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Showing posts from December, 2023

What a long, strange year it’s been in enterprise tech news

Looking back at the top enterprise news stories of the year, it's clear that generative AI dominated, but it wasn't the only news. © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/rPJyuBQ

I guess I’m a projector person now?

I’ve been one of the those “I don’t own a TV” people for a long time. Really my entire adult life, excepting those times when I shared my living space with someone who brought their own to the party. My exact motivation is a bit hazy all these years later, but at a certain point, […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/k4sFHax

Amazon Echo Frames review, MrBeast jumps the shark and the Apple Watch gets un-banned

Hey, folks, and welcome to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s regular newsletter recapping the week that was in tech. Typically, the stretch between Christmas and New Year’s tends to be on the sleepier side — but that wasn’t the case in 2023. Fortunately, the TC crew was around to document all that happened. This edition […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/6lTyAYU

The overlooked tech that kept cities moving in 2023

Over here at TechCrunch, our time is often spent finding and reporting on the next new new thing in mobility from autonomous drones and electric air taxis to self-driving trucks and even batteries made of paper. While this tech, in theory, may someday help people and goods move from point A to B, much of it […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/4AMIPUo

Facing roadblocks, China’s robotaxi darlings apply the brakes

A few years ago, robotaxis were the darlings of venture capitalists in China. A cadre of audacious startups, including Deeproute.ai, WeRide.ai, Pony.ai and Momenta reeled in hundreds of millions of dollars to fuel their costly ambitions. With pockets overflowing, they spent generously on building self-driving vehicle fleets. Their geeky executives, swapping T-shirts for sharp suits, […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/KPrsqpu

CES 2024: What we’re expecting

More than anything, CES is a chance to plant a flag. Consumer electronics’ massive trade show is strategically positioned within the first week of the year. All the holiday tech has been purchased, opened and used or returned. It’s all a distant memory for tech companies looking to assert themselves as leading innovators for the […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/R9cIulg

More than 40 investors share their top predictions for 2024

From when the exit market reopens to what happens with AI investing, more than 40 VCs share their predictions and expectations for 2024. © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/oBwRz1f

Ask Sophie: Whatever happened to International Entrepreneur Parole?

In this Ask Sophie article, I describe how the IEP program works and will dive into how to qualify for IEP and offer alternatives. © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/9g7f2Hd

Love ’em or hate ’em, NFTs can survive thanks to the communities that drive them

NFTs get a lot of heat, but there’s a widespread belief in the industry that there’s ample value underlying the concept and the various use cases it brings. © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/Rmucbjl

BotBuilt wants to lower the cost of homebuilding with robots

Homes aren’t getting cheaper — or necessarily easier to secure. This year, the median household income for home buyers jumped to $107,000 from $88,000 last year, according to the National Association of Realtors. The volume of homes for sale in the U.S. reached record a low, meanwhile — and shows no sign of recovery. Now, […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/feiVBHQ

MOVEit, Capita, CitrixBleed and more: The biggest data breaches of 2023

This year, 2023, was a hell of a year for data breaches, much like the year before it (and the year before that, etc.). Over the past 12 months, we’ve seen hackers ramp up their exploitation of bugs in popular file-transfer tools to compromise thousands of organizations; ransomware gangs adopt aggressive new tactics aimed at […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/XvVST3l

Apple Vision Pro tipped for late Jan/early Feb release

We’ve known about the Vision Pro for more than half-a-year now (not to mention the years of rumors), but Apple’s first “spatial computing” device is one of consumer electronics’ biggest question marks heading into the new year. The $3,499 headset was given an “early-2024” release time frame when it was unveiled at WWDC in June, […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/ZMW7vUb

Bluesky rolls out an in-app video and music player and a new ‘hide post’ feature

Decentralized social network Bluesky is rolling out a new in-app video and music player for links, along with a new “hide post” feature. The new additions bring Bluesky’s user experience closer to X (Twitter). The new video and music player works with YouTube, SoundCloud, Spotify and Twitch embeds. Unlike on X, where autoplay on videos […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/Ef3jNU1

Hackers stole $2 billion in crypto in 2023, data shows

For yet another year, hackers stole billions of dollars in crypto. But for the first time since 2020, the trend is downwards, according to crypto security firms. This year, hackers stole around $2 billion dollars in crypto across dozens of cyberattacks and thefts, according to De.FI, the web3 security firm that runs the Rekt leaderboard. […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/anLFAJP

The eternal struggle between open source and proprietary software

Whenever chaos engulfs a proprietary technology relied on by millions, the default knee-jerk reaction from many seems to be: “Hey, let’s see what the open source world has to offer.” Case in point: X’s (Twitter) steady demise since Elon Musk took over last year led many to search for more “open” alternatives, be it Mastodon […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/HIqRUJw

Nonprofit Code.org sues Byju’s unit WhiteHat Jr over payment dues

Code.org, the US educational non-profit, has filed a lawsuit in a California district court alleging that Byju’s subsidiary WhiteHat Jr breached a licensing contract by failing to pay fees while continuing to use Code.org’s platform. WhiteHat Jr, which sold to Byju’s for $300 million in 2020, partnered with Code.org last year and agreed to pay […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/g13xm8A

In a slow year for enterprise tech M&A, there were few standout deals

It was a slow year in enterprise technology M&A, and the total was the second lowest since we started compiling the data in 2018. © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/uiITYyO

Salesforce escaped from the jaws of activists to find stability in 2023

Salesforce started the year with an unusual level of turbulence, but after escaping activist investors, it ended up having a good year. © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/wRuQWbS

Adobe gives up on Figma, Apple Watch sales halted, and hackers access millions of accounts

In this edition of Week in Review (WiR), we cover the collapse of the Adobe-Figma deal, bans on Apple Watch sales and more. © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/Ueuwmgl

Amazon’s new Echo Frames can’t touch the Ray-Ban Meta

This April marked the 10th anniversary since Google released the first generation of Glass. It may be difficult to believe with a decade of hindsight, but the limited release “Explorer’s Edition” were coveted objects. For a little while, at least, they felt like the future. The last 10 years of smartglasses has, however, been an […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/J6ukrz7

Hyperloop’s loss is high-speed rail’s gain

In 2013, Elon Musk published a white paper that teased the idea of zipping from Los Angeles to San Francisco in just 35 minutes through a vacuum-sealed tube — a system he called hyperloop. The idea “originated out of his hatred for California’s proposed high-speed rail system,” according to his biographer Ashlee Vance. Ten years […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/yHTGmhB

A strong foundation can help raise early-stage capital

Investors aren’t scouring pitch decks as earnestly as they were in the past. There’s still a market for early-stage deals, though. © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/M3QGP4t

The EV tax credit is about to get better, and also harder to find

The federal tax credit for electric vehicles is about to change in one particular way that will make it far more attractive to buyers. Starting January 1, the rebate — up to $7,500 for qualifying new EVs and up to $4,000 for qualifying used EVs — will be available when you buy the car, as […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/tX75G61

Against pseudanthropy

“Shall I say thou art a man, that hast all the symptoms of a beast? How shall I know thee to be a man? By thy shape? That affrights me more, when I see a beast in likeness of a man.” — Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy I propose that software be prohibited from […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/rVboquS

Consumer Reports says Tesla’s Autopilot recall fix is ‘insufficient’

Tesla’s fix for its Autopilot recall of more than 2 million vehicles is being called “insufficient” by Consumer Reports, following preliminary tests. Kelly Funkhouser, the nonprofit organization’s associate director of vehicle technology, tells TechCrunch she discovered it’s still possible to cover the cabin camera while using Autopilot, meaning drivers can neutralize one of the two […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/JHVGhCF

6 work from home gifts for remote workers in 2023

According to WFHResearch, 40% of US employees work remotely at least one day a week. This means the chances you know someone who could use a boost to their work from home setup is high. While working from home has its pros and cons, like being able to drink coffee in your pajama bottoms but […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/KwTlB7Y

The outlook for startups in 2024 is hazy

Even though the economy is signaling a bit of a bounce-back, 2024 might not be much better than 2023 when it comes to startups sharing a piece of the budget pie.  © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/W1OglaU

Music marketing startup Breakr raises more capital, pays $3.5M to creators

We last wrote about Breakr — a platform that connects record labels, artists and brands with social media influencers to run mass campaigns in a programmatic way — when it closed a $4.2 million round in 2021. In the past two years, Breakr has onboarded over 30,000 influencers and managed more than $3.5 million in creator […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/IoeryaV

TikTok rolls out an enhanced app experience for tablets and foldables

TikTok has rolled out an update to enhance the app experience for viewers on tablets and foldable devices, the company announced on Monday. The company says the app is now better optimized for larger screens, as viewers can now experience a clear video feed, streamlined navigation bars and orientation support. With this new update, TikTok […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/h3k6HN0

Nikola founder Trevor Milton sentenced to 4 years for securities fraud

Trevor Milton, the disgraced founder and former CEO of electric truck startup Nikola, was sentenced Monday to four years in prison for securities fraud. The sentence, by Judge Edgardo Ramo in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, caps a multi-year saga that at one point sent Nikola stock soaring 83% only to come crashing down […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/R5wUNSg

Vans, Supreme owner VF Corp. says personal data stolen and orders impacted in suspected ransomware attack

VF Corporation, the U.S.-based owner of apparel brands including Vans, Supreme, and The North Face, has confirmed a cyberattack has impacted the company’s ability to fulfill orders ahead of Christmas, one of the biggest retail events of the year. The Denver, Colorado-based corporation said in a filing with federal regulators that the cyberattack, which the […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/RkCVZ8L

IBM to acquire StreamSets and WebMethods from Software AG for $2.3B

IBM is doling out €2.13 billion ($2.3 billion) to acquire a duo of data integration assets from Germany-based enterprise software company Software AG. The all-cash deal will see IBM take ownership of StreamSets, a data integration platform that Software AG had acquired just last year, and WebMethods, which Software AG bought for more than $500 […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/GLlu2tX

May Mobility’s driverless microtransit might beat robotaxis to profitability

Autonomous vehicle company May Mobility has launched its first driverless on-demand microtransit service on public roads in Sun City, Arizona in partnership with transit tech company Via. The milestone is in line with May Mobility’s goal of launching rider-only operations by 2023. It also signals that the gentle onramp approach to commercializing autonomy could be […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/0SZq1jE

Saudi shopping and BNPL platform Tamara tops $1B valuation in $340M Series C funding

Tamara, a buy now pay later platform for consumers in Saudi Arabia and the wider GCC region, has raised $340 million in a financing round that values the fintech at $1 billion. Saudi asset manager and financial institution SNB Capital and Sanabil Investments, a wholly-owned company by Saudi’s sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund (PIF), […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/2mbUsY6

Cruise cuts a quarter of its self-driving workforce, another e-scooter startup folds and a special year-end message

The Station is a weekly newsletter dedicated to all things transportation. Sign up here — just click The Station — to receive the newsletter every weekend in your inbox. Subscribe for free. Welcome back to The Station, your central hub for all past, present and future means of moving people and packages from Point A to Point B. […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/iNycKF8

Fintech’s wild ride in 2023

Welcome back to The Interchange, where we take a look at the hottest fintech news of the previous week. If you want to receive The Interchange directly in your inbox every Sunday, head here to sign up!  What a year This is the last edition of The Interchange for 2023 — it’s hard to believe that the […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/FQvuDmz

The Rule of X and how cloud leaders should think about growth versus profit

Assigning equal weight to growth and profitability for late-stage businesses is flawed and has caused misguided business decisions. © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/GQDFbkH

Google’s Gemini comes to more apps, Cruise slashes its workforce and Tesla issues a recall

Hey, folks, welcome to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s regular newsletter covering the major happenings in the tech-o-sphere — or most of them, anyway. As the world’s largest AI conference, NeurIPS, got underway in sunny New Orleans, Google shared more on Gemini, its flagship AI model family — and lots happened elsewhere. In this edition […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/0tCd1VW

Democracies are fragile, and hardware is hard

Sometimes it's important to state the obvious. That democracies are fragile but that technology can help. And also that crowdfunding isn't always the best way to launch an innovative product. © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/VsnwR3E

When it comes to generative AI in the enterprise, CIOs are taking it slow

To hear the hype from vendors, you would think that enterprise buyers are all in when it comes to generative AI. But like any newer technology, large companies tend to move cautiously. Throughout this year, as vendors feverishly announced new generative AI-fueled products, CIOs took note. Some companies have actually been looking to cut back […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/e1nB7Oi

Elon Musk’s Twitter a year later: Everything you need to know

Welcome to Elon Musk’s Twitter (now X), where the rules are made up and the check marks don’t matter. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO announced his bid to buy Twitter in April 2022, zealously driven to rid the platform of spam bots and protect free speech; now, it’s the one-year anniversary since he made his […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/M23kiRx

News publisher files class action antitrust suit against Google, citing AI’s harms to their bottom line

A new class action lawsuit filed this week in the U.S. District Court in D.C. accuses Google and parent company Alphabet of anticompetitive behavior in violation of U.S. antitrust law, the Sherman Act, and others, on behalf of news publishers. The case, filed by Arkansas-based publisher Helena World Chronicle, argues that Google “siphons off” news […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/4qDX71g

Three years after its revamp, Firefox’s Android browser adds 450+ new extensions

For the sliver of the market that opts for Firefox instead of Chrome, the default browser on Android devices, the experience just got better. Firefox maker Mozilla announced today the launch of over 450 new extensions — aka browser add-ons — which are now available on Mozilla’s Firefox Browser Add-ons page. These extensions allow users […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/cp4hw1q

Seed-stage startups — and their investors — react to higher hurdles for Series A funding

The hurdle for Series A funding is a lot higher than it was a year ago — and investors in seed-stage companies are having to respond. They don’t have much choice if they want their startups to survive. When the market abruptly turned in the spring of 2022, late-stage companies were the first to feel […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/XWKIJzT

Receive the gift of growth at TechCrunch Early Stage 2024

Gift giving. It’s top of mind this time of year, and we’re here to suggest two ways you can spread joy this holiday season. First, never — and we mean never — give the “gift” of fruit cake. Second, give your startup dream the gift of growth. Treat yourself and your business with a pass […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/9fghWyB

Take the time to brush up those pitch decks

Now is a great time to brush up your pitch decks, practice your pitch, and get ready for when things kick off again next year. © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/fN9dmXt

Geothermal startup Quaise is raising $25M as it gears up for drilling

The new priced round comes as the company gears up for drilling test boreholes next year using its gyrotron-powered rig. © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/MyKsLvF

We should all be paying more attention to the PDD-Alibaba rivalry

Are we entering an era where Temu rules as the undisputed king of e-commerce? © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/cHhMEm0

Beeper Mini is back in operation after Apple’s attempt to shut it down

Beeper Mini, the app bringing blue bubble iMessage texts to Android users, is back in operation on Monday after a long weekend that saw Apple putting an end to Beeper’s services, claiming it was a security risk. Now, the startup behind the new app says it has resumed functioning, but hasn’t disclosed how that’s been […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/4MasN9o

EU says incoming rules for general purpose AIs can evolve over time

The political deal clinched by European Union lawmakers late Friday over what the bloc is billing as world’s first comprehensive law for regulating artificial intelligence includes powers for the Commission to adapt the pan-EU AI rulebook to keep pace with developments in the cutting edge field, it has confirmed. Lawmakers’ choice of term for regulating […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/y2cJimj

Elon Musk brings Alex Jones and Infowars back on X after user poll

Elon Musk has restored the X accounts of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his media site Infowars. The X accounts of Jones and Infowars were “permanently banned” from Twitter by the previous management in 2018 for posting abusive content and violating the platform’s rules. Musk ran a user poll on X on December 9 asking whether […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/RguwYv0

Cruise faces fines, TuSimple exits the U.S. and a new reporter joins the TC transpo team

The Station is a weekly newsletter dedicated to all things transportation. Sign up here — just click The Station — to receive the newsletter every weekend in your inbox. Subscribe for free. Welcome back to The Station, your central hub for all past, present and future means of moving people and packages from Point A to Point B. […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/H4fmzN3

Senator Warren calls out Apple for shutting down Beeper’s ‘iMessage to Android’ solution

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is throwing her weight behind Beeper, the app that allowed Android users to message iPhone users via iMessage, until Apple shut it down. Warren, an advocate for stricter antitrust enforcement, posted her support for Beeper on X (formerly Twitter) and questioned why Apple would restrict a competitor. The post indicates […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/alBboxG

Here are the newly minted fintech unicorns

Welcome back to The Interchange, where we take a look at the hottest fintech news of the previous week. If you want to receive The Interchange directly in your inbox every Sunday, head here to sign up! We’re looking at a bunch of news — from new unicorns, to a fintech doing good, to one that shut […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/cqRpUNr

How to push PaaS usage beyond 12-factor apps

Companies embracing the PaaS paradigm must recognize that there won't be a one-size-fits-all workload solution. © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/wsWiEjT

Google fakes an AI demo, Grand Theft Auto VI goes viral and Spotify cuts jobs

Hey, folks, welcome to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s regular newsletter that recaps the past few days in tech. AI stole the headlines once again, with tech giants from Google to X (formerly Twitter) heading off against OpenAI for chatbot supremacy. But plenty happened besides. In this edition of WiR, we cover Google faking a […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/TcVgiRr

Do you believe in job after job?

People moving on to new jobs is not a bad thing — and not only when they have been laid off. That's why it's uplifting to see employers encourage this process. © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/8d7BJVC

OpenAI taps former Twitter India head to kickstart in the country

OpenAI is working with former Twitter India head Rishi Jaitly as a senior advisor to facilitate talks with the government about AI policy, TechCrunch has exclusively learned. OpenAI is also looking to set up a local team in India. People familiar with the matter told TechCrunch that Jaitly has been helping OpenAI navigate the Indian policy […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/UnKrX1c

X’s AI chatbot Grok now ‘rolled out to all’ US Premium+ subscribers, English language users are next

Yesterday, X began rolling out Grok, the “rebellious” AI chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s xAI startup, to Premium+ subscribers on X’s platform. Today, Musk says that Grok’s rollout to all U.S. Premium+ subscribers is now complete, but cautioned that the beta would face many issues, though it would be steadily improved. He also offered a […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/Gi5JqE9

US indicts alleged Russian hackers for years-long cyber espionage campaign against Western countries

U.S. authorities have indicted two hackers linked to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) for allegedly carrying out a years-long cyber espionage campaign targeting government officials.  The Department of Justice alleged on Thursday that Ruslan Aleksandrovich Peretyatko, an officer with the FSB intelligence service, and IT worker Andrey Stanislavovich Korinets attempted to compromise the computers of […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/mhaOMdW

Amazon will no longer accept Venmo as a payment option starting next month

Amazon is dropping Venmo as a payment option next month, the PayPal owned mobile payment service announced on its website. The official announcement comes as Amazon notified users last night via email that Venmo will no longer be accepted on Amazon.com starting January 10, 2024. Amazon will still, however, accept Venmo debit and credit cards. […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/4yLXFxm

Seattle biotech hub pursues ‘DNA typewriter’ tech with $75M from tech billionaires

A new Seattle biotech organization will be funded to the tune of $75 million to research “DNA typewriters,” self-monitoring cells that could upend our understanding of biology. The collaboration between the University of Washington, the Chan-Zuckerberg Institute, and the Allen Institute is already underway. Called the Seattle Hub for Synthetic Biology, the joint initiative will […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/Sy8sAMn

Mammoth, an X and Threads competitor, embraces news, curation, and more in latest release

Mammoth, an app from the Mozilla-backed startup focused on building a more consumer-friendly entry point to the world of decentralized social media, is out today with its next big upgrade: Mammoth 2. The third-party Mastodon client had already focused on various pain points for joining the open source Twitter/X competitor, including better onboarding and its […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/iCb4uP6

Ask Sophie: Does the H-1B visa require founders to give up equity and control?

Sophie Alcorn Contributor Share on X Sophie Alcorn is the founder of Alcorn Immigration Law in Silicon Valley and 2019 Global Law Experts Awards’ “Law Firm of the Year in California for Entrepreneur Immigration Services.” She connects people with the businesses and opportunities that expand their lives. More posts by this contributor Ask Sophie: What’s […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/WAKqxvF

Regulatory approval for this subscription solar UK startup could mean more are to come

With the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) authorising what’s believed to be the first time a company can provide solar panels and batteries on a subscription model — without subscribers needing to pay a lump sum upfront — the stage could be set for a new boom in solar subscription services. This will provide useful […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/PZqbB50

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. The company in late November was granted three additional money transmitter licenses in the U.S. states of South Dakota (on Nov. 27), Kansas (on Nov. 28), […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/Eem1VGs

TC+ Roundup: Amazon is not the AI leader

Amazon has been No. 1 in the cloud for years but now finds itself playing catch-up to Microsoft when it comes to AI. © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/uEK7BC6

Twilio might actually deserve activist investor attention

Twilio's stock has fallen from 2021 of $400 a share to somewhere in the $60s today. It's no wonder activist investors are circling. © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/yCXw9xz

Why does MasterClass work? with David Rogier from MasterClass

Welcome back to Found, where we get the stories behind the startups. This week Becca and Dom are joined by David Rogier, the founder and CEO of MasterClass, the streaming service where users can learn from experts on a variety of subjects from baking to basketball. Rogier talked about leaving his job in VC with […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/taVT6rC

Atomic Industries closes $17M seed to exascale America’s industrial base

In 2014, investor and entrepreneur Peter Thiel infamously posed the distinction between companies that deal in “atoms” versus those that deal in “bits.” In its crudest terms, the former category includes businesses focused on things like hardware and manufacturing; the latter, software and financial services. Just shy of ten years on, the distinction now strikes […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/i7d2H3J

AI invades ‘word of the year’ lists at Oxford, Cambridge and Merriam-Webster

Few would disagree that 2023 was, in the world of technology at least, dominated by artificial intelligence. The dictionaries have taken note in their “word of the year” lists, and notably all the AI-related words they highlight are, in fact, existing words that have been appropriated and regurgitated with new meanings. A little on the […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/o8ynPEq

The makers of pro photography app Halide venture into video with Kino, due this February

Lux, the startup and makers of the popular pro photography app Halide and others, is venturing into video. The team today announced its plans to debut a new app, Kino, arriving in roughly two months’ time, that will allow iPhone users to work with video in a more professional capacity. The news follows advances in […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/ySb28Lh

23andMe confirms hackers stole ancestry data on 6.9 million users

On Friday, genetic testing company 23andMe announced that hackers accessed the personal data of 0.1% of customers, or about 14,000 individuals. The company also said that by accessing those accounts, hackers were also able to access “a significant number of files containing profile information about other users’ ancestry.” But 23andMe would not say how many […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/vEWO4Vt

Spotify cuts 17% jobs amid rising capital costs

Spotify is eliminating about 17% jobs, its third round of layoffs this year, as the music streaming looks to become “both productive and efficient.” In a note to employees Monday, Spotify founder and chief executive Daniel Ek said right-sizing the workforce is crucial for the company to face the “challenges ahead.” He cited the slow […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/KsAe01D

India’s MoveinSync eyes $50–60M in fresh funding

MoveinSync, an Indian startup offering mobility solutions to blue-chip companies for workplace commute, is engaging with investors to raise a growth round, according to people familiar with the deliberations. The 14-year-old startup is engaging with investors to raise about $50–$60 million, part of which is to offer partial exit to some early backers, the people […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/NQlPcU0

More layoffs come for micromobility, Cruise cuts loom, and what the Cybertruck signals for Elon

The Station is a weekly newsletter dedicated to all things transportation. Sign up here — just click The Station — to receive the newsletter every weekend in your inbox. Subscribe for free. Welcome back to The Station, your central hub for all past, present and future means of moving people and packages from Point A to Point B. […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/t5ZUORM

Gravel gets funding from NEA to support Indonesia’s booming construction industry

Indonesia’s construction industry is growing quickly, driven by residential and industrial building, alongside infrastructure development plans by the government. Sourcing skilled labor is still a time-intensive process, however, and often relies on personal networks and lengthy recruitment efforts. The founders of Gravel want to change that by making it easier to find workers and other […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/HjF2Zfu

Fintechs go shopping

Welcome back to The Interchange, where we take a look at the hottest fintech news of the previous week. If you want to receive The Interchange directly in your inbox every Sunday, head here to sign up! We’re back and making up for lost time after taking off for Thanksgiving. Here we go! Webull, Yieldstreet and NomuPay […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/ZnvJay2

The most important metrics for SaaS funding in 2024

Today we're focusing on metrics and business environments that apply to most SaaS companies — not the unicorn outliers. © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/sDXZ1jE

Tesla releases the Cybertruck, Sam Altman officially returns to OpenAI, and Evernote cripples its free plan

Hi, folks, welcome to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s newsletter that highlights some of the more noteworthy moments in tech over the past few days. The holiday season is nigh upon us, but the tech industry waits for no one — on the horizon are IBM, AMD and Intel conferences, plus the annual Consumer Electronics […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/Vi4wPMz

Shein a light

We won't be getting our hands on a Shein filing just yet, but we can’t wait to. © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/zDnMX6o

What startup founders need to know about AI heading into 2024

We’re still in the early stages of AI, and TechCrunch+ can help you learn and adapt with every change and new best practice in the coming year. © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/n2E8Rol