Larry Ellison joins the Tesla board

THE DAILY CRUNCH FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28 2018 By Anthony Ha Tesla names new board members, Tumblr is back in Indonesia and Reid Hoffman faces scrutiny for funding election-related disinformation. Here's your Daily Crunch for December 28, 2018. 1. Tesla names Oracle's Larry Ellison, Walgreens executive to board as part of SEC settlement Tesla has added two independent directors to its board: Oracle founder, chairman and CTO Larry Ellison and Walgreens executive Kathleen Wilson-Thompson, as part of a settlement with U.S. securities regulators over CEO Elon Musk's infamous tweets about taking the company private. Ellison isn't just a Tesla believer, he's also a friend and ally of Musk. Ellison came to the Tesla CEO's defense during an analyst meeting in October and disclosed that Tesla is his second-largest investment. 2. Indonesia unblocks Tumblr following its ban on adult content Tumblr (which, like TechCrunch, is owned by Verizon Media Group) announced earlier this month that it would remove all "adult content" from its platform. That decision, which angered many, was a response to Apple removing Tumblr's app from the iOS Store after child pornography was found within the service. 3. Reid Hoffman denies direct knowledge of funding disinformation in the Alabama Senate race One of Silicon Valley's prominent billionaires is in hot water after funding deceptive social media campaigns with echoes of Russia's own political playbook. Hoffman said he's sorry — but he also maintains that he didn't know where his money ended up. 4. Grab raises fundraising target to $5B as Southeast Asia's ride-hailing war heats up The company, which acquired Uber's Southeast Asian business earlier this year, is planning to raise as much as $5 billion from its ongoing Series H round, up from an original target of $3 billion, a source told TechCrunch. 5. Smart speakers hit critical mass in 2018 According to a series of reports from RBC Capital Markets analysts released in December, the near doubling of the adoption rate for smart speakers in the U.S. was driven by growth in both Alexa and Google Home devices, while Apple's HomePod played only a small role. 6. Cap table management tool Carta valued at $800M with new funding Founded in 2012 by Henry Ward, the Palo Alto-based company plans to use the latest investment to develop its transfer agent and equity administration products so that it can better support startups transitioning into public companies. Get more stories at techcrunch.com  Newest Jobs From CrunchBoard: Assistant Research Professor at Cornell University (Geneva, NY, USA) Senior Full Stack Developer at AJ Madison (Brooklyn, NY, USA) Information Security Analyst at Los Angeles Community College District (Los Angeles, CA, USA) Chief Information Security Officer at Los Angeles Community College District (Los Angeles, CA, USA) Senior Software Developer at PressCable (Anywhere) SEE MORE JOBS ON CRUNCHBOARD Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $200 per month View this email online in your browser Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Unsubscribe © 2018 Oath Tech Network. All rights reserved. 410 Townsend Street, San Francisco, CA 94107

                                                           

Facebook & Google fed ad dollars to child porn discovery apps

THE DAILY CRUNCH THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27 2018 By Anthony Ha Google and Facebook monetized child porn discovery apps, the company behind Fortnite made a lot of money this year and a new solar technology promises greater efficiency. Here's your Daily Crunch for December 27, 2018. 1. Google & Facebook fed ad dollars to child porn discovery apps New research provided exclusively to TechCrunch by anti-harassment algorithm startup AntiToxin shows that now-removed apps that hosted links to child porn sharing rings on WhatsApp were supported with ads run by Google and Facebook's ad networks. In other words, tech giants aren't just failing to spot offensive content in their own apps, but also in third-party apps that host their ads and earn them money. 2. Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite, banked a $3 billion profit in 2018 Fortnite became the world's most popular game, growing Epic's valuation to $15 billion, but it has helped the company pile up cash, too. According to a source with knowledge of the business, the company grossed a $3 billion profit for this year. 3. A new solar technology could be the next big boost for renewable energy Called a perovskite cell, the new photovoltaic tech uses hybrid organic-inorganic lead or tin halide-based material as the light-harvesting active layer. It's the first new technology to come along in years to offer the promise of better efficiency in the conversion of light to electric power at a lower cost than existing technologies. 4. New e-commerce restrictions in India just ruined Christmas for Amazon and Walmart The three main takeaways from the new policy, which will go live on February 1, are a ban on exclusive sales, the outlawing of retailers selling products on platforms they count as investors and restrictions on discounts and cash back. 5. Instagram accidentally rolled out tap-to-advance feed, removes it Many users woke up to a shock this morning when their familiar vertical swipe stopped advancing the main feed. The company says, "This was caused by a bug and we quickly rolled it back." 6. Netflix releases a trailer for 'Bandersnatch,' the mysterious new episode of 'Black Mirror' The trailer doesn't quite come out and say that this will be an interactive episode, but the subject matter and the tagline ("change your mind — change your life — change your past — your present — your future") seem to be awfully suggestive. Get more stories at techcrunch.com  Newest Jobs From CrunchBoard: Assistant Research Professor at Cornell University (Geneva, NY, USA) Senior Full Stack Developer at AJ Madison (Brooklyn, NY, USA) Information Security Analyst at Los Angeles Community College District (Los Angeles, CA, USA) Chief Information Security Officer at Los Angeles Community College District (Los Angeles, CA, USA) Senior Software Developer at PressCable (Anywhere) SEE MORE JOBS ON CRUNCHBOARD Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $200 per month View this email online in your browser Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Unsubscribe © 2018 Oath Tech Network. All rights reserved. 410 Townsend Street, San Francisco, CA 94107