TechCrunch Industry News

Sony’s current favorite big tease is playing at being a carmaker, and today it announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with real automaker Honda to discuss and develop that idea further. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s many years since the Blackberry was the corporate phone du jour. Touchscreen phones and the ‘Bring your Own Device’ trend put paid to all that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Reliance Industries plans to invest up to $221 million in American electronics firm Sanmina to set up a joint venture as the Indian giant looks to expand its electronics manufacturing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tenderly, a startup that aims to make it easier for web3 developers “of all skill sets” to build blockchain products, has raised $40 million in a Series B round of funding – just months after closing on its Series A. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ford today announced a significant restructuring to better focus on the different challenges and opportunities with electric vehicles and internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alphabet’s drone service Wing this morning announced another milestone, as it hit 200,000 commercial deliveries. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Google has just announced that YouTube will geoblock the Kremlin-affiliated media outlets Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik in Europe, following pressure from regional lawmakers to choke off Russian war propaganda. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This new monster round comes about a year after another big fundraise of $316 million in Series D financing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Santa Barbara-based HearHere, the company behind an audio entertainment and immersive storytelling road-trip app, has raised $3.2 million in seed funding led by RV and outdoor retailer Camping World. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Carvana, the online used car marketplace, has agreed to buy Kar Global’s Adesa U.S. auction subsidiary for $2.2 billion in cash, an acquisition aimed at adding another revenue stream as well as a network of physical sites that could help bolster operations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Elon Musk isn't getting a break from the SEC any time soon. WSJ reports the SEC is investigating whether Musk and his brother Kimbal violated insider trading regulations with recent share sales. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Meet Specify, a startup that is creating a common language for Figma and GitHub. Specify acts as a central repository and API for your design tokens and assets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Cloudflare has announced that it plans to acquire Area 1 Security, a security startup that has developed a product that stops phishing attacks before they land in an employee’s inbox. Cloudflare plans to spend around $162 million on the acquisition. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Target is preparing a series of changes to make its curbside pickup service called Drive Up more appealing to consumers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

COVID, supply chain issues, labor shortages, Amazon. Take your pick. The reasons for getting excited about logistics robotics are numerous and growing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bosch is increasing its previously stated investment in semiconductor production in order to stay on top of the ongoing chip shortage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Relocating employees can involve up to 20-30 different complex processes, while many of the support packages on the market can be inflexible and expensive. Plus, relocating services are usually only available to company leaders, not staff. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Things are getting worse at Better. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Cruise plans to expand the self-driving delivery pilot it has with Walmart in Arizona, the company’s senior government affairs manager said in a recent public meeting with state legislators. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Quick pop quiz: Is it better to recycle your cardboard boxes, or use a sturdier packaging bag that can be used again and again until it meets its maker again? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Thrive Capital, the venture firm founded in 2009 by a then-25-year-old Joshua Kushner, says it has closed its eighth fund with approximately $3 billion in capital commitments, $500 of which it plans to invest in early-stage startups and another $2.5 billion that it has earmarked for later-stage companies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amazon and Visa have resolved their simmering dispute over payment fees in the UK and elsewhere, Reuters has reported. Amazon threatened to stop accepting Visa in the UK starting January 19. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The cleaning products you use in your house are 99% water. Yes, the same stuff that comes out of the spigot at your house. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Waymo Via, Waymo’s autonomous trucking and cargo unit, has found another long-term strategic partner to see it through to commercialization. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Payments infrastructure company Stronghold has launched a venture capital arm to deploy $100 million of its balance sheet capital in startups and funds in three core strategies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices