Crunch Hype

We tend to think of AI as an incredible dream assistant to our lives and business operations, when that's not always the case. Designers should consider how these services can be problematic.

Nearly 8,000 Amazon employees, many in prestigious engineering and design roles, have recently signed a petition calling on Jeff Bezos and the Amazon Board of Directors to dramatically shift the giant company’s approach to climate change. By deploying a kind of corporate social disobedience such as speaking out dramatically at shareholders meetings, and by engaging […]

I played Pokémon GO this weekend, because I was babysitting my nephew, and I couldn’t help but be reminded what a cultural force it was when it launched three years ago. Hundreds massed near San Francisco’s Ocean Beach every day to hunt. Huge crowds sprinted through Central Park to catch a Vaporeon. Disapproving finger-pointers penned […]

Just about anyone can come up with a good idea. Fewer people can execute on that idea and turn it into a prototype or MVP. But there is still one final challenge for most entrepreneurs that can prove challenging. How do you secure that initial seed capital and take your idea to the next level? […]

MobiKwik, a mobile wallet app in India that has expanded to add several financial services in recent years, said today it plans to enter international markets as it approaches profitability with the local operation. The company is kick-starting its overseas ambitions with cross-border mobile top-ups support. The 10-year-old firm said it has partnered with DT […]

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. Huawei says US ban will cost it $30B in lost revenue Following a string of trade restrictions from the U.S., China’s […]

A little more than a year ago, Waymo surprised the industry and announced that its next big move in the world of autonomous vehicles would be a partnership with Jaguar Land Rover to add the automaker’s new all-electric I-Pace crossover to its fleet of self-driving cars. Now, it appears self-driving Jaguar I-Pace vehicles are finally […]

You’d be hard-pressed to find a tech company that said it wished it had waited longer to implement on diversity and inclusion efforts. The examples of tech companies “doing it right” in this industry are few and far between, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth trying. And for those that want to try, there’s […]

Homeland Security’s cyber agency says it has tested a working exploit for the BlueKeep vulnerability, capable of achieving remote code execution on a vulnerable device. To date, most of the private exploits targeting BlueKeep would have triggered a denial-of-service condition, capable of knocking computers offline. But an exploit able to remotely run code or malware […]

Microsft in 2017 said it would shut eventually down Wunderlist, a company it acquired, in order to forge ahead with its own “to do” app. It has since launched To-Do, as the app is called, on Windows, iOS, Android and the web and expanded its feature set. Today, it’s bringing the app to the Mac, […]

Cleo, the London-based “digital assistant” that wants to replace your banking apps, has quietly taken venture debt from U.S.-based TriplePoint Capital, according to a regulatory filing. The amount remains undisclosed, though I understand from sources that the figure is somewhere in the region of mid-“single digit” millions and will bridge the gap before a larger […]

Silicon Valley is entering a new phase in its quest for diversity and inclusion in the technology industry. Some advocates call this part “the end of the beginning,” Code2040 CEO Karla Monterroso tells TechCrunch. At first, advocates were focused on calling out the lack of diversity at tech conferences, pressuring companies to release diversity data […]

We know you’re hard at work bringing your early-stage startup dreams to fruition, but allow us to offer this hot tip. Super-early-bird-pass pricing for Disrupt San Francisco 2019 pulls a disappearing act on June 21 at 11:59 p.m. (PT). Buy your pass now and depending on the pass you buy you can save up to […]

Apple CEO Tim Cook gave a speech to Stanford graduates this weekend. In addition to the usual motivational stuff, he attacked other big tech companies in a not-so-subtle way. He painted a stark picture of Silicon Valley, saying it’s responsible for too many mistakes. “Today we gather at a moment that demands some reflections. Fueled […]

Adobe’s upcoming drawing and painting app has an official name: Adobe Fresco. Inspired by the classic technique of applying pigment to wet plaster, the app is intended “to inspire spontaneous creativity.” The app has been in development under the codename ‘Project Gemini’ and debuted at Adobe’s Max conference in 2018. It will first be available […]

Domino’s really emphasizes its commitment to ‘innovation,’ but even if it’s a marketing tactic, the global pizza brand does indeed walk the walk. Case in point: It’s launching a new pilot for self-driving pizza delivery in Houston in partnership with Nuro. Autonomous driving tech startup Nuro was founded by Dave Ferguson and Jiajun Zhu, two […]

Spotify is taking the next big step in terms of building out its podcast business: it’s now offering the ability for advertisers to target listeners based on what types of podcasts they’re streaming. The company says brands will be able to reach Spotify Free listeners who stream from specific podcast categories, including Comedy, Lifestyle & […]

Procrastinate much? Then give thanks to Saint Expeditus, the patron saint of speedy causes, because now you have an extra week to save $100 on your pass to TC Sessions: Mobility 2019 on July 10, in San Jose, Calif. Do not shillyshally, dillydally or otherwise drag your feet on this last-chance opportunity. Buy your ticket […]

Video is the core entertainment medium of the web. Platforms like YouTube, Twitch, Netflix and more deliver millions of hours of videos to hungry consumers every day, and those deliveries will only intensify as video games move increasingly to streaming models. Yet, delivering all of that content remains an expensive and challenging endeavor. The largest […]

Training computers and robots to not only understand and recognize objects (like an oven, for instance, as distinct from a dishwasher) is pretty crucial to getting them to a point where they can manage the relatively simple tasks that humans do every day. But even once you have an artificial intelligence trained to the point […]

Following a string of trade restrictions from the U.S., China’s telecoms equipment and smartphone maker Huawei expects its revenues to drop $30 billion below forecast over the next two years, founder and chief executive Ren Zhengfei said Monday during a panel discussion at the company’s Shenzhen headquarters. Huawei’s production will slow down in the next […]

Lunar rovers are cool – but imagine how much cooler they’d be if they could also rappel. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University will try to make rappelling robots a reality, after having been selected by NASA as the recipient of a new $2 million research grant aimed at coming up with new technology to help […]

The latest report from renowned Apple leaker Ming-Chi Kuo already has an eye on 2020 and beyond. The news lines up with other reports around future iPhones, noting that the high-end versions of the handset are set to get 5G in the second half of next year. By 2021, all models are set to be […]

Habana Labs, a Tel Aviv-based AI processor startup, today announced its Gaudi AI training processor, which promises to easily beat GPU-based systems by a factor of four. While the individual Gaudi chips beat GPUs in raw performance, it’s the company’s networking technology that gives it the extra boost to reach its full potential. Gaudi will […]

Amazon-owned free streaming service, IMDb Freedive, is getting a new name, more content and is soon expanding to Europe, the company announced this morning. Originally launched in January, the service will now be known as IMDb TV — a name that’s a bit more catchy, but doesn’t convey the fact that the service includes both […]

Researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) have developed a new system that could equip robots with something we take for granted: the ability to link multiple senses together. The new system created by CSAIL involves a predictive AI that’s able to learn how to see using its ‘sense’ of touch, and […]

Bounce, a Bangalore-based startup that offers thousands of electric scooters for rent in India, has raised $72 million to accelerate its bid to impact how people navigate India’s traffic-clogged urban areas. The Series C funding round for the five-year-old startup was led by B Capital — the VC firm founded by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin […]

Startup founders don’t typically launch a company as a get-rich-quick scheme. Most know that it will be a long, hard slog if they are to succeed. There will be lean years where the money is tight, and where they may personally struggle to pay their bills. They do it because they believe in the mission […]

The latest feature for Comcast's remote software makes the clicker more accessible to people who can't click it the same as everyone else. People with physical disabilities will now be able to change the channel and do all the usual TV stuff using only their eyes.

Almost every organization, regardless of size, is inundated with meetings, so much so it’s often hard to find dedicated time do actual work. Clockwise wants to change that by bringing machine learning to the calendar to help employees free up time. Today, it announced an $11 million Series A investment, and made the product, which […]

Ollie Purdue, the founder of Loot, the current account aimed at millenials that went into administration last month after running out of cash, is joining Bó, the digital bank being developed by RBS-owned Natwest, TechCrunch as learned. He’ll take up the position of Chief Product Officer and will lead product development for the new brand, […]

Alibaba is being heavily linked with a public listing in Hong Kong, which could reportedly happen in Q3 and raise up to $20 billion. The firm is keeping quiet on those rumors, but it did let slip a major hint after it announced plans for a stock split. Filings uploaded today (but originally released Friday) […]

Menlo Park-based Hatch Baby has prided itself on introducing “smart” nursery devices — including Grow, a changing pad with a built-in scale and Rest, a device doubling as a sound machine and night light. Now, the company is introducing an updated version of Rest with Rest+ as part of an effort to help further establish […]

French startup PayFit is raising a new $79 million funding round (€70 million) from Eurazeo and Bpifrance. The company first started with a payroll service for small and medium companies in France. It has evolved into a full-fledged HR solution for multiple European countries. PayFit uses a software-as-a-service approach so that small companies can easily […]

A month after being placed on a trade blacklist by the Trump administration, Huawei is reportedly steadying itself for international shipments of its smartphones to decline by 40% to 60%. According to a report in Bloomberg, Huawei may end up pulling shipments of the Honor 20, its flagship phone for overseas markets, if sales are […]

A few months after nabbing a handsome $500 million funding round, China’s shared housing startup Danke Apartment got a talent boost. On Monday, Danke announced the appointment of Gu Guodong as its new chief operating officer to ramp up the company’s offline operational crew. Gu, whose nickname is Michael, stepped down from Baidu after five […]

Another day, another Target checkout outage. Many took to social media to complain that checkouts at the retail giant went down for a second day in a row. Many stores were only taking cash and gift cards. It comes after Target suffered a global point-of-sale machine outage on Saturday. Checkouts were down for more than […]

American Airlines, the world’s largest airline by fleet size and passenger traffic, has finished rolling out satellite-based broadband Wi-Fi to its entire mainline narrowbody fleet of over 700 aircraft (that is, the Boing 737s and Airbus A319 and 320 that typically fly the company’s domestic routes). All of these satellite-equipped planes also offer access to […]

A computer science student has scraped seven million Venmo transactions to prove that users’ public activity can still be easily obtained, a year after a privacy researcher downloaded hundreds of millions of Venmo transactions in a similar feat. Dan Salmon said he scraped the transactions during a cumulative six months to raise awareness and warn […]

A federal watchdog says the government should stop relying on the credit agencies to verify the identifies of those using government services. In a report out this week, the the Government Accountability Office said several government departments still rely on the credit agencies — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — to check if a person is […]

Hey, weekend readers. This is Week-in-Review where I get hopped up on caffeine and give a heavy amount of analysis on one story while scouring the rest of the hundreds of stories that emerged on TechCrunch this week to surface my favorites for your reading pleasure. Last week, I railed on Google’s new Stadia game […]

Fifteen months after shutting down, Shyp is getting ready to launch again. The startup tweeted today that “We are back! We’re hard at work to rebuild an unparalleled shipping experience. Before we begin operations again, we’d love to hear your feedback in this quick survey. We look forward to working with you and can’t wait […]

How to make remote work work TechCrunch columnist Jon Evans has an Extra Crunch-exclusive look on what it takes to get remote work working within an organization. Evans, who has been the remote CTO of technology consulting firm HappyFunCorp for many years, finds that “you need decisive confidence, clear direction, iterative targets, independent responsibilities, asynchronous […]

Welcome back to this week’s transcribed edition of Equity. This was a big week of news that the Equity duo had to cover. Kate was at the Code Conference, Fortnite maker, Epic Games bought Houseparty, and a bit more on the Bird-Scoot deal. Then came talk of the CrowdStrike IPO, which gave way to a […]

Some of the best real-time insights into Tesla and its global fleet of electric vehicles — outside the confines of its Silicon Valley headquarters — might be through the lens of TezLab, a tiny upstart in Brooklyn. Now, a little more than two years after its founding, TezLab is on the verge of hitting what […]

Less than six months after releasing the disappointing interactive experiment “Bandersnatch,” Netflix’s science fiction anthology series “Black Mirror” is back with three traditionally-structured episodes. On the latest installment of the Original Content podcast, we weigh in with our thoughts on the new season. We didn’t entirely agree on which episodes were strongest, but we agreed […]

In this week's newsletter: Epic Games throws a houseparty, CrowdStrike soars and a VR startup raises fresh funds.

Huge technology policy questions are looming for whoever takes the top jobs at the European Union in the coming months. Decisions that could radically reshape tech business models, reconfigure the competitive landscape and change the relationship between Internet users and the content and services they consume. In short, the entire future of the tech industry […]

Amazon’s two-year-old Instagram competitor, Amazon Spark, is no more. Hoping to capitalize on the social shopping trend and tap into the power of online influencers, Amazon in 2017 launched its own take on Instagram with a shoppable feed of stories and photos aimed at Prime members. The experiment known as Amazon Spark has now come […]