TechCrunch

We’re getting ready to launch our third TC Sessions: Space conference on December 6 in Los Angeles, and we still feel the thrill associated with space technology and the intrepid early-stage startup founders and researchers who dare to explore the possibilities beyond the boundaries of our home planet — and beyond what we thought possible. … Read more

The Echo business has always looked like Amazon playing the long game from the outside. Above all, the company’s home consumer hardware is a convenient vessel for getting Alexa into millions of homes. But when a corporation is doing some serious belt tightening amid broader economic headwinds, no divisions are safe from cost cutting — … Read more

According to layoffs.fyi, more than 23,000 tech workers have been laid off so far this month. For comparison, the site tracked 12,463 layoffs in October. Facebook’s parent company Meta announced the first major job cuts in its history this week, eliminating 11,000 jobs. Like Twitter, Stripe, Brex, Lyft, Netflix and other tech firms based in … Read more

If you had to sum up the 2022 venture capital market in one word, that word could be contradictions. Venture funds have record dry powder — deployable capital on hand — and yet funding continues to steadily decline. There is seemingly more talk of backing women and people of color in the industry than ever, … Read more

This week, I talk with Dom-Madori Davis about the coalition of VCs that are standing for reproductive rights. And Jacquelyn Melinek comes on to break down the FTX/Binance saga that’s unfolded over the past week (and that continues to develop). And as always, we break down the biggest stories in tech. Articles from the episode: … Read more

A number of crypto exchanges are rushing to publish proof-of-reserves in a seeming attempt to reassure investors their funds are safe as fellow exchange FTX melts down. Proof-of-reserves (PoR) are independent audits by third parties that aim to provide transparency and evidence that a custodian holds the assets it claims to own on behalf of … Read more

Following a warning shot from the FTC to Twitter yesterday, TechCrunch has obtained an internal email sent by Elon Musk’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, to all remaining employees — in which he seeks to calm staffers’ concerns by claiming that they do not have individual liability for upholding the requirements of the FTC consent decree. We’ve … Read more

Tesla is sharing its EV charging connector design in an effort to encourage network operators and automakers to adopt the technology and help make it the new standard in North America. Tesla said in a blog post Friday that its design and specification files are available for download. The company said it is “actively working … Read more

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is the definition of a company man. In an age when people switch jobs frequently, he has been at Amazon for 25 years, working his way up to president and CEO. But before he reached the corner office, he helped build Amazon Web Services, its cloud arm, into a $60 billion … Read more

The third annual Sight Tech Global conference, a virtual, free and highly accessible event on December 7 and 8 convenes some of the world’s top experts working on assistive tech, especially AI, for people who are blind or visually impaired. If you don’t follow this topic, maybe you should, because a lot of cutting-edge tech … Read more

FTX’s downfall will heighten the need for regulation but also pique long-term interest from venture capitalists looking to invest in decentralized finance (DeFi), according to Michael Anderson, co-founder of Framework Ventures. “It just seems obvious that DeFi is the only way that we can continue to do these types of financial services operations in the … Read more

Major space companies, including SpaceX and Relativity, are urging the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to stick to its purview — spectrum usage — as it looks to potentially update its rules for in-space servicing, assembly and manufacturing (ISAM) missions. There is plenty that the FCC could — and should do — to support ISAM … Read more

Orbital imagery is becoming commonplace in industries and defense, but looking beyond the visible spectrum has yet to break through into the mainstream. Pixxel is poised to change that with its hyperspectral imaging satellites, and co-founder Awais Ahmed will join us at TC Sessions: Space in Los Angeles on December 6 to tell us why … Read more

Walk through any public park these days and you will see a hell of a lot more dogs than you might have done three years ago. The loneliness of the pandemic lockdowns led to an explosion in pet ownership. Plus, The demographic of pet ownership has shifted. Whereas previously it was Granny or Grandpa who … Read more

It’s a busy time in tech, with billions of dollars of value incinerated in recent days: FTX is at death’s door, while Twitter, recently sold at a price that no longer made sense once the transaction closed, is either slouching toward insolvency or not, depending on how you vet its new owner’s recent comments. But … Read more

After Netflix’s historic launch of an ad-supported tier, a very unexpected move from the streamer, Netflix will make history again with its first-ever livestreaming event starring comedian Chris Rock. The company announced on Thursday that Rock’s live comedy special is set to stream in early 2023, with more details to be announced later. “Chris Rock … Read more

In parallel with the FTC’s ominous warning to Elon Musk’s Twitter yesterday — that ‘no CEO or company is above the law‘ — the microblogging platform’s lead regulator in the European Union is on its case in the wake of senior staffers in charge of security and privacy compliance walking out the door. Graham Doyle, … Read more

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. We thought that last week was a lot. It was, but this week was somehow more. More chaotic, rapid-fire change at a number of massive tech companies kept us on our toes. So, … Read more

The once-third-largest crypto exchange FTX has fallen from prestige in the past week and has now announced it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. FTX CEO and founder Sam Bankman-Fried has resigned from his role, and Enron turnaround veteran John J. Ray III has been appointed as the new CEO. About 130 additional … Read more

Polestar said it’s still on track to deliver 50,000 cars worldwide this year, even as other electric vehicle makers falter amid higher costs, supply chain crunches and production challenges. The Volvo spinoff, which went public in a SPAC deal in June, delivered more than 30,424 globally for the first nine months of the year, including 9,249 in … Read more

As many businesses shift supply chains out of China in response to the uncertainties of geopolitical tensions and Beijing’s “zero COVID” policy, Fictiv is solidifying its outpost in the country. San Francisco-based Fictiv runs a platform that aims to simplify the hardware sourcing process and connects hardware firms to suppliers around the world. When it comes … Read more

As the tech war between the U.S. and China intensifies, Japan has spotted an opening to build a viable alternative for semiconductors — not least so that its own consumer electronics firms do not run out of memory chips. Now, eight major Japanese tech firms and car makers, including Kioxia, NEC, NTT, SoftBank, Sony and … Read more

The Australian Federal Police claims to have identified the cybercriminals behind the Medibank ransomware attack, which compromised the personal data of 9.7 million customers. AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw said on Friday that the agency knows the identity of the individuals responsible for the attack on Australia’s largest private health insurer. He declined to name the … Read more