TechCrunch Industry News

Ford and its joint venture partner SK On, will increase wages at two planned EV battery factories in Kentucky and Tennessee in an effort to assuage striking autoworkers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Microsoft’s near-two year attempt to buy gaming giant Activision is finally happening, after the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) accepted a restructured proposal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Twitch streamers can finally block banned users from watching their streams, thanks to a recent update to the platform’s anti-harassment features. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

X, the social platform formerly known as Twitter, came under fire earlier this week in Europe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The most popular apps suck us into the technological equivalent of couch lock, but it’s easy to imagine how things might have gone differently. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Klarna is introducing a suite of new features, including an AI-powered image-search tool called Shopping lens, the company announced on Wednesday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Braid, a four-year-old startup that aimed to make shared wallets more mainstream among consumers, has shut down. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

X has introduced a new control that limits replies to only verified accounts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fast-fashion startup Virgio, founded by former Myntra chief, is shutting down its operations less than a year after raising funds at a valuation of over $160 million. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nearly two years after Waymo and Geely struck a deal to develop robotaxis for the U.S. market, we are seeing concrete progress in the collaboration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Netflix has “not succeeded” in scaling up its business in India despite the global streaming giant consistently lowering the subscription costs in the country, analysts at AllianceBernstein wrote in a report to clients Thursday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hyundai and Kia have finally announced their plans to adopt Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) ports for their electric vehicles in the U.S. and Canada, joining the swells of automakers that have also promised to do so. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bolt. Earth, an Indian startup that offers charging infrastructure and software solutions for electric vehicles, has raised $20 million in a funding round to expand its presence within the South Asian nation and enter into new markets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

X, formerly Twitter, has started cutting headlines from link cards on the iOS app and on the web. This means you will see just an image with the domain name of the link on the bottom left, which is easy to miss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The San Francisco Police Department is investigating an October 2 incident that left a woman stuck underneath a Cruise robotaxi after being hit by a human-driven vehicle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Investors have historically been skeptical of green hydrogen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Boston-based privacy and security startup Cloaked, launched its apps today to let users create unique proxy emails, phone numbers, and passwords for online accounts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Open banking, in which traditional banks release their data via application programming interfaces (APIs) to enable the development of new financial services for their consumers, has been one of the most significant disruptions in global payments over the past decade. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Volkswagen’s $2.1 billion plan to launch a dedicated electric-vehicle factory in Wolfsburg, Germany is kaput.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just under a year ago, the buzzy new social app BeReal looked to be on the rise, with reportedly 20 million users launching the app every day to snap their candid photos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

SpaceX won its first contract for Starshield, the defense-focused version of its Starlink satellite internet service, from the U.S. Space Force. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In a blow to Uber, DoorDash and Grubhub, a New York judge on Thursday ruled to allow the implementation of the minimum pay rate of $18 per hour for New York City’s food delivery workers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Almost eight years after former Opera CEO Jon von Tetzchner launched a new browser for desktop users, his company named Vivaldi has introduced its iOS version today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

According to X CEO Linda Yaccarino, the company formerly known as Twitter will be profitable by early 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Google has announced the launch of its earthquake alert system for Android devices in India. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices