TechCrunch Industry News

After almost five months, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) has reached an agreement with Hollywood studios to end the writers strike. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After launching its text-based social network Threads in July, Meta faced criticism as there was no way for users to delete their Threads account without deleting their Instagram account. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Google announced this morning it will be shutting down its Google Podcasts app later in 2024 as part of its broader transition to move its streaming listeners over to YouTube Music. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Snapchat has a new advertising partner in Microsoft for the ads it’s inserting into its AI product, My AI, an AI chatbot introduced earlier this year to the wider Snapchat user base. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last month X CEO Linda Yaccarino confirmed that video calls would be coming to the app formerly known as Twitter as part of its transition into an “everything app.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The UK’s competition watchdog has signalled it’s preparing to greenlight a restructured proposal for Microsoft to acquire Activision. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Meta-owned Twitter rival Threads has finally added a way to switch between multiple accounts without logging out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Several years ago, Aleksander Caban, the co-founder of Carbon Studio, a Polish VR game developer, observed a major problem in modern game design. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Autonomous trucking startup Waabi is committing billions of miles of driverless capacity to the Uber Freight network as part of a 10-year strategic partnership between the two companies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Substack is overhauling its mobile app with a redesigned Home experience to boost discovery and engagement, the company announced on Wednesday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Airbnb is trying to crack down on fake listings by verifying all listings in its top five markets — US, Canada, Australia, UK, and France. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Outschool, the online learning platform that offers kid-friendly academic and interest-based classes, announced today the launch of its AI Teaching Assistant, a tool for tutors to generate progress reports for their students. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The U.S. is famous (or infamous) for its litigiousness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bird Buddy, the startup behind multiple AI-powered smart bird feeders, including the recently announced smart Hummingbird Feeder and Bird Bath, is today launching its latest product — and it’s not another bird feeder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lyft has agreed to pay a $10 million fine over a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charge that the ride-hailing company failed to disclose a board director’s role in the sale of $424 million worth of private shares before to its initial public offering.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Meta on Friday disputed a media report that claimed the social giant was exploring bringing ads on the popular messaging app WhatsApp. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

X, formerly Twitter, has launched government ID-based account verification for paid users to prevent impersonation and give them benefits such as “prioritized support.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Europe has far too few VCs created by former founders, or “Operators” as the industry often likes to call them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

San Francisco has formally requested state regulators redo an August hearing that expanded robotaxi permits for Cruise and Waymo, giving both companies permission to widen commercial operations throughout the city 24/7. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Telegram, the popular chat app with 800 million monthly active users, is rolling out a self-custodial crypto wallet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just a few hours after Apple unveiled the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro, France’s radiation watchdog (ANFR) released a public statement announcing that the iPhone 12 breaches radiation levels. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

ELSA, the English language learning platform, announced today it has raised $22.5 million in Series C funding. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After months of testing, TikTok has finally launched its e-commerce product, TikTok Shop, in the U.S — where it has more than 150 million users. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ahead of Wednesday’s AI-focused private Congressional meeting with tech giants, Google this morning announced a new initiative aimed at supporting researchers and public policy solutions around AI with the debut of the Digital Futures Project. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last week, the European Union named the six big tech companies that should be considered as gatekeepers in one way or another under the Digital Markets Act. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices