TechCrunch

Apple acquires AI startup specializing in overlooking manufacturing components

Ivan Mehta — Fri, 15 Mar 2024 04:06:05 +0000

Apple has added another AI startup to its acquisition list with Canada-based DarwinAI, which specializes in vision-based tech to observe components during manufacturing to improve efficiency, Bloomberg reported. While Apple or DarwinAI haven’t announced this deal, several members of the startup’s team joined Apple’s machine learning teams in January, as per their LinkedIn profiles. DarwinAI […]

Paytm secures license it needed to survive

Manish Singh — Fri, 15 Mar 2024 01:31:36 +0000

India’s Paytm has secured a vital license it needed to survive and maintain continuity of several core features of its eponymous payments app, a day before the firm’s banking unit is scheduled to cease operations because of regulatory clampdown. The National Payments Corporation of India, the firm that built the eponymous UPI rail in the […]

Pornhub disables access in Texas due to age verification law

Amanda Silberling — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 21:33:32 +0000

Texas residents can no longer access Pornhub — without a VPN. As of Thursday, when people in Texas try to access any of the porn sites owned by Aylo, formerly MindGeek, they’ll instead see a long message in opposition to age verification laws. Laws requiring age verification on adult entertainment sites have already gone into […]

Zscaler buys Avalor to bring more AI into its security tools

Kyle Wiggers — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 21:30:43 +0000

Zscaler, a cloud security company with headquarters in San Jose, California, has acquired cybersecurity startup Avalor 26 months after its founding, reportedly for $310 million in cash and equity. In a press release announcing the news, Zscaler founder and CEO Jay Chaudhry said that the deal would expand Zscaler’s platform with capabilities including streamlined reporting of […]

Google I/O set for May 14, 15

Brian Heater — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 20:49:07 +0000

The sun is peeking out behind the clouds and the birds are singing. That can only mean one thing: developer season is nearly upon us. While the rest of you are out there touching the proverbial and literal grass, the world’s developers are jamming into conference halls to find out what the next year holds […]

TikTok ban: How Congress could force ByteDance to sell or push the app out of the US

Taylor Hatmaker — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 20:25:58 +0000

TikTok faces an uncertain fate in the U.S. once again. In a 352 to 65 vote Wednesday, the House voted to pass a bill that could lead to a national TikTok ban. After a surprise flurry of bipartisan activity in the House, the legislation advanced out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and made […]

‘AI-powered’ ad ignites creator controversy on Instagram

Devin Coldewey — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 19:39:59 +0000

A new ad from Under Armour featuring boxer Anthony Joshua has come under fire from creatives on Instagram after its director claimed it as the “first Ai-powered sports commercial” — but critics in the industry say it blatantly reused others’ work without credit as part of an AI hype cycle cash grab. Director Wes Walker […]

Blockchain tech could be the answer to uncovering deepfakes and validating content

Jacquelyn Melinek — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 19:26:17 +0000

Two months ago, media giant Fox Corp. partnered with Polygon Labs, the team behind the Ethereum-focused layer-2 blockchain, to tackle deepfake distrust. Fox and Polygon launched Verify, a protocol that aims to protect their IP while letting consumers verify the authenticity of content. And since then, government regulatory committees, publishers and others have seen this […]

The controversial bill that could ban TikTok faces a rocky road in the Senate

Taylor Hatmaker — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 19:20:51 +0000

A bill threatening to ban an app beloved by half of the American population just rocketed through the House of Representatives in a week’s time. But in the other chamber of Congress, things are likely to be much more complicated. TikTok the company and TikTok the chaotic community of creators and their followers are rightfully […]

Bitcoin hits new high, Solana price jumps as memecoins mania rises and Worldcoin faces heat in Spain

Jacquelyn Melinek — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 19:00:47 +0000

Welcome to TechCrunch Crypto, formerly known as Chain Reaction -- it was an eventful week in the crypto world.

Humanoid robots face continued skepticism at Modex

Brian Heater — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 18:15:06 +0000

If your robotics startup is looking to raise, there’s close to a 100% chance you’re going to get two questions from potential investors: 1) How are you incorporating generative AI? and 2) Have you consider building a humanoid? The first is easy enough to answer. If you’re running a robotics firm in 2024, you have […]

Microbiome startups respond as industry is accused of ‘questionable practices’

Devin Coldewey — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 18:13:54 +0000

The biotech sector has embraced the microbiome in recent years, a green field market powered by cheap genome sequencing and venture dollars, promising bespoke treatments for everything from gut troubles to skin problems. But a report in Science alleges that these companies lack scientific rigor and meaningful regulation, offering little more than guesswork on a […]

After AWS and Google, Microsoft says it’s removing Azure ‘egress’ data transfer fees — but with caveats

Paul Sawers — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 17:58:29 +0000

Microsoft has revealed that it, too, will allow business customers to transfer data out of its Azure cloud infrastructure with no “egress fees” attached, following hot on the heels of similar moves by cloud rivals AWS and Google. While Microsoft positions the announcement as a voluntary pro-customer move, the fact that it was quietly revealed […]

VCs will get liquidity in 2024 from the secondary market, not IPOs

Rebecca Szkutak — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 17:15:03 +0000

If you asked a bunch of VCs at the end of 2023 if the IPO market would finally open again in 2024, most of them would have said yes. We know because TechCrunch surveyed more than 40 of them in December and that’s what they said. Yet, there are two weeks left in Q1, still […]

TikTok fined in Italy after ‘French scar’ challenge led to consumer safety probe

Natasha Lomas — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 17:04:22 +0000

Italy’s competition and consumer authority, the AGCM, has fined TikTok €10 million (almost $11 million) following a probe into algorithmic safety concerns. The authority opened an investigation last year into a “French scar” challenge in which users of the platform were reported to have shared videos of marks on their faces made by pinching their […]

This battery startup says it’s found a way to make cheap LFP batteries without sacrificing range

Tim De Chant — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 16:58:09 +0000

Coreshell, a battery materials startup, revealed a breakthrough this week that could lower the cost of lithium-ion batteries while reducing reliance on China.

Google is changing how Chrome detects and warns you about unsafe sites

Frederic Lardinois — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 16:01:37 +0000

Google announced a major change to its Safe Browsing feature in Chrome today that will make the service work in real time by checking against a server-side list — all without sharing your browsing habits with Google. Previously, Chrome downloaded a list of known sites that harbor malware, unwanted software and phishing scams once or […]

48-hour dash: Race against the clock to save $1,000 on Disrupt 2024

Robert Frawley — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 16:00:15 +0000

Ticktock! Only 48 hours remain to snag your discounted tickets to Disrupt 2024! Shift into high gear and save up to a whopping $1,000 by seizing this opportunity before the clock strikes at 11:59 p.m. PT on Friday, March 15. Picture it: Come October, you’ll be rubbing elbows with over 10,000 of the startup world’s […]

TechCrunch Minute: Why little EVs from Rivian and Telo could thaw the EV winter

Alex Wilhelm — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 16:00:13 +0000

The great EV boom is fading a bit, but that’s not a concern if you take a long-enough view. Sure, Tesla expects slower growth for its car sales this year, and there are some indications that other companies are trimming their electric car plans, but there’s also reason to be optimistic. If you take a […]

Reddit introduces a new ad format that looks similar to posts made by users

Aisha Malik — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 15:35:09 +0000

Reddit is introducing a new ad format that looks similar to posts made by users on the platform, the company announced on Thursday. The launch comes as Reddit is readying its initial public offering (IPO). The new ad format, called free-form ads, is designed to feel similar to the content that users share with each other […]