Crunch Hype

Hello and welcome back to our regular morning look at private companies, public markets and the gray space in between. Today, we’re taking digging into two trends: recent layoffs at various domestic unicorns and secondly, how those layoffs match a recent uptick in austerity across the technology industry itself. It seems that some belt tightening […]

2019 was a breakout year for Spotify’s podcasting efforts, and now the company is turning up the dial on its ability to monetize this popular form of audio programming. Today, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Spotify is announcing Streaming Ad Insertion (SAI), its new, proprietary podcast ad technology for Spotify Podcast Ads. […]

Facebook and eBay have made commitments to do more to stop fake reviews being sold on their platforms after coming under pressure from a UK markets regulator — even as fresh examples of the problem have been found on Facebook-owned Instagram. Last June the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) warned the two platform that they […]

Some say ransomware is in decline. Others say it’s getting craftier. File-encrypting malware, known as ransomware, infects vulnerable computers and scrambles its files, inviting victims to return access to their data once they pay a ransom. Ransomware remains one of the most popular types of malware and is said to be a multi-billion dollar — albeit […]

Apple this morning released a year-end retrospective of its Services business, which includes the App Store, Apple Music, iCloud, and new in 2019, Apple Arcade, Apple TV+, Apple News+, and Apple Card. In particular, the company highlighted new holiday 2019 records set on the App Store which sees over a half a billion visits from […]

While Microsoft cloud services such as SharePoint, Microsoft Teams and Office 365 are used widely by large organizations, the products don’t come standard with an enterprise-grade control layer. That’s where AvePoint, a Microsoft independent software (ISV), comes in. Today, the company announced a $200 million Series C investment. The round was led by TPG Sixth […]

Two of the top three telecom operators in India are beginning to address one of the biggest challenges hundreds of millions of their subscribers face in the country each day: poor call quality and abrupt voice drops. Reliance Jio, India’s second largest telecom operator, announced today that it now supports voice and video calling functionality […]

ClassPass has today announced the close of a $285 million Series E funding round led by L Catterton and Apax Digital, with participation from existing investor Temasek. This latest round brings ClassPass’s valuation to $1 billion. We had heard this round was in the works and today it’s been confirmed. ClassPass launched in 2013 to […]

As we start 2020, the media and entertainment sectors are in flux. New technologies are enabling new types of content, streaming platforms in multiple content categories are spending billions in their fight for market share and the interplay between social platforms and media is a central topic of global political debate (to put it lightly). […]

Midnite, the London-based esports betting startup from the same team behind daily fantasy football app Dribble, has raised just over $2.5 million in funding. The “strategic” investment is led by gaming-focussed venture firm Makers Fund. Previous investors in Midnite include London VC firm Venrex Investment Management, as well as unnamed “founders and executives” from leading […]

Impossible Foods made huge waves in the food industry when it came up with a way of isolating and using “heme” molecules from plants to mimic the blood found in animal meat (also comprised of heme), bringing a new depth of flavor to its vegetarian burger. This week at CES, the company is presenting the […]

Chinese wearable company Huami and fitness startup Studio are teaming up to build a connected treadmill, which they unveiled today as part of Huami’s keynote as CES. The most notable feature of the Amazfit HomeStudio is its lack of a traditional treadmill front. Instead, you control the device using your smartphone, while content is delivered […]

There are plenty of startups that say they’re making it easier to buy a home. There are fewer startups that are promising to make it easier to buy a home as an income-producing property. Among these is Roofstock, a four-year-old, Oakland, Ca.-based online marketplace where buyers and sellers buy and sell rental homes in more […]

Silicon Valley’s top valued car rental startup, Getaround, announced layoffs today, making it the latest SoftBank-backed entity of late to pare down its workforce. The Information, which first reported the news, pegs the layoffs at 150 employees, amounting to around a quarter of the company. In the report, CEO Sam Zaid seemed to lay at […]

The first thing you need to note when writing about Looking Glass is that it’s incredibly difficult to photograph convincingly. It’s really exactly as you might assume, attempting to capture a 3D image in a 2D photo. The second is that it’s really cool. I don’t want to be the “you gotta see it in […]

Real estate is a big business in the sprawling city of Los Angeles and new technology tools to target the industry continue to attract investor attention. The latest of these is Luxury Presence, which pitches digital marketing services to real estate agents and has raked in $5.4 million in financing to support the buildout of […]

Autonomous vehicle startup AutoX, which is backed by Alibaba, said Tuesday that it is partnering with Fiat Chrysler to roll out a fleet of robotaxis for China and other countries in Asia. A fleet of Chrysler Pacifica vans is going to be in service to the public in China in early 2020, according to AutoX. […]

Plex’s expansion beyond a home media organizer to becoming a centralized platform for all your media, gives the company a distinct advantage. By tying all media together under one roof — streaming music, podcasts, web shows and video of all sorts — Plex is able to add interesting and unique features around personalization and recommendations. […]

Mobileye announced Tuesday an agreement to test and eventually deploy a robotaxi service in Daegu City, South Korea, the latest example of the company’s strategy to expand beyond its traditional business of supplying automakers with computer vision technology that power advanced driver assistance systems. Under the agreement, which was announced at CES 2020, Mobileye will […]

While most of the world agrees that carbon dioxide emissions from human activity are creating a climate crisis, there’s little consensus regarding how to address it. One of the solutions that’s both the most obvious and, seemingly, the most difficult for the international community to agree on is establishing a market that would put a […]

Following what the company described as years of back-and-forth, Sonos has filed suit against Google for alleged patent infringements related to the company’s smart speakers. Sonos said that Amazon was also infringing on their IP, but that they can only afford to take on one tech titan. The lawsuit filed in Federal District Court in […]

It’s a new year, a new decade, and a renewed opportunity to read great non-fiction and fiction that strikes at the heart of the ambition, power, and challenges of technology and its effect on society at large. That’s why TechCrunch is launching an informal “book club” for our readers, starting next week. The idea is […]

Some devices need no explanation. The Galaxy S10 Lite and Note 10 Lite are no such devices. They’re more nebulous, walking an interesting line, between premium and mid-range. They’re a clear attempt by Samsung to change with a smartphone-buying public that has balked at the idea of $1,000+ devices. Samsung announces ‘Lite’ versions of the […]

Okay, I’ve slept on it. I was skeptical at first, but after a good night’s sleep, let’s do this. I want a Ballie. All of the people and the pets in the below video seemed super into it. Where do I sign up? Okay, let me back up a second. I’d like a little hands-on […]

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. Facebook bans deceptive deepfakes and some misleadingly modified media In a policy update announced late yesterday, Facebook’s Monika Bickert wrote that […]

Another year, another blast of Google Assistant news on the first official day of CES. Google slimmed things down a touch for CES this year, though they’ve still got a big presence here. While they didn’t build a whole damn amusement park ride this time around, they’ve still got a massive two story booth (complete […]

Last year, we asked whether Samsung was getting serious about robotics. A year later, we’re not any closer to answering the question. This year’s presser played out roughly the same as last on the robotics front — all flash and little productizing to show for it. Meet Ballie, Samsung’s rolling personal assistant that does…stuff Samsung’s […]

Delta is keynoting CES today and launching a slew of updates to its digital services. Its competitors don’t want to be left behind, of course, so it’s probably no surprise that American Airlines also made a small but nifty tech announcement today. In partnership with Google, American will start trialing Google Nest Hubs and the […]

Damon Motorcycles doesn’t want to become the Tesla of e-moto companies. But the startup does believe its EV two-wheeler is the first to capture the ethos of Tesla owners. That’s the target market for Damon’s new $24,995 Hypersport, according to CEO Jay Giraud. The Vancouver-based startup unveiled the e-motorcycle today at the Consumer Electronics Show […]

Plex in December launched its own ad-supported streaming service in over 200 countries, where it functions as a competitor to The Roku Channel, Tubi, Crackle and other places that offer free-to-stream content without a subscription. While the company will continue to develop and expand its ad-supported product, it’s also looking ahead to what comes next. […]

SpaceX has successfully completed its 19th commercial resupply (CRS) mission for the International Space Station, with the Dragon cargo spacecraft used for the mission splashing down in the Pacific Ocean early this morning. The Dragon used this time around has also actually made this round trip twice before on previous SpaceX CRS missions, too. The […]

Weather technology company ClimaCell, which is taking a number of innovative approaches for gathering weather data and building forecasting models, today announced that it is partnering with Google Cloud to launch a new high-resolution forecasting model. The first model will focus on India, with other geographies following soon. ClimaCell and Google will make the forecast […]

At CES today, BMW announced a lot of new tech for its upcoming cars, but it’s also highlighting some of the work it’s doing on creating the right kind of creature comforts for when autonomous driving takes off. Why, after all, wouldn’t you want to lounge in a “luxurious ZeroG Lounger” while your (robot) driver […]

At its CES press conference, BMW today unveiled its new gaze detection system, which can track what you’re looking at outside of the car and then present relevant information about it. The German automaker is showing off this feature in its i Interaction EASE concept car, which made its debut last October. The idea here […]

Arduino, the open-source hardware platform, today announced the launch of a new low-code platform and modular hardware system for IoT development. The idea here is to give small and medium businesses the tools to develop IoT solutions without having to invest in specialized engineering resources. The new hardware, dubbed the Arduino Portenta H7, features everything […]

Earth observation New Space company Satellogic is expanding its orbital fleet with two new satellites set to launch on January 15 on board a Chinese Long March 2D rocket. The company, which was founded in 2010 and currently operates eight spacecraft in orbit, will be adding two NewSat Mark IV satellites to its in-space assets […]

Forthcoming streaming service Quibi has been announcing a steady stream of star-studded shows, and its latest is no exception: Rick & Morty creator Justin Roiland will be co-creating a show called ‘Gloop World’ for the service. Gloop World will be a stop-motion animation, featuring clay models for that classic ‘claymation’ vibe popularized by the iconic […]

TiVo is announcing a new device at the Consumer Electronics Show called the TiVo Stream 4K, which CEO Dave Shull described as launching the company “full on into the streaming wars.” Shull said the device is a “tiny little HDMI puck” that’s designed to reach a much broader group than the existing TiVo customer base, […]

On Saturday, Taiwan will hold its presidential election. This year, the outcome is even more important than usual because it will signal what direction the country’s people want its relationship with China, which claims Taiwan as its territory, to move in. Also crucial are efforts against fake news. Taiwan has one of the worst disinformation […]

Facebook wants to be the arbiter of truth after all. At least when it comes to intentionally misleading deepfakes and heavily manipulated and/or synthesized media content, such as AI-generated photorealistic human faces that look like real people but aren’t. In a policy update announced late yesterday, the social network’s VP of global policy management, Monika […]

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has made responding to technology-driven change a key priority for her five year term which began last month, setting it in the same breath as challenges posed by climate change and demographic shifts, tacitly linking all three to a rise in regional unease. Her solution, set out in […]

Juro, a UK startup that’s using machine learning tech and user-centric design to do for contracts what Typeform does for online forms, has caught the eye of Union Square Ventures. The New York-based fund leads a $5 million Series A investment that’s being announced this morning. Also participating in the Series A are existing investors […]

Microsoft’s GitHub, Mozilla, and Cloudflare have urged India to be transparent about the amendments it is making to an upcoming law that could affect swathes of companies and the way more than half a billion people access information online. In December 2018, the Indian government proposed changes to its intermediary rules (PDF) that would require […]

Mercedes-Benz channeled the wild and imaginative world of James Cameron’s hit movie Avatar for its latest concept car — an electric autonomous vehicle covered in bionic flaps that aims to show how man and machine can merge and live responsibly in nature. The concept car, appropriately named AVTR for Advanced Vehicle Transformation, was unveiled Monday […]

China’s TikTok, which has taken the world by storm, is working its magic in its home nation, too. The Chinese version of TikTok, called Douyin, has amassed 400 million daily active users, parent company ByteDance revealed in its annual report this week (in Chinese). This is an impressive growth for the addictive video app, which had […]

SpaceX and NASA have shared an official target launch date for the all-important in-flight abort test of Crew Dragon, their commercial crew spacecraft. The in-flight abort test is a required component before NASA astronauts can climb on board and take their first trip aboard the Crew Dragon. NASA and SpaceX are currently targeting Saturday, January […]

What a weird Samsung press conference. The company didn’t waste time on the familiar. Things like Galaxy phones and washing machines got little love on stage tonight. Instead the company was focused on a workout exoskeleton and a friendly robotic call assistant. Meet Ballie, Samsung’s rolling personal assistant that does…stuff And then there’s was AR. […]

Remember the G.E.M.S. (Gait Enhancing and Motivation System) exoskeleton Samsung introduced last year? Plot-twist. It’s a workout device now. One of the weirdest elements of a super weird keynotes was actually a fascinating pivot. I wore a prototype of the device lates year, which offered both walking assistance and resistance. The latter is what’s at […]

Homeland Security is warning U.S. companies to “consider and assess” the possible impacts and threat of a cyberattack on their businesses following heightened tensions with Iran. It’s the first official guidance published by the government’s dedicated cyber advisory unit, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, just days after the killing of a leading Iranian military […]

Bay-area based medical device startup Eargo just announced its fourth gen product at CES. The Neo HiFi builds on past learnings from the six-year-old company. The improvements are mostly around sound quality, including increased bandwidth and improved wind noise reduction and feedback cancelation. Eargo says all of the above should combine to offer, “a more […]