laptop
Framework Computer was ahead of the curve. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Perplexity is raising $250M+ at a $2.5-$3B valuation for its AI search platform, sources say
Perplexity, the AI search engine startup, is a hot property at the moment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
TikTok Shop expands its secondhand luxury fashion offering to the UK
TikTok Shop, TikTok’s social commerce marketplace, is launching a secondhand luxury category in the U.K., putting it in closer competition with The RealReal, Vestiaire Collective, Depop, Poshmark, and Mercari, among others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tinder gets a ‘Share My Date’ feature for users to send date plans to their curious friends
It’s not uncommon for people to screenshot dating profiles and send them to their friends and loved ones, either to get feedback or to let them know who they’re seeing that weekend Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Robots can make jobs less meaningful for human colleagues
Much has been (and will continue to be) written about automation’s impact on the jobs market. In the short term, many employers have complained of an inability to fill roles and retain workers, further accelerating robotic adoption. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Internet users are getting younger; now the UK is weighing up if AI can help protect them
Artificial intelligence has been in the crosshairs of governments concerned about how it might be misused for fraud, disinformation and other malicious online activity Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices