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What an American artificial intelligence initiative really needs
The American AI Initiative as it stands does little to blunt the fears that America will fall behind in its technological edge. In fact, its lack of particulars sends exa
Oculus co-founder shipping free Rift repair kits to users with VR headset audio issue
Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey isn’t in the VR hardware business these days since getting canned by Facebook (he’s focused on smart border security at his ne
TCL leaks foretell a weird future for foldable phones
Foldables are going to get weird. And I’m here for it. Just check out these leaked TCL renders from CNET. All manner of strange and wonderful folding devices — two ta
HiHello raises $2.5 million to finally fix contact management
HiHello, the latest startup to take aim at business cards with its own digital alternative, has now raised a $2.5 million seed round to continue its efforts in building a
Instagram’s fundraiser stickers could lure credit card numbers
Mark Zuckerberg recently revealed that commerce is a huge part of the 2019 roadmap for Facebook’s family of apps. But before people can easily buy things from Inst
Google Assistant Actions up 2.5x in 2018 to reach 4,253 in the US
In addition to competing for smart speaker market share, Google and Amazon are also competing for developer mindshare in the voice app ecosystem. On this front, Amazon ha
SoftBank and Mubadala grow closer
The Japanese conglomerate SoftBank and Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi state investment company, have a closely intertwined relationship, and it’s one that the two are furt
VPN protocol WireGuard now has an official macOS app
WireGuard could be the most promising VPN protocol in years. It lets you establish a connection with a VPN server that is supposed to be faster, more secure and more flex
YouTube under fire for recommending videos of kids with inappropriate comments
More than a year on from a child safety content moderation scandal on YouTube and it takes just a few clicks for the platform’s recommendation algorithms to redire
Apple could be looking for its next big revenue model
Apple has always been an evolving company. While it never really invented any product categories, it always seemed to make those product categories work better and smarte
Daily Crunch: Stop repeating this privacy lie
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
Netflix cancels ‘Jessica Jones’ and ‘The Punisher,’ its last Marvel shows
Netflix is no longer in the Marvel superhero business, with the cancellation of “Jessica Jones” and “The Punisher.” The writing has been on the wa
Amazon aims to make half of its shipments carbon neutral by 2030
Perhaps hoping to distract from Greenpeace’s latest report on its “dirty cloud,” Amazon this morning announced a new environmental commitment, focused
Original Content podcast: ‘The Breaker Upperers’ filmmakers know that breaking up is the worst
“The Breaker Upperers” kicks off with an ingenious premise: What if you could pay an agency to take care of your awkward romantic break-ups? And what if that
Apple partners with Oakland nonprofit Dream Corps on Swift coding initiative
Apple this morning announced a new partnership designed to train more people to code using its own programming language, Swift. The company says it’s now working wi
Study says US Twitch streamers raked in roughly $87 million in 2017
A new study estimates that revenue-earning American Twitch streamers grew to nearly 9,800 in 2017 (a 59 percent increase from 2016) and made an estimated $87.1 million (
Australia’s government and political parties hit by cyber attack from ‘sophisticated state actor’
The Australia government suffered a cyber attack that it suspects is the work of a “sophisticated state actor,” according to the country’s Prime Minist
Alan raises another $45 million for its health insurance product
Paris-based startup Alan has raised a Series B round of funding of $45 million (€40 million). Index Ventures is once again leading the round, with partners of DST Globa
Alan raises another $45 million for its health insurance product
Paris-based startup Alan has raised a Series B round of funding of $45 million (€40 million). Index Ventures is once again leading the round, with partners of DST Globa
Razer is closing its game store after less than a year
Razer is one of the dominant brands in gaming when it comes to buying equipment to play, but one of its biggest efforts to own a larger slice of digital spending hasnR
China tells teachers to quit assigning homework through WeChat
China’s education authorities are about to take some burden off parents with school-aged children. A proposal posted last week by the Department of Education in Ch
GoCardless raises $75M Series E for its recurring payments network and heads to America
Compared to startups born into the frothy London fintech space as it exists today, 2011-founded GoCardless could well be considered a slow burner. However, in more recent
GoCardless raises $75M Series E for its recurring payments network and heads to America
Compared to startups born into the frothy London fintech space as it exists today, 2011-founded GoCardless could well be considered a slow burner. However, in more recent
An Etsy bill payment error resulted in large amounts of money being withdrawn from several sellers’ bank accounts and credit cards on Friday morning. While the company
Stop saying, “We take your privacy and security seriously”
In my years covering cybersecurity, there’s one variation of the same lie that floats above the rest. “We take your privacy and security seriously.” You
UK parliament calls for antitrust, data abuse probe of Facebook
A final report by a British parliamentary committee which spent months last year investigating online political disinformation makes very uncomfortable reading for Facebo
What business leaders can learn from Jeff Bezos’ leaked texts
Joel Wallenstrom Contributor Joel Wallenstrom is president and chief executive of Wickr, a secure communications company. Before Wickr, Joel co-founded iSEC Partners, one
SeaBubbles shows off its ‘flying’ all-electric boat in Miami
We were promised flying cars but, as it turns out, flying boats were easier to build. SeaBubbles, a “flying” boat startup that uses electric power instead of
OpenAI built a text generator so good, it’s considered too dangerous to release
A storm is brewing over a new language model, built by non-profit artificial intelligence research company OpenAI, which it says is so good at generating convincing, well
VCs aren’t falling in love with dating startups
Coinciding with Valentine’s Day, Crunchbase News took a look at the state of that most awkward of pairings: startups and the pursuit of finding a mate.
Please stop marking yourself safe on Facebook
Let me begin by saying that Facebook’s Crisis Response pages do a lot of good. They are a locus for donations and offers of help. But that said, for the love of hum
Startup: Amazon leads $700mn investment for electric truck Rivian Automotive
The latest funds will help produce its first all-electric vehicles -- the R1T pickup truck and the seven-seat R1S SUV, which were revealed in the November Los Angeles Au
EVI Technologies plans to set up 20,000 EV charging stations
The firm has also tied up with BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd to set up around 3,000 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in Delhi.
Vision system for autonomous vehicles watches not just where pedestrians walk, but how
The University of Michigan, well known for its efforts in self-driving car tech, has been working on an improved algorithm for predicting the movements of pedestrians tha
How to read fiction to build a startup
“The book itself is a curious artefact, not showy in its technology but complex and extremely efficient: a really neat little device, compact, often very pleasant to lo
How to read fiction to build a startup
“The book itself is a curious artefact, not showy in its technology but complex and extremely efficient: a really neat little device, compact, often very pleasant to lo
ClassPass, Gfycat, StreetEasy hit in latest round of mass site hacks
In just a week, a single seller put close to 750 million records from 24 hacked sites up for sale. Now, the hacker has struck again. The hacker, whose identity isn’
Investor momentum builds for construction tech
Although it’s not the sexiest of industries, the hefty construction sector in 2018 attracted not only the attention but, more importantly, the dollars of investors.
Visa and Mastercard could raise interchange fees
According to a report from the WSJ, Visa and Mastercard are considering raising interchange fees on card transactions in the U.S. Visa and Mastercard generate most of the
Uber sues NYC to contest cap on drivers
Uber filed a lawsuit against New York City, The Verge reported. The company wants to overturn New York City’s rule that caps the number of new ride-hailing drivers. Las
Transportation Weekly: Didi woes, how Nuro met Softbank, Amazon’s appetite
Welcome back to Transportation Weekly; I’m your host Kirsten Korosec, senior transportation reporter at TechCrunch. This is the second edition and seriously people,
Startups Weekly: Is Y Combinator’s latest cohort too big?
Plus, e-scooter subscription services are a thing now, the Vision Fund is betting big on autonomous delivery and Facebook almost bought Unity.
Startups Weekly: Is Y Combinator’s latest cohort too big?
Plus, e-scooter subscription services are a thing now, the Vision Fund is betting big on autonomous delivery and Facebook almost bought Unity.
Steve Jurvetson is staging a comeback, disclosing today that his new San Francisco-based, early-stage venture firm Future Ventures, has raised $200 million for its debut
Apple acquires talking Barbie voicetech startup PullString
Apple has just bought up the talent it needs to make talking toys a part of Siri, HomePod, and its voice strategy. Apple has reportedly acquired PullString, also known as
Apple acquires talking Barbie voicetech startup PullString
Apple has just bought up the talent it needs to make talking toys a part of Siri, HomePod, and its voice strategy. Apple has acquired PullString, also known as ToyTalk, a
Marriott now lets you check if you’re a victim of the Starwood hack
Hotel chain giant Marriott will now let you check if you’re a victim of the Starwood hack. The company confirmed to TechCrunch that it has put in place “a mec
GoTrendier raises $3.5 million to take on Spanish-language fashion marketplaces
Thanks to environmentally conscious young buyers, throwaway culture is dying not only in the U.S., but also in Latin America — and startups are poised to jump in wi
GoTrendier raises $3.5 million to take on Spanish-language fashion marketplaces
Thanks to environmentally conscious young buyers, throwaway culture is dying not only in the U.S., but also in Latin America – and startups are poised to jump in with s
Opendoor files to raise another $200M at a $3.7B valuation, documents show
The housing market is predicted to cool this year, but the market for startups selling houses? It seems to be heating up. Opendoor, the company that aims to bypass real
