TechCrunch Industry News

Today, Netflix is launching a new interactive game called “Triviaverse” that allows subscribers to test their knowledge and compete against an all-knowing “Trivia master” using their TV remote. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ouster and Velodyne, two lidar companies, have agreed to a merger in an all-stock transaction, the companies said Monday. Both Ouster and Velodyne will maintain a 50% stake in the new company, according to the agreement that was signed on November 4. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Unity‘s proposed merger with IronSource has formally concluded, with the two companies coming together to create an end-to-end platform for developers to build and monetize games. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After trying for years to replicate the success of its QR code-enabled payments solution overseas, Ant Group seems to have finally found a path to scaling. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

PayPal announced Thursday that it will soon support Apple’s Tap to Pay on iPhones. The company said in its Q3 2022 earnings report that both PayPal and Venmo will soon support this tech as a part of its offering. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Patreon creators can now upload videos directly to the platform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A lot of things might spring to mind when you hear “fashion,” but taking care of the planet generally isn’t on that list. Smartex just raised a couple of bolts’ worth of cash, sowing up a round of funding to bring smart tech to fabric manufacturing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Magdalena “Mags” Kala, a self-described “lifetime degen,” is no stranger to beating the odds. Before she became an investor, she co-founded an all-female blackjack team that sought to exploit gender bias to make a profit through gaming, she told TechCrunch in an interview. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Indian edtech giant Byju’s is engaging with bankers to put together a plan for the initial public offering of its unit Aakash, which it acquired last year, a source familiar with the matter told TechCrunch.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Volocopter, a German startup building electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles, has secured $182 million for the second signing of its Series E round. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last year YASA, a British electric motor startup with a revolutionary “axial-flux” motor, was acquired by Mercedes-Benz to develop ultra-high-performance electric motors for Mercedes’s AMG.EA electric-only platform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hong Kong has proposed allowing retail investors to trade in cryptocurrencies and crypto exchange-traded funds and plans to conduct pilots in NFT issuance and CBDC as it looks to regain its status as a global financial hub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

General Motors has temporarily paused paid advertising on Twitter, one day after billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk finalized a $44 billion acquisition of the social media platform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the heels of the Biden administration’s decision to impose sweeping chip sanctions on China, there are signs that China might also lose access to other types of critical U.S. technologies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

And so the it begins… Elon Musk has only been owner of Twitter for a few hours but he’s already earned himself a schooling from the European Union in response to his suggestive “the bird is freed” tweet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A couple caveats for those going apoplectic over the headline: I mean self-driving isn’t going to be a thing A) in our lifetimes and B) with any kind of omnipresent scale. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Networking and cybersecurity firm Versa today announced that it raised $120 million in a mix of equity and debt led by BlackRock, with participation from Silicon Valley Bank. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

U.S. officials have charged a Ukrainian national over his alleged role in the Raccoon Infostealer malware-as-a-service operation that infected millions of computers worldwide. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Reports indicate Elon Musk is on track to close his purchase of mildly popular bird website Twitter dot com as of this Friday, which is when he’s been ordered by the judge in the ongoing legal fracas to do so anyway. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

India’s antitrust watchdog has hit Google with $113 million fine for abusing the dominant position of its app store, the second such penalty on the Android-maker in just as many weeks in the key overseas market. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After attempting to sell its tech to large food service companies, cooking automation startup Jasper has shifted to direct-to-consumer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Taylor Swift’s latest album “Midnights” has dropped, and it might be setting a new standard for China’s digital music industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

YouTube is raising prices for its Premium subscription plans across many countries including the US, the UK, Canada, and Argentina. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Uber has started offering electric vehicles to customers in certain parts of the Delhi-NCR region and says it will be expanding its efforts over the coming months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Google has left no stones unturned in pushing Apple to adopt the Rich Communication Services that the search giant argues will improve cross-platform communication. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices