Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Nikola's trucks are up for auction

Monday, May 19, 2025

Welcome to TC PM! Today we look into two bankruptcy-related sales; we learn of a new way Bluesky is trying to engage pro basketball fans; and we have the details on a new law that protects people from revenge porn and deepfakes.

TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: Gordon Brothers

🤑 It's auction time: Defunct electric trucking startup Nikola reached a deal over the weekend with Gordon Brothers auction house to purchase the company's assets with the intent to sell. Now $114 million of Nikola's assets, including 103 hydrogen-powered trucks, are going up for auction.

🧪 Speaking of bankruptcy auctions: Genetic testing company 23andMe was sold to pharmaceutical maker Regeneron for $256 million through a bankruptcy auction. Regeneron said it will use 23andMe's database of 15 million customers' genetic and personal data for drug discovery.

⏰ We love an early release: Google released a stand-alone NotebookLM app for Android today, a day before the company's big Google I/O 2025 conference and a day before it said it would come out. The iOS app version of Google's note-taking and research assistant drops tomorrow.

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Afternoon must-reads

Image Credits: Cheng Xin / Contributor / Getty Images

🤝 Divestment deal: Semiconductor giant AMD is spinning out ZT Systems' server-manufacturing business for $3 billion to Sanmina. AMD announced its intent to acquire ZT Systems in August 2024 with the plans to spin this part of the business out shortly after the deal closed.

🏀 Bluesky takes on Sports Twitter: Decentralized social media startup Bluesky is beta-testing a new feature for the NBA conference finals. This tool will help redirect users to live sporting events even if it takes them off Bluesky's platform. It will also test this feature for WNBA games, too.

🙌 Some good news: President Donald Trump signed the Take It Down Act, which enacts stricter penalties for distributing nonconsensual explicit images, including revenge porn and deepfakes. Social media companies also have to remove said content within 48 hours of notice.

👋 Going dark: A trio of spyware apps — Cocospy, Spyic, and Spyzie — have gone offline. Security researchers found that these stalkerware apps, which allow users to spy on another's phone, had a security flaw in February that could expose user data. Now it appears they've all gone offline.

🤗 Microsoft embraces Grok: Microsoft is one of the first hyperscalers to embrace xAI's Grok AI models. The company announced today that the Grok 3 and Grok 3 mini AI models will be available through Microsoft's Azure AI Foundry platform.

Around the web

🛑 Reddit reacts: Reddit banned the r/Efilism subreddit, an online community devoted to a nihilistic anti-life philosophy, after the bombing of a Palm Springs fertility clinic was linked to someone with those nihilistic beliefs. Other anti-natalist subreddits remain on the platform.

📍Online maps: Since the Israel-Gaza war began in October 2023, Palestinians have had to navigate a web of Israeli checkpoints and barriers to go to places like school and work in the West Bank. Palestinians have turned to a host of apps and online maps to move around more quickly.