TechCrunch Industry News
3,880 episodes — Page 23 of 78
Vibe helps small companies buy video ads on streaming services
As streaming apps and services are gradually showing more ads to viewers, adtech startup Vibe plans to help small businesses take advantage of that trend by letting them access that ad inventory with a self-serve ad platform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Reliance and Disney to merge media assets in India
Reliance, its media asset Viacom18 and Disney are merging their media businesses in India, creating the largest media conglomerate in the South Asian market. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Yolk is a social app where users swap custom live stickers — no text allowed
With so much fresh competition in social apps right now — plus the usual set of social media platforms and messaging giants sucking up attention — it might feel like there’s precious little room to innovate in this slice of the consumer market. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
SeatGeek’s new tools help fans resell tickets at the best price
Ticketing platform and resale marketplace SeatGeek is introducing three features to simplify the ticket-selling experience for users wanting to resell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Threads widens the gap with X, with triple the daily downloads on iOS
Although an app’s downloads aren’t an exact proxy for usage, they can hint at where the market is headed. And in the case of the alt-Twitter wars, the app winning the game right now is Instagram’s Threads. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Supreme Court could decide the fate of content moderation — or it could punt
The Supreme Court is considering the fate of two state laws that limit how social media companies can moderate the content on their platforms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Winning wireless with American strengths
Eric Schmidt Contributor Eric Schmidt was the CEO of Google from 2001 to 2011 and executive chairman of Google and its successor company, Alphabet, from 2011 to 2017. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Spyware leak offers ‘first-of-its-kind’ look inside Chinese government hacking efforts
Over the weekend, someone posted a cache of files and documents apparently stolen from the Chinese government hacking contractor, I-Soon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Hackers are exploiting ConnectWise flaws to deploy LockBit ransomware, security experts warn
Security experts are warning that a pair of high-risk flaws in a popular remote access tool are being exploited by hackers to deploy LockBit ransomware — days after authorities announced that they had disrupted the notorious Russia-linked cybercrime gang. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Byju’s investors unanimously vote to remove founder
A group of Byju’s investors on Friday voted to remove the edtech group’s founder and chief executive Byju Raveendran. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bioptimus raises $35 million seed round to develop AI foundational model focused on biology
There’s a new generative AI startup based in Paris. But what makes Bioptimus interesting is that it plans to apply everything we’ve collectively learned about AI models over the past few years with a narrow, exclusive focus on biology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tinder is expanding ID verification to the US, UK, Brazil and Mexico
Tinder is expanding its identify verification program to users in the U.S., U.K., Brazil and Mexico, the company announced on Tuesday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
YouTube rolls out new channel pages for creators on its TV app
YouTube is changing the design for creators’ channels on the big screen, the company announced today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
YouTube dominates TV streaming in U.S., per Nielsen’s latest report
Nielsen today released its January report on viewing usage across linear TV and streaming, which revealed that YouTube is once again the overall top streaming service in the U.S., with 8.6% of viewing on television screens. Netflix, meanwhile, saw 7.9% of TV usage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
With Twilio under activist pressure, Segment could be put up for sale
With Twilio under pressure from activist investors, it's looking at whether to sell Segment, the company it bought in 2020 for $3.2 billion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son is reportedly seeking $100B to build a new AI chip venture
SoftBank Group’s Masayoshi Son has made no secret of his intent to double down on red-hot artificial intelligence industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feds open second probe into Fisker’s Ocean SUV after rollaway complaints
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a second investigation into EV startup Fisker’s Ocean SUV, after the agency received four complaints about the vehicle rolling away unexpectedly, including one injury. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
European digital rights group say the future of online privacy is on a knife edge
A coalition of more than two dozen digital and democratic rights groups, NGOs and not-for-profits, including noyb and Wikimedia Europe, have written to the European Union’s regulatory body for data protection urging it to reject a tactic that’s been controversially seized upon by Meta in its latest bid to circumvent the bloc’s privacy laws. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Lucid Motors drops the price of its cheapest EV by more than $8,000
Lucid Motors is lopping thousands of dollars off the price of its most affordable electric sedans as it looks to boost demand after a disappointing year of sales. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
TikTok launches a ‘reimagined’ app for the Apple Vision Pro
TikTok has launched a native and “reimagined” app on the Apple Vision Pro, the company announced on Thursday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
General Atlantic leads $50M Series C into Bold to grow digital payments in Colombia
Bold provides low-cost payment terminals, called dataphones, that enable small and medium businesses to accept link payments. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
US military notifies 20,000 of data breach after cloud email leak
The U.S. Department of Defense is notifying tens of thousands of individuals that their personal information was exposed in an email data spill last year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Hackers uncover new TheTruthSpy stalkerware victims: Is your Android device compromised?
A consumer-grade spyware operation called TheTruthSpy poses an ongoing security and privacy risk to thousands of people whose Android devices are unknowingly compromised with its mobile surveillance apps, not least due to a simple security flaw that its operators never fixed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Cruise names first chief safety officer following crash and controversy
Cruise has named its first “chief safety officer” as part of the company’s effort to rehabilitate itself following an incident — and ensuing controversy — last year that left a pedestrian stuck under and then dragged by one of its robotaxis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bugcrowd snaps up $102M for a ‘bug bounty’ security platform that taps 500K+ hackers
Bugcrowd — the startup that taps into a database of half a million hackers to help organizations like OpenAI and the U.S. government set up and run bug bounty programs, cash rewards to freelancers who can identify bugs and vulnerabilities in their code — has picked up a big cash award. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Apple defends parts pairing as Oregon mulls right-to-repair bill
Oregon may soon become the latest state to pass right-to-repair legislation. Last month, Google lent its support in an open letter, calling Senate Bill 1596 “a compelling model for other states to follow.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Pinterest announces a new ad deal with Google as it approaches 500M MAUs
Pinterest announced a new ad deal with Google as the company aims to ramp up its ad revenue. Google is the social platform’s second third-party ad partner after Amazon signed a multiyear deal with Pinterest last year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Meta challenges EU’s Digital Services Act supervisory fee as unfair
Meta is challenging a fee levied by the European Union on larger online platforms under its rebooted ecommerce rules. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
FCC officially declares AI-voiced robocalls illegal
The FCC’s war on robocalls has gained a new weapon in its arsenal with the declaration of AI-generated voices as “artificial” and therefore by definitely against the law when used in automated calling scams. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Californian regulator looking into Waymo’s collision with a cyclist
California’s auto regulator, the Department of Motor Vehicles, is investigating an incident that occurred on Tuesday, where a driverless Waymo car collided with a cyclist, according to a report by Reuters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Snap is looking to unify user experience across Spotlight and Stories
Snap’s stock plunged 30% on Tuesday after announcing Q4 2023 results that didn’t meet analyst expectations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
WhatsApp is preparing to roll out third-party chat support
With a month away from the Digital Markets Act (DMA) deadline, WhatsApp is preparing to allow other messaging networks in its app. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Invite-only dating app Blush launches with $7M in seed funding
Invite-only dating app Blush has raised $7 million in seed funding to scale and expand its exclusive platform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Yandex to sell its remaining Russian businesses for $5.2B — half its market value
Yandex N.V., the Dutch parent company of the eponymous Russian internet giant, is selling the last of its remaining Russian businesses at a steep discount. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bluesky is now open for anyone to join
After almost a year as an invite-only app, Bluesky is now open to the public. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Meta cuts off third-party access to Facebook Groups, leaving developers and customers in disarray
The recent surprise announcement that Meta will soon be shutting down a Facebook Groups API is throwing some businesses and social media marketers into disarray. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Stalkerware apps PhoneSpector and Highster appear to shut down
The makers of two phone surveillance services appear to have shuttered after the owner agreed to settle state accusations of illegally promoting spyware that his companies developed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
As Podcastle raises $13.5M, its founder credits AI-driven growth in Armenia’s ‘Mini-Silicon Valley’
Podcastle, a podcasting platform that has boosted its product with various generative AI-driven features, has raised $13.5 million in a Series Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
FTC orders Blackbaud to overhaul ‘reckless’ security practices in wake of 2020 breach
Education tech company Blackbaud agreed to settle with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission over the company’s security practices that resulted in a 2020 data breach. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
MessageBird rebrands as Bird, and slashes prices by 90% on SMS to take on Twilio
No, don’t think Bird Scooters. Think Bird, formerly MessageBird. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Three San Francisco supervisors receive threats following YC President Garry Tan’s tweet
Aaron Peskin says Garry Tan’s now deleted X post did “harm to democratic discourse." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sundar Pichai says Google One cloud storage service has nearly 100M subscribers
Google CEO Sudar Pichai said that the company’s Google One cloud storage service is ” just about to cross” 100 million subscribers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Universal Music Group plans to pull song catalog from TikTok
Universal Music Group (UMG), the label representing artists including Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, and Ariana Grande, says that it’ll pull its music from TikTok tomorrow at midnight after failing to reach a deal with the platform’s parent company, ByteDance, over royalties. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Yelp launches revamped feed with AI-powered business summaries
Yelp is releasing new features as part of its winter release, which includes a more visual feed, AI-powered summaries of businesses, and number masking while contacting businesses for better privacy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Streaming media company Plex raises new funds as it nears profitability
Media streamer Plex has raised new capital. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal leaves board
Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal has resigned from the e-commerce group’s board, the two said Saturday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Spotify calls Apple’s DMA compliance plan ‘extortion’ and a ‘complete and total farce’
Count Spotify among those not thrilled with how Apple has chosen to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act, which sets the stage for sideloading apps, alternative app stores, browser choice, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
General purpose humanoid robots? Bill Gates is a believer
The robotics industry loves a good, healthy debate. Of late, one of the most intense ones centers around humanoid robots. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
OpenAI responds to Congressional Black Caucus about lack of diversity on its board
OpenAI has been criticized for the lack of diversity on its board. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Pokemon Company says it intends to investigate Palworld
The Pokemon Company said Thursday it has not granted any permission to “another company,” referring to Palworld-developer Pocketpair, to use Pokemon intellectual property or assets and “intends to investigate and take appropriate measures” against the fast-growing survival game operator. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices