TechCrunch Industry News

Google is now rolling out Privacy Sandbox — its tech to replace third-party cookies — to all Chrome users. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When BMW started charging an $18 per month subscription for heated seats in 2022, the backlash was swift and brutal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Instagram users have been complaining for a while about the impersonal nature of the social network largely due to its algorithmic feed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the AI browser Aria launched on Opera in May to give users an easier way to search on the web, ask questions and write code. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Odds are if you know the name Arduino, it’s through its connection to the DIY community. Much like Raspberry Pi, the company built its reputation creating microcontrollers for hobbyists. But the last few years have seen it expanding that horizon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

MetaMask, the world’s biggest self-custodial hot (internet-connected) wallet with over 22 million users, has added the option for users to convert cryptocurrencies into fiats like USD, as a growing list of web3 players strive to make digital assets usable in the real world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Envisics, a UK-based holographics company building in-car technology that projects navigation, safety alerts and other data onto the inside of a windscreen, has closed a $100 million Series C round. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Money laundering — the process of transferring assets around in order to disguise the illicit origin of the money behind them — has been a huge and growing business for years, used by terrorists to finance their work, criminals to wash their spoils, (some) fat cats to avoid taxes and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An institutional investor is suing Amazon and its board, including founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos, over hefty launch contracts they awarded to Bezos’ space company, Blue Origin Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A global law enforcement operation this week took down and dismantled the notorious Qakbot botnet, touted as the largest U.S.-led financial and technical disruption of a botnet infrastructure. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Google has removed a popular but controversial live video chat app Chamet from the Play Store. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speak, an English language learning platform backed by OpenAI’s startup investment fund, the OpenAI Startup Fund, today announced that it raised $16 million in a Series B-2 funding round led by angel investor Lachy Groom. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Elon Musk-owned X, formerly Twitter, is now rolling out a feature for paid users to let them hide their likes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Google is discontinuing its Pixel Pass subscription service, which allowed people to get a Pixel phone combined with premium services including YouTube Premium, Google Play Pass, and YouTube Premium for a monthly fee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

While working at his first startup, BrainGenie, a math and science skills practice website, Tim Zheng experienced firsthand the challenge of maintaining a small business — and expanding it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Intuition Robotics isn’t hurting for funding these days. The Israeli firm announced a $36 million Series B in the early days of the pandemic, and now it’s adding another $25 million. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Earlier this month HashiCorp announced that it was changing the open source license it uses for Terraform and its other developer tools. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Reports that X (formerly Twitter)’s downloads decreased after Elon Musk’s rebranding of the microblogging social network only tell part of the story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Reddit is launching the “Mod Helper Program” to reward moderators who offer helpful advice to other moderators, along with an updated moderator help center.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Building with Lego bricks has stayed a formative and important practice for kids around the world, partly because it’s so easily enjoyed by anyone, regardless of location, language, or ability. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Shares of Better.com are getting hammered into the ground Thursday morning after the digital mortgage company completed its long-delayed SPAC merger and began to trade as a public company for the first time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

OpenAI, the AI startup behind the viral AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT, plans to partner with third party vendors to make it easier for developers — specifically enterprises — to fine-tune its AI models using custom data. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Tuesday automakers can comply with a Massachusetts Right to Repair law, reversing a previous directive to ignore the state legislation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Apple has released iOS 17 beta 7 to developers and it includes further hints that the iPhone 15 Pro will have an “Action Button.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Arm, the U.K.-based chipmaker owned by Japan’s SoftBank since 2016, has filed for a Nasdaq listing under the ticker symbol “ARM,” five months after announcing it had filed confidential, preliminary IPO paperwork with U.S. regulators. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices