Daily Crunch: Stripe launches a credit card
The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch's roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you'd like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.
1. Payments giant Stripe debuts a credit card in its latest step into the financing fray
Following the launch of its money-lending program Stripe Capital, the company is unveiling the Stripe Corporate Card, a Visa card open to businesses incorporated in the United States.
Those businesses can use the card without worrying about interest rates or fees - Stripe's Cristina Cordova said the company expects to have "fewer problems" with this, particularly because participants will be approved based on their revenue in the Stripe platform.
2. Jack Ma officially retires as Alibaba's chairman
Ma is handing the role over to the company's current CEO, Daniel Zhang. The transition was announced a year ago.
3. Watch Apple unveil the new iPhone live right here
The event starts at 10am Pacific!
A customer exits the drive-thru lane at a McDonald's Corp. fast food restaurant in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, U.S., on Monday, Jan. 14, 2019. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images
4. McDonald's acquires Apprente to bring voice technology to drive-thrus
The company has already been testing Apprente's technology in select locations, creating voice-activated drive-thrus (along with robot fryers) that it said will offer "faster, simpler and more accurate order taking."
5. Facebook tightens policies around self-harm and suicide
Facebook will no longer allow graphic cutting images, which can unintentionally promote or trigger self-harm.
6. Why am I seeing this ad? AI, ML & human error in advertising
Adboy founder Adam Zelcer investigates why he's being served irrelevant ads. (Extra Crunch membership required.)
Naspers CEO Bob van Dijk is joining us to talk about the process of spinning out a new holding company called Prosus NV. We'll also ask about how the company thinks about new investments, including how it views different sectors and different geographies.