A headphone startup shuts down, Microsoft acquires Semantic Machines and a teen monitoring startup drops the ball on security. All that and more in The Daily Crunch for May 21, 2018.

1. After tens of thousands of pre-orders, 3D audio headphones startup Ossic disappears

To be clear, Ossic hasn't simply vanished without a trace. But the company announced this weekend that it will be shutting down, and that people who preordered its products via Kickstarter (where it raised $2.7 million) or Indiegogo ($3.2 million) won't be getting refunds.

In the end, it looks like Ossic received tens of thousands of preorders but only manufactured 250 headphones, and only shipped a few dozen to Kickstarter backers.

2. Microsoft acquires conversational AI startup Semantic Machines to help bots sound more lifelike

Semantic Machines aims to solve one of the biggest challenges in conversational AI: making chatbots sound more human and less like, well, bots.

3. Teen monitoring app TeenSafe exposes thousands of passwords

According to security researcher Robert Wiggins, TeenSafe left two of its servers exposed and viewable by anyone. Moreover, the database included information such as the parent's email address, child's Apple ID email address, device name, device unique identifier, and plaintext passwords for the teenager's Apple ID.

4. A simple solution to end the encryption debate

Symphony founder David Gurle and lawyer Bill Harrington look at how law enforcement and society might reconcile the advantages of gaining access to the plans of dangerous individuals with the cost of opening a door to the lives of everyone else.

5. Whisk, the smart food platform that makes recipes shoppable, acquires competitor Avocando

Whisk's "smart food platform" enables app developers, publishers and online supermarkets to make recipes shoppable, personalizable and connected to smart devices.

6. This top Silicon Valley venture firm just made a contrarian move with its newest fund

The firm in question is Emergence Capital — which has had some big successes recently, but didn't raise a billion-dollar fund, even though it probably could have.

7. TechCrunch podcasts sound better together

It's not a full-fledged podcast crossover, but we had Ctrl-T co-host Megan Rose Dickey on Original Content this week to discuss the new season of Netflix's Dear White People. Meanwhile, Megan and Henry Pickavet talked about Uber's flying taxi plans on Ctrl-T, and the team at Equity weighed in on Circle's big fundraise.