Telegram reportedly ‘inundated’ with illegal and extremist activity

A New York Times analysis of more than 3.2 million Telegram messages from 16,000 channels found that the messaging platform has been “inundated” with illegal and extremist activity. Specifically, The Times found 1,500 channels operated by white supremacists, two dozen channels selling weapons, and at least 22 channels where MDMA, cocaine, heroin and other drugs were … Read more

Bluesky grows to 9M+ users

Bluesky keeps growing: The company announced that as of Friday morning, it had added 3 million new users, bringing its total user count to more than 9 million. In other words, the social platform’s user base has grown by around 50 percent in the week or so since a Brazilian court banned X (formerly Twitter). … Read more

Canva wants you to pay a lot more for its AI features

Canva is dramatically increasing prices for some customers. Canva Teams subscribers on older pricing plans will see a 300% increase for a five-person plan, jumping from $119.99 per year to $500 per year. Users will get a 40% discount for the first 12 months before the switch takes effect. The company is pointing to its … Read more

Boeing’s Starliner performs flawless touchdown without on-board crew, program’s future remains uncertain

After months of delays and uncertainty, Boeing’s Starliner capsule has returned from the International Space Station, touching down in White Sands Space Harbor, New Mexico, just after midnight on Saturday.  The capsule returned autonomously to Earth without its two crew members, NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who will remain aboard the station until … Read more

How a viral AI image catapulted a Mexican startup to a major adidas contract

Antonio Nuño, Fatima Alvarez, and Enrique Rodriguez have been friends since they were five years old. As teenagers, they became volunteers helping indigenous communities — first in Mexico, then in other countries — and saw that many of the women were artisans.  The trio came to realize that these artists “made very beautiful things in … Read more

Second Byju’s auditor exits in a year as financial turmoil deepens

BDO, the auditor for Indian edtech startup Byju’s, has resigned with immediate effect, marking the second auditor departure for the embattling startup in about a year and further intensifying concerns about its financial health and governance. In a scathing resignation letter, BDO subsidiary MSKA highlighted multiple issues with Byju’s, including significant delays in financial reporting, … Read more

Wealthy Harris donors are reportedly pressing for ouster of FTC Chair Lina Khan

Some of Vice President Kamala Harris’s wealthier donors are informally asking for FTC Chair Lina Khan to be replaced, reports Bloomberg. It’s not really surprising: her expansive definition of antitrust enforcement has countless industries frantic, and the largest corporations opposed her appointment from the start. Khan’s FTC, which has opposed mergers that would have been … Read more

Roblox introduces new earning opportunities for creators, teases generative AI project

At the annual Roblox Developers Conference, the company announced on Friday a series of upcoming changes coming to the platform in the next few months and years. Most notably, Roblox is adding more ways for creators to earn money through their experiences, and the company is unveiling a project that will power generative AI creation … Read more

Startups have to be clever when fighting larger rivals

Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. You won’t find any Founder Mode discourse in this week’s newsletter, although the memes keep coming. Instead, here’s your usual dose of startup news, from oversized rounds, … Read more

VC pitch show ‘Meet the Drapers’ partners with TikTok

Venture capitalist Tim Draper’s international pitch competition, “Meet the Drapers,” is partnering up with TikTok as it heads into its seventh season. Under the new tie-up, entrepreneurs will pitch their startups to the public through the short-form video app for one of the show’s upcoming episodes. The general public will then be able to vote … Read more

TechCrunch Minute: Canva faces backlash over price hikes

Some Canva customers are experiencing serious sticker shock, while the company is pointing to new AI features to justify the price hike. The company has established itself as a simpler, more affordable alternative to legacy design software, but the “more affordable” part of the equation is becoming a little less true, with some Canva Teams … Read more

The New Data Pipeline: Fivetran, DataStax and NEA are coming to TechCrunch Disrupt 2024

In the world of modern AI, data is more than just a resource — it’s the fundamental core that aligns decision-makers, supports processes and enables innovation. As AI applications become more robust and pervasive, the pace of such advancement is only as good as the evolution of the data infrastructure behind it.  We are delighted … Read more

Instagram DMs get upgraded with new features

Instagram is jazzing up the inbox by adding new features for photo editing, sticker creation and themes. The company is trying to make Instagram more appealing as a messaging app with features to make conversations more engaging. While some of these features might not sound new, it’s all about removing friction for users that might … Read more

Real estate revolutions and beanie baby economies

The Equity podcast crew is wrapping up another eventful week, with real estate, AI agents, gambling, and secondary markets — which are, of course, a form of legalized gambling. Mary Ann Azevedo, Becca Szkutak, and Devin Coldewey started off this Friday’s episode with the acknowledgment that the X/Twitter ban situation in Brazil is possibly too … Read more

Google faces provisional antitrust charges in UK for ‘self-preferencing’ its ad exchange

More antitrust woes for Google. The U.K’.s competition watchdog said on Friday that it suspects the company of adtech antitrust abuses. The tech giant will now have a chance to respond to the provisional findings before the regulator reaches a final decision. Confirmed violations of U.K. competition law can lead to corrective orders and fines … Read more