Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban

Plus: Bumble's founder will return as CEO

View this email online in your browser By Rebecca Szkutak Friday, January 17, 2025 Welcome to TC PM! Today we look at the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the TikTok ban and how you can prepare; we learn that there may have been more than one security breach at PowerSchool; and we found the tech angle in Donald Trump's plans to buy Greenland. Have a great weekend! TechCrunch Top 3 Image Credits: Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto/Getty Images ⏳ Tick tock, TikTok: The Supreme Court upheld a law that will ban TikTok on Sunday. This means that starting on Sunday, it will be illegal for app stores or internet providers to distribute the app. Will it actually be banned on Sunday? There is still reason to believe it won't! Read more ☕️ JavaScript time: Google will now require users to turn JavaScript on to use Google Search. The company claims this will help improve Google Search results and weed out spam and bots, but this requirement could pose issues for people using accessibility tools. Read more 👎 An "F" in security: TechCrunch has been covering the security breach at edtech PowerSchool for the last few weeks. Now we've learned that PowerSchool likely had another security incident prior to the December 28 breach, which brings its security practices into question. Read more   A Message from Dataiku Discover the 5 GenAI trends that will shape 2025 and beyond Step into 2025 with confidence as we unveil 5 GenAI trends backed by extensive industry research. From insights into AI agents transforming decision-making to governance challenges and investment shifts, this report provides a data-driven roadmap for success. Don't miss the key stats and strategies shaping the future of AI innovation. Download Here   Afternoon must-reads Image Credits: Bumble 🎙️ TikTok chitchat: This week on Equity, the hosts dove into the impending TikTok ban and where TIkTok users are heading. They also looked at a colossal raise for Colossal Biosciences, a decentralized venture fund, and more. Listen here 🇬🇱 There is always a tech angle: Donald Trump has been talking about potential plans for the U.S. to buy Greenland for some reason. If he does pursue it, "PayPal Mafia" member Ken Howery would be involved — he's Trump's pick for ambassador to Denmark. Read more 🎞️ Reels is rising to the occasion: Instagram's Reels is clearly looking to capitalize on the TikTok ban. Today it released new features that are designed to help users better discover the content their friends and followers are liking on the platform. Read more 🐝 A CEO comeback: Whitney Wolfe Herd will be returning to Bumble in March to serve as CEO again. Wolfe Herd left the company back in 2023 and will be rejoining at a time when Bumble is experiencing sluggish growth. Read more 😬 Too close for comfort: The U.S. government announced sanctions against Sichuan Juxinhe Network Technology, a China-based cybersecurity company with ties to Salt Tycoon, which was responsible for the largest telecoms hack in U.S. history. Read more Around the web 👾 Brilliantly boring: Nintendo announced the Nintendo Switch 2 console device yesterday, and we noted that it looks like a supersize version of the original Switch. The Verge argues that not straying from this form factor is exactly what the company needs right now. Read more 🫢 Antitrust concerns: The Federal Trade Commission released a report today saying that Microsoft's $13 billion investment in OpenAI raises antitrust concerns. The report also questions Amazon's and Google's partnerships with Anthropic. Read more Before you go Image Credits: Jakub Porzycki / NurPhoto / Getty Images 🤳 Just in case! While it's not entirely clear if TikTok will end up getting banned this weekend or not, it never hurts to be prepared! We've got a guide for how to download and store your TikTok content. Read more Featured jobs from CrunchBoard BizOps Lead, Elayne (New York, NY) Staff Software Engineer, Murmuration (Remote) Founding Sales Development Representative, Clerkie (Remote) Business Analyst, Air Line Pilots Association (Tysons, VA) CAD Technician, Sinacola (Dallas, TX) See more jobs on CrunchBoard Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $349 per month.   Check out some of our other newsletters: Startups Weekly TechCrunch AI TechCrunch Mobility Got a tip? Get in touch securely. Want to advertise on TechCrunch? advertise@techcrunch.com Has this been forwarded to you? Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. Update your preferences here at any time Copyright © 2024 TechCrunch, All rights reserved.Yahoo Inc. 110 5th St,San Francisco,CA Privacy Policy

FAA redirects flights after SpaceX rocket explodes

Also: VC investment is skewing towards the elites

View this email online in your browser By Rebecca Bellan Friday, January 17, 2025 Welcome to TechCrunch AM! This morning, we're looking at the aftermath of SpaceX's rocket explosion, where all that VC money went last year, and Apple's AI news summary faux pas. We've also got notes on GM selling drivers' data, a new AI startup from the founders of Nord, Insight Partners' big fundraise, and much more. Happy Friday! — Rebecca TechCrunch Top 3 Image Credits: SpaceX 1. Starlight, starbright: SpaceX's Starship rocket broke apart in space minutes after launching from Texas, causing debris to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere over Turks and Caicos. The Federal Aviation Administration had to divert a number of aircraft near the area as a result. Read More 2. The VC wealth gap: VCs poured $74.6 billion into U.S. startups in Q4 last year, a huge increase compared to previous quarters. But don't let that big number fool you. Most of that was megadeals raised by a handful of startups, widening the funding gap in the wider startup ecosystem. Read More 3. Whoopsie: Apple will pause AI notification summaries for news and entertainment apps in iOS 18.3 because the feature tended to be inaccurate. The BBC had called Apple out after one of its articles was misrepresented to state that Luigi Mangione, the man charged with the murder of UnitedHealth's CEO, had shot himself. Read More   A Message from Moloco Inc. Beyond Borders: Mobile Gaming Insights for Global Growth Explore Beyond borders: Mobile gaming insights for global growth, an interactive report that highlights key opportunities for mobile gaming app marketers to find high-value users beyond familiar markets. Access the full report now!   Morning must-reads Image Credits: GM 🚗 Wondering why your car insurance premiums were skyrocketing? If you drive a GM vehicle with Onstar installed, the reason might be that the automaker has been allegedly selling personal information like location data and driving behaviors to insurance companies and other third parties. The FTC has now banned GM from pulling this kind of nonsense. Read More 🧑‍💻 The founders of Nord Security, the company behind NordVPN, are back with a new startup. Nexos.ai has come out of stealth with $8 million in funding to help enterprises put their AI projects into production. Read More 🍏 NYC's very own venture giant: TC's Julie Bort wrote that Insight Partners is to the New York venture ecosystem what a16z and Sequoia are to Silicon Valley. Now Insight, which logged over $8 billion on exits in 2024, has become even more of a powerhouse after scoring another $12.5 billion in new capital. Read More 📉 Risky business: Accounting startup Bench has filed for bankruptcy after imploding over the holidays. Filings show that Bench had racked up $65 million in debts, most of which is from the National Bank of Canada, and the majority of that is unsecured. Read More 🌊 Drill, baby, drill: The Trump administration might give a boost to deep-sea mining for critical minerals, a controversial move that environmentalists say could leave scars on the ocean floor and threaten deep-sea life. The ocean is the world's largest carbon sink, and disturbing the ocean floor could release stored carbon, exacerbating climate change. Read More   A Message from Brex The financial stack you can bank on Runway is everything for startups. That's why 1 in 3 startups choose Brex for modern checking, treasury, and FDIC in one account. Move money fast worldwide. Earn yield from your first dollar — while accessing your funds anytime. And get up to $6M in FDIC coverage from program banks. Learn More   Around the web 🐝 Queen Bee: Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd stepped aside as CEO last year to become executive chair of the company's board, but now she's returning to her post in March, reports Bloomberg. The current CEO, Lidiane Jones, is departing for "personal reasons." Read More 🤓 More competition for OpenAI: Former OpenAI executive Mira Murati is running a stealthy AI research lab, and she's made her first hires. Per Wired, Murati has brought on engineers and researchers from a number of other prominent AI firms, including Jonathan Lachman, her former colleague at OpenAI. Read More ⛽ Heat pumps are having a moment in Europe, reports Sifted, as the EU moves towards its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. While funding to the sector has seen a slight dip, there are still plenty of startups leading the heat pump revolution, from Sweden's Aira Home to Germany's Enpal. Read More Before you go 🔍 X under the lens again: The European Commission has ordered Elon Musk's X to submit documents related to the algorithms driving the content it recommends to users. The regulator wants to investigate if that code is compliant with the Digital Services Act. Read More Featured jobs from CrunchBoard BizOps Lead, Elayne (New York, NY) Staff Software Engineer, Murmuration (Remote) Founding Sales Development Representative, Clerkie (Remote) Business Analyst, Air Line Pilots Association (Tysons, VA) CAD Technician, Sinacola (Dallas, TX) See more jobs on CrunchBoard Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $349 per month.   Check out some of our other newsletters: Startups Weekly TechCrunch AI TechCrunch Mobility Got a tip? Get in touch securely. Want to advertise on TechCrunch? advertise@techcrunch.com Has this been forwarded to you? Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. Update your preferences here at any time Copyright © 2024 TechCrunch, All rights reserved.Yahoo Inc. 110 5th St,San Francisco,CA Privacy Policy