The FAA today announced that it will be issuing two new rules for drone pilots in the U.S. The first is the implementation of a long-awaited Remote ID. The system effectively works as a kind of digital license plate for unmanned aircraft, broadcasting identifying details, including the location of the craft. The full text of […]
Pokémon GO was created to encourage players to explore the world while coordinating impromptu large group gatherings — activities we've all been encouraged to avoid since the pandemic began.
For obvious reasons, many of us are spending the final week of 2020 looking forward. Samsung is hoping some folks are looking far enough ahead to reserve a spot in line for its still-unannounced Galaxy S21 handset (not an official name, mind, but probably a safe guess). If you’re on the Samsung Mobile mailing list, […]
Volkswagen Group has developed a mobile electric vehicle charger that can autonomously navigate parking areas, power up an EV and then make its way back to its outpost without the intervention of humans. The prototype, which VW Group Components created, aims to showcase how the automaker will expand charging infrastructure over the next few years […]
Global investors are running from Chinese tech stocks in the wake of the government’s crackdown on Ant Group and Alibaba, two high-flying businesses founded by Ma Yun (Jack Ma) that were once hailed as paragons of China’s new tech elite. Shares of major technology companies in the country have fallen sharply in recent days, with […]
The U.S. government is appealing the ruling that blocked the Trump administration’s TikTok ban, according to a new court filing. On December 7, 2020, U.S. District Court Judge Carl Nichols in Washington became the second U.S. judge to block the Commerce Department’s attempt to stop the TikTok app from being downloaded from U.S. app stores, […]
When kids today want to learn about a new topic they’re interested in, they’ll often turn to YouTube. But the quality of the educational content on the platform can be hit or miss, depending on what specific videos kids happen to come across. Tappity, a digital educational startup now backed by $1.3 million in seed […]
If ever there was a typically quiet tech industry that seemed to drive massive headlines this year, it was semiconductors. From record-setting M&A purchases to prodigious venture capital financing, the decline of major players and huge international trade fights, semiconductor companies found themselves in the crosshairs of inventors, VCs, regulators, politicians and, well, Apple. 2020 […]
Tesla will begin operating in India in “early” 2021, a top Indian minister said on Monday, a day after the tech-centric carmaker said it was confident it would enter the world’s second-most populated market next year. Tesla’s operations will begin with sales in early 2021 and then “maybe” look at assembling and manufacturing vehicles in […]
Ross Lipson Contributor Ross Lipson is CEO and co-founder at Dutchie, an online cannabis marketplace. Ross possesses more than a decade of experience in advanced and equitable delivery services for a variety of industries, including online food ordering, and has executed two successful business exits. To say that COVID-19 has dominated the past year would […]
Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. This is Equity Monday, our weekly kickoff that tracks the latest private market news, talks about the coming week, digs into some recent funding rounds and mulls over a larger theme or narrative from the private markets. You […]
The rivalry between China’s top online learning apps has become even more intense this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest company to score a significant funding round is Zuoyebang, which announced today (link in Chinese) that it has raised a $1.6 billion Series E+ from investors including Alibaba Group. Other participants included returning […]
What a whirlwind holiday for Jack Ma and his fintech empire. The People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, summoned Ant Group for regulatory talks on December 26, announcing a sweeping plan for the fintech firm to “rectify” its regulatory violations. The meeting came less than two months after China’s financial authorities abruptly halted […]
The coronavirus pandemic — and a handful of other factors — slowed dealmaking for startups in India this year. Compared to their record $14.5 billion fundraise last year, Indian startups are ending 2020 with about $9.3 billion. This is the first time since 2016 that startups in India, one of the world’s largest startup communities, […]
Today we sat on the deck with our daughter Ella and her boyfriend Nick. Knowing of my fascination with all things Beatles, Nick gave me a Japanese 45 of “Get Back” flipped with “Don’t Let Me Down.” His gift coincided with a five minute cut of material from a newly authorized production of a new […]
Want this newsletter in your inbox every Saturday morning? Sign up here. Remember when it was news that venture capitalists were open for business? Or when Zoom investing was only done by that one guy in Ann Arbor (ha, I kid!)? These past few months have felt busier than ever, with no holiday slowdown in […]
“The Mandalorian” just wrapped up its second season on Disney+, with an action-packed and surprise-filled finale. In many ways, it feels like a seamless continuation of the first season’s storylines, with the titular bounty hunter searching for a Jedi who can take responsibility for the alien moppet known to the internet as Baby Yoda, while […]
“Are you okay?” I don’t have a good answer to the question. Knowing full well that I’m talking back to an algorithm — even one asking the same question of everyone with a different band mad-libbed in — doesn’t soften the blow. Am I? Are we? Is anyone, really? In this case, it’s referring to […]
Chinese authorities investigate an e-commerce giant, Google may be tightening its grip on research and VCs weigh in on the year’s biggest surprises. This is your (briefer than usual) Daily Crunch for December 24, 2020. The big story: Alibaba faces antitrust probe China’s State Administration for Market Regulation said that it’s investigating the e-commerce giant […]
