TechCrunch Industry News
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Google says it will pay $700M as a part of Play Store dispute settlement
Google said today it will pay $700 million — $630 million to U.S. consumers and $70 to a fund used by U.S. states — in a settlement over Play Store reached in September. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Google moves to end geofence warrants, a surveillance problem it largely created
Google will soon allow users to store their location data on their devices rather than on Google’s servers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Meltwater, the media monitoring startup, gets a $65M investment from Verdane
Meltwater, which first made its name around media monitoring and then got active in business intelligence using AI and big data analytics techniques, is picking up a new investor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Waymo launches curbside robotaxi pickup at Phoenix airport
Select Waymo One riders can now get picked up or dropped off by the company’s robotaxis curbside at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Credit Karma co-founder Nichole Mustard stepping down after more than 16 years
Credit Karma co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer Nichole Mustard is leaving the company after 16-and-a-half years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Microsoft disrupts cybercrime operation selling fraudulent accounts to notorious hacking gang
Microsoft says it has successfully dismantled the infrastructure of a cybercrime operation that sold access to fraudulent Outlook accounts to other hackers, including the notorious Scattered Spider gang. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Apple will no longer give police users’ push notification data without a warrant
Apple said it will no longer give over records of users’ push notifications to law enforcement unless the company receives a valid judge’s order. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
China’s autonomous vehicle regulation requires safety operators, in-car recordings
When it comes to spurring the development of cutting-edge technologies, the Chinese government is rather pragmatic in its policymaking process. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Verve Motion raises $20M to grow its exosuit business
Verve Motion, a startup building a robotic “exosuit” designed to help workers complete physically demanding tasks in factories and other like environments, today announced that it raised $20 million in a Series B round. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
China’s WeRide tests autonomous buses in Singapore, accelerate global ambition
After years of aggressive expansion at home, China’s autonomous vehicle upstarts are now setting their gaze on overseas markets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Hasbro to cut 1,100 jobs despite Dungeons & Dragons thriving
Hasbro is laying off 1,100 employees, according to an SEC filing. The company behind franchises like Dungeons & Dragons and Transformers, Hasbro already laid off 800 employees in January. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
US-China tech war escalates over EV battery dominance
Semiconductors have in recent years become a focal point in the U.S.’s efforts to impede China’s technological advancement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
TikTok to invest $1.5B in GoTo’s Indonesia e-commerce business
ByteDance’s TikTok will take a 75.01% controlling stake in a joint venture entity formed in partnership with GoTo’s e-commerce unit Tokopedia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Threads is rolling out its hashtags without the hash symbol globally
Meta’s social network Threads got a major update Thursday as the company started rolling out tags (without the hash symbol) on the platform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Google’s best Gemini demo was faked
Google’s new Gemini AI model is getting a mixed reception after its big debut yesterday, but users may have less confidence in the company’s tech or integrity after finding out that the most impressive demo of Gemini was pretty much faked. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
EU ‘final’ talks to fix AI rules to run into second day — but deal on foundational models is on the table
As European Union lawmakers clock up 20+ hours of negotiating time in a marathon attempt to reach agreement on how to regulate artificial intelligence a preliminary accord on how to handle one sticky element. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Meta finally starts rolling out default end-to-end encryption for Messenger
After years of promises and limited tests, Meta has started rolling out default end-to-end encryption protection for Messenger. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bing’s new ‘Deep Search’ feature offers more comprehensive answers to complex search queries
Microsoft Bing is getting a new “Deep Search” feature powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
X is now licensed for payment processing in a dozen U.S states
Elon Musk is moving forward with his plans to turn the company formerly known as Twitter, now called X, into an “everything app” that includes its own payments system. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Meta set to discontinue cross-messaging between Instagram and Facebook
Meta has silently updated its support pages to indicate that the company won’t let users on Instagram message their Facebook contacts anymore. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Cruise faces fines in California for withholding key details in robotaxi accident
Cruise keeps getting kicked while it’s down. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
TikTok expands its in-app Ticketmaster ticketing feature to users in 20 countries
TikTok and Ticketmaster are expanding their partnership into 20 new countries after initially launching it in the United States back in August 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Meta faces $600M competition damages claim in Spain as media owners pursue privacy breach lawsuit
Meta is facing a major legal challenge and damages claim in Spain that argues the adtech giant’s years of failing to have a valid legal basis for processing people’s data for ads under European Union data protection rules. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Smartphone sales to rebound on AI gains, Morgan Stanley says
Smartphone sales will mount a comeback starting in 2024, defying growing warnings of a prolonged slump across the mobile sector, according to separate projections by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley reviewed by TechCrunch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Former Blue Origin rocket engine manager alleges wrongful termination for whistleblowing on safety
The former program manager of Blue Origin’s BE-4 rocket engines has filed a lawsuit against the company alleging whistleblower retaliation after he spoke up about safety issues. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Immensa, a MENA-based additive manufacturing and digital inventory platform, raises $20 million
The global energy spare parts market is valued at over $90 billion, with the Middle East representing about 35% of this sector. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Here’s your reminder that Google is deleting inactive accounts tomorrow
As Google ramps up its security measures, the company is deleting inactive accounts that haven’t been touched for two years as a way of protecting users from security threats, such as identity theft, unwanted spam and scams. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Polestar’s climate-tweeting bot isn’t actually a bot, for good reason
“When is a bot a person?,” my colleague Kirsten asked after I learned that Polestar’s climate bot is more human than machine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
London’s iconic black cabs can soon be hailed on Uber
Uber has secured another win over the struggling taxi industry. Soon, riders in London will be able to hail an iconic black cab in the city. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
AWS brings Amazon One palm-scanning authentication to the enterprise
Amazon’s cloud computing subsidiary AWS (Amazon Web Services) has lifted the lid on a new palm-scanning identity service that allows companies to authenticate people when entering physical premises. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Apple partner Foxconn to invest $1.5 billion in India
Foxconn plans to invest $1.54 billion in India, the latest in its growing expansion plan, following a surge in revenues in the South Asian market. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
X loses Paris Hilton’s 11:11 Media partnership in latest brand pull-out
Paris Hilton’s 11:11 Media is pulling out of its partnership with the X. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
After two ambitious years, TikTok parent ByteDance starts mass layoffs in gaming
ByteDance’s gaming ambition has been an expensive, short-lived pursuit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
OpenAI will benefit from unity of purpose with Sam Altman’s return
In case you missed it, Sam Altman is back as OpenAI CEO. His reinstatement comes after a whirlwind few days in which we saw unusual corporate governance lead to an attempt to oust Altman, despite support from both Microsoft and the vast majority of OpenAI’s workforce. While the whole process was incredibly messy, the result […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Florida judge finds Tesla, Elon Musk knew of defective Autopilot system
There is “reasonable evidence” to conclude that Tesla and its officers, including CEO Elon Musk, knew its vehicles had defective Autopilot systems but still allowed the cars to be driven in areas “not safe for that technology,” a Florida judge found. The ruling last week from Judge Reid Scott, in the Circuit Court for Palm […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Generative AI startup AI21 Labs raises cash in the midst of OpenAI chaos
One AI startup’s undoing is another’s opportunity. Case in point: today, AI21 Labs, a company developing generative AI products along the lines of OpenAI’s GPT-4 and ChatGPT, closed a $53 million extension to its previously-announced Series C funding round. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chaos at OpenAI adds fuel to the AI talent poaching war
It may be difficult for just any company to court OpenAI employees even if compensation packages are eye-poppingly high because of loyalty to Sam Altman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tinder redesigns profile pages with prompts, info tags and quiz
Tinder is revamping its profile pages to make them more informative and create easier starting points for conversations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Altman won’t return as OpenAI’s CEO after all
Capping off a tumultuous weekend at OpenAI that culminated in investors — and a contingent of employees — attempting to convince the company’s board to hire back former Y Combinator president Sam Altman after firing him on Friday, Altman won’t be returning as CEO Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Signal details costs of keeping its private messaging service alive
What price privacy? End-to-end encrypted (E2EE) messaging app Signal has put out an interesting overview of the costs required to develop and maintain its pro-privacy systems which shield user data from tracking by default. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Wattpad Premium subscribers now have access to 5 free monthly Wattpad Originals
Wattpad announced today “Premium Picks,” a new offering that gives Premium and Premium+ subscribers monthly access to five free Wattpad Originals—the recently launched freemium model where select authors can choose to monetize chapters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
DeepMind and YouTube release Lyria, a gen-AI model for music, and Dream Track to build AI tunes
Back in January, Google made some waves — soundwaves, that is — when it quietly released some research on AI-based music creation software that built tunes based on word prompts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Toyota is turning to startup Redwood Materials for critical battery materials
Battery cells produced at Toyota’s future North American EV factory will someday contain a little Redwood Materials DNA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
GM inserts exec at Cruise as safety review expands, manual self driving paused
General Motors is taking a more active role in shaping the safety culture at Cruise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tesla hits reverse on threat to sue Cybertruck resellers
Tesla seems to be walking back the punitive limits it placed on buyers of its yet-to-be-released Cybertrucks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Venmo gets a new way to split expenses among groups
PayPal-owned Venmo is rolling out a new feature starting today that will allow its users to track and manage multiple expenses among groups. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
TikTok’s newest feature lets you save favorite songs directly to Spotify or Amazon Music
TikTok is teaming up with streaming music services, including Spotify and Amazon Music, on a new feature that will allow users to save the songs they hear in TikTok videos directly to their preferred streaming music app. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Shekel Mobility, a B2B marketplace for auto dealers in Africa, raises $7M led by Ventures Platform and MaC VC
The World Economic Forum states that Africa has an average annual demand for 2.4 million cars and 300,000 commercial vehicles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Bose QuietComfort Ultra earn their name and maybe even their $429 price tag
For years, any time someone asked what brand of headphones they should buy for a flight, the answer was a simple one syllable: Bose. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ghost, now OpenAI-backed, claims LLMs will overcome self-driving setbacks — but experts are skeptical
It’s not hyperbolic to say that the self-driving car industry is facing a reckoning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices