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The Biden administration is escalating its pressure campaign against TikTok, threatening a U.S. ban against the world’s most popular app if the company doesn’t split with its Chinese ownership. The current administration’s public concerns around the hit app have ratcheted up considerably in recent days. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that the U.S. […] The US government ramps up its pressure campaign against TikTok by Taylor Hatmaker originally published on TechCrunch... →

Hello, friends, and welcome to Daily Crunch, bringing you the most important startup, tech and venture capital news in a single package. Daily Crunch: Microsoft waives its waitlist and opens up its AI-powered Bing chatbot to all by Christine Hall originally published on TechCrunch... →

Last night, CNBC broke the bombshell news that Virgin Orbit was pausing operations for at least a week while it looked for funding to support the business. As part of that pause, company executives reportedly told staff in an all-hands meeting that they were being furloughed – and that it would be unpaid. The news […] At Virgin Orbit, it never should’ve come to a staff furlough by Aria Alamalhodaei originally published on TechCrunch... →

MindGeek — owner of several adult entertainment sites including Pornhub, Brazzerz and Redtube — was acquired by a Canadian private equity firm, Ethical Capital Partners (ECP). ECP, which was formed last year, did not disclose the terms of the deal. “In MindGeek, we have identified a dynamic tech brand that is built upon a foundation […] Pornhub owner MindGeek sold to private equity firm by Amanda Silberling originally published on TechCrunch... →

Google’s security research unit is sounding the alarm on a set of vulnerabilities it found in certain Samsung chips included in dozens of Android models, wearables and vehicles, fearing the flaws could be soon discovered and exploited. In a blog post, Google’s Project Zero head Tim Willis said the in-house security researchers found and reported […] Google warns users to take action to protect against remotely exploitable flaws in popular Android phones by Zack Whittaker originally published on TechCrunch... →

The FCC has officially proposed, and voted unanimously to move forward with, a framework under which satellites can communicate directly with smartphones in a structured and useful way. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, circulated earlier this month and formally voted on today, is essentially a complete first public draft of what the FCC hopes to […] FCC proposes satellite-to-phone rules to eliminate ‘no signal’ once and for all by Devin Coldewey originally published on TechCrunch... →

A new class action lawsuit alleges that several well-known finance YouTubers, including Graham Stephan, Andrei Jikh, Jaspreet Singh and others, should be held responsible for promoting now-disgraced cryptocurrency exchange FTX. The lawsuit’s plaintiff is Edwin Garrison, a private investor who also filed a lawsuit against former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried himself, plus celebrity promoters like […] Finance YouTubers sued over promotion of FTX by Amanda Silberling originally published on TechCrunch... →

I know at least one TC staffer who is gutted by the inevitable second death of Google Glass. I won’t call them out by name, but will say that I empathize with seeing a tech giant reverse the truck to drive over a beloved piece of technology once again. Is it possible to be ahead […] Goodbye Google Glass, we knew you well by Brian Heater originally published on TechCrunch... →

Sidechat, the anonymous posting platform that began blowing up last year on college campuses, appears to have acquired a rival anonymous social platform, Yik Yak. While you may recall Yik Yak’s troubles from earlier years, where bullying and harassment ultimately led to an ignominious exit in the form of an acquihire by Square, the gossip […] Anonymous app Sidechat picks up rival Yik Yak…and users aren’t happy by Sarah Perez originally published on TechCrunch... →

There’s nothing more romantic than having an AI-powered bot write your vows for you. Earlier this month, wedding planning platform Joy launched a new OpenAI-powered “Wedding Writer’s Block” tool that uses AI technology to generate a draft for one of the most important speeches of your life. The AI assistant is designed to help write […] Wedding platform Joy will let you outsource your vows to OpenAI by Lauren Forristal originally published on TechCrunch... →

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web. Google's March 2023 core update started to roll out yesterday...... →

Course Hero, a tutoring business last valued by investors at $3.6 billion, has cut 15% of staff, or 42 people – its first round of layoffs in 17 years, TechCrunch has learned from numerous sources. The workforce reduction comes after Course Hero itself, a rare edtech unicorn, saw co-founder Andrew Grauer leave his post as […] Course Hero, edtech unicorn last valued at $3.6 billion, conducts layoffs by Natasha Mascarenhas originally published on TechCrunch... →

Following on the heels of GPT-4’s buzzy debut and the announcement of Microsoft 365’s AI makeover, Baidu, China’s search engine giant, introduced its Ernie Bot. Since ChatGPT blew the world away, Baidu has been widely considered the closest Chinee candidate to build an equivalent to the OpenAI chatbot. Naturally, Ernie’s launch was much anticipated. On […] China’s ChatGPT rival Baidu Ernie is off to a rough start by Rita Liao originally published on TechCrunch... →

It’s been an insanely busy and chaotic past seven days. Unless you live under a rock, you probably know what I’m talking about. But for those who don’t (or just want a recap), let’s get into it. Bitcoin rises about 14% in 7-day span as US banking system wobbles by Jacquelyn Melinek originally published on TechCrunch... →

While diversifying assets feels obvious in retrospect, actually following that bit of advice is harder than it seems. ‘BRB, storing my money in gold’: Founders scramble to figure out which banks are safe by Natasha Mascarenhas originally published on TechCrunch... →

A year or two before launching Actuator, someone on staff floated the idea of my writing a weekly robotics newsletter. I balked at the suggestion. Surely, I suggested, we would be struggling to fill the pages by week two. It’s not so much that I doubted whether there was enough robotics content to keep the […] Mistaking performance for competence by Brian Heater originally published on TechCrunch... →

First Republic Bank was caught in the wake of Silicon Valley Bank's collapse over the weekend and saw its shares plunge earlier this week. Shares were rebounding as this new development emerged. First Republic Bank could see $30B in rescue deposits coming, report says by Christine Hall originally published on TechCrunch... →

Following a shakeup in the U.S. banking system over the past week, crypto exchanges and wallets gained momentum as some look for bankless alternatives. The top 10 crypto applications for exchanges and wallets have risen about 15% since Silicon Valley Bank’s stock fell 60% last week, according to a chart from real-time app data provider […] Top crypto app downloads rise over 15% following SVB collapse by Jacquelyn Melinek originally published on TechCrunch... →

Spanish upskilling startup StudentFinance used this deck to raise a $41 million Series A. Pitch Deck Teardown: StudentFinance’s $41M Series A deck by Haje Jan Kamps originally published on TechCrunch... →

YouTube has announced that it’s raising the price of its YouTube TV subscription to $72.99 per month. The new monthly price is an $8 increase from the current $64.99 monthly fee. New members will see the new price starting today, while existing members will see the price change staring on April 18. The Google-owned company […] YouTube TV hikes price to $72.99 per month due to rising ‘content costs’ by Aisha Malik originally published on TechCrunch... →