TechCrunch Industry News

Electric vehicle maker Polestar said Tuesday that it is expanding its lineup to include an 884-horsepower hard-top convertible with recycled polyester upholstery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In an effort to expand its social platform for virtual reality, Horizon Worlds, Meta is launching it in France and Spain today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There is a host of startups working on decentralized identities for the next generation of the internet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ride-hailing giant Uber is shutting down its free loyalty program, Uber Rewards, so it can focus on its subscription-based Uber One membership. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The U.S. government said it will offer up to $10 million for information related to five people believed to be high-ranking members of the notorious Russia-backed Conti ransomware gang. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Dutch government agency responsible for investigating financial crimes said it has arrested a developer suspected of being involved with crypto mixing service Tornado Cash in a move that has rattled some crypto and privacy advocates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As Google continues the great merger between its Duo and Meet video communications apps, the company today announced that it’s introducing new Apple SharePlay-like live-sharing features to Meet, making it easier for call-participants to engage with content together in real time. I Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Farther provides two sets of tools, one for advisors to expand their businesses and one for clients to invest in ways that align with their goals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Veteran cannabis tech company WM Technology is rebranding and expanding its SaaS offering to move upstream beyond its existing Weedmaps marketplace. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The United States Department of Defense is deepening its relationship with electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft company Joby Aviation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

South Korea’s communication watchdog, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), said Tuesday it will investigate Apple and Google over potential violations of the country’s in-app payment rule. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

WhatsApp now allows you to delete a message for up to two days and 12 hours (60 hours in total), so you can remove an accidentally sent chat even after hours. Previously, this limit was 1 hour, 8 minutes, and 16 seconds — yep, there were seconds involved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The collapse of Three Arrow Capital and the counterparties wrapped in the crypto hedge fund’s troubles have drawn questions about the soundness of the heady digital asset investment space. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Google is suing Sonos (again) over patent infringement in what seems to be an unending legal fight series between two tech companies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amazon this morning announced plans to acquire Roomba maker iRobot for an all-cash deal valued at $1.7 billion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The headline of Warner Bros. Discovery’s earnings call was something a lot of people dreaded: HBO Max and Discovery+ are merging into a new service. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pony.ai, a Chinese autonomous vehicle company valued at $8.5 billion as of late, has sued two former employees over alleged trade secret infringement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Samsung announced Wednesday that it’s bringing more than 250 games to the Samsung Gaming Hub through the Amazon Luna streaming-based gaming service. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Solana, an increasingly popular blockchain known for its speedy transactions, has become the target of the crypto sphere’s latest hack. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Uber’s ride with Zomato has concluded. The ride-hailing firm sold its 7.8% stake of the lossmaking Indian food delivery firm on Wednesday for over $390 million, a person familiar with the matter said, becoming the latest large institutional investor to offload its shares. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Discord announced new measures to bring its Android app into parity with its iOS counterpart today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We knew it was happening, but Meta has confirmed that its long-standing chief operating officer (COO) Sheryl Sandberg has departed from her role as of yesterday (August 1). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

TikTok parent company ByteDance filed a trademark application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in May for a service called “TikTok Music.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Telecom operators in India bid slightly over $19 billion in the government auction for the 5G airwaves, the highest from them in any spectrum sale, as the world’s second-largest wireless market readies the rollout of improved and faster voice and data speeds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Umba, a US-based digital bank with a focus on emerging markets, has acquired a majority shareholding of Daraja, a Kenyan deposit-taking microfinance bank, for an undisclosed amount. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Twitter is increasing the price of its subscription service, Twitter Blue, from $2.99 to $4.99 per month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you feel like you’ve seen a lot of “Gmail redesign roll out” posts in the last few months, it’s not just you: Google has been teasing and testing features for new, integrated-view quick access to apps like Chat and Meet since the start of the year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The price of consumer goods has been soaring all around the world, creating a major budgeting headache for many people. Social commerce startup DealCart wants to make life easier for shoppers, at least in Pakistan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Google Maps is introducing three features today in different categories including an aerial view of 100 landmarks, detailed cycling routes, and improved location sharing with notifications for the arrival and departure of your friends. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Spotify’s push to complement its music streaming with a big move into podcasting and related content appears to be paying off, despite the ups and downs of operating in an uncertain economic and political climate and Spotify’s exit from its foray into hardware. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Spotnana, a self-proclaimed “travel-as-a-service” platform that targets corporations, travel management firms, and other technology companies with a cloud-based toolset for booking and managing travel, has raised $75 million in a series B round of funding. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last year was a pretty good one for Snyk, a Boston-based security company. It raised a hefty $530 million on a $8.5 billion valuation, and with that kind of money in the bank, it’s probably not surprising that it went shopping. In February, it bought developer-focused cloud security company Fugue for an undisclosed amount. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Netflix’s app on iOS now has a signup button that will redirect you to its site so you can subscribe to one of its plans with the company paying no App Store fees. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There are plenty of autonomous driving vehicles testing on the roads of Shenzhen today: Pony.ai, Baidu, DeepRoute, AutoX, you name it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tesla suppliers traveling from Nuevo León, Mexico, to Texas now have their very own dedicated border patrol lane. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s probably hyperbole to credit Google’s Pixel A devices for single-handedly keeping the broader line alive during some admittedly lean times. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After five years of research, Meati Foods is poised to begin shipping its plant-based meat product later this year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just Eat Takeaway is cutting 390 jobs from its workforce in France, constituting part of a broader global restructuring effort as the food delivery giant looks to reverse its recent downturn. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Didi, the Chinese ride hailing behemoth that has undergone a year of regulatory overhaul, faces a fine of over 8 billion yuan ($1.28 billion) from the country’s authorities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Google is expanding its photo and canvas prints service to Europe and Canada. Google has offered printed photo books in the U.S. since 2017, a service that started rolling out in Europe the following year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Microsoft has confirmed that it won’t be introducing a previously announced new policy that would effectively ban developers from selling open source software on the Windows app store. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If the reviews of the last completely necessary and not at all superfluous thing you bought on Amazon looked like so much copypasta, there’s a good reason. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

HireArt, which TechCrunch previously described as a “resume-killing” jobs marketplace, today announced that it raised $26.25 million in a Series B financing round led by Three Fish Capital with participation from over a “half dozen” angel investors. CEO Nick Sedlet said that the cash will be put toward product development and more than doubling HireArt’s […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Some estimates put the future mobility market at $178.7 billion by 2026, up from $78.1 billion two years ago. And there has been $400 billion worth of investments made into the sector over the past decade, with  $100 billion invested since 2020. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The New York Times is turning the popular online word game Wordle into a board game by teaming up with toymaker Hasbro. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lightyear, a U.K. fintech startup that promises consumers commission-free trading on U.S. and European stocks, is officially extending into Europe from today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plaid, the company building data transfer technologies to power fintech and digital finance products like smartphone-based wallets, today announced that it’s adding support for thousands of crypto exchanges to its data network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

SendSprint, a money transfer startup based in the UK but with operations in the US and Nigeria, has been launched today with the unique selling point of a $5 flat fee for all transfers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over the past 18 months, Inflection Points has been working in stealth mode to build out a crypto-focused employment and corporate training business and just secured $12.6 million in funding. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

SpaceX’s Starship program encountered a setup after a test ended in a fiery explosion at its Boca Chica development facility in Texas on Monday night. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices