Latest and Hotest Technology Updates

Three arrests are made following this month’s celebrity Twitter hack, Microsoft may be working to acquire TikTok’s U.S. business and Facebook launches licensed music videos. Here’s your Daily Crunch for July 31, 2020.

The big story: Florida teen arrested in Twitter hack

In a hack earlier this month, high-profile Twitter accounts like Apple, Elon Musk, Barack Obama and Joe Biden were compromised and posted messages promoting a cryptocurrency scheme. Now an investigation by the FBI and Department of Justice has resulted in three arrests: Mason Sheppard of the United Kingdom, Nima Fazeli of Orlando and a 17-year-old Tampa resident.

The Tampa teen was described by the state attorney’s office as the hack’s “mastermind” and is facing 30 felony charges. He allegedly made more than $100,000 in a single day thanks to the hack.

"These crimes were perpetrated using the names of famous people and celebrities, but they're not the primary victims here," said Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren in a statement.

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The tech giants

Report: Microsoft in talks to buy TikTok's US business from China's ByteDance — President Trump has plans to order China's ByteDance, the owner of hit social video app TikTok, to divest from the company, according to Bloomberg.

Secret documents from US antitrust probe reveal big tech's plot to control or crush the competition — We've collected the nearly 500 pages of evidence made public during the House Judiciary's marathon hearing, with added context, in a searchable version.

Facebook will launch officially licensed music videos in the US starting this weekend — The U.S. launch is enabled by Facebook's expanded partnerships with top labels, including Sony Music, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Merlin, BMG, Kobalt and other independents.

Startups, funding and venture capital

Genomics startup Helix receives $33 million in NIH funding to scale COVID-19 testing — The funding will be used to support Helix's efforts to scale its COVID-19 testing efforts, with the aim of achieving a rate of 100,000 tests per day by this fall.

Self-driving startup Argo AI hits $7.5 billion valuation — The valuation was confirmed Thursday, nearly two months after VW Group finalized its $2.6 billion investment in Argo AI.

The iron rule of founder compensation is dead — The latest episode of Equity discusses Y Combinator Demo Day going both virtual and live.

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch

Working to understand Affirm's reported IPO pricing hopes — News broke last night that Affirm, a well-known fintech unicorn, could approach the public markets at a valuation of $5 to $10 billion.

Opportunities (and challenges) in church tech — Investor Will Robbins argues that this might be the perfect time for church tech companies to thrive.

(Reminder: Extra Crunch is our subscription membership program, which aims to democratize information about startups. You can sign up here.)

Everything else

Ford Bronco reservations surpass 150,000 — The reception to Bronco 2021 — Ford's flagship series of 4×4 vehicles that was revealed earlier this month — surpassed the company's most optimistic initial projections, Ford’s CEO said in an earnings call.

What does accountability look like in 2020? — Rae Witte discusses what happens after a company gets called out.

• Digital Experience Director at G&S Business Communications (Raleigh, NC, USA)
• Senior Design Engineer at Anivive Lifesciences (Long Beach, CA, USA)
• Full Stack Developer at NOCTEM (Pittsburgh, PA, USA)
• Public Relations Manager – Tech & Emerging Companies/Bay Area (4485) at Latham & Watkins (Menlo Park, CA, USA)
• Software Developer at Triblio, Inc. (Reston, VA, USA)

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Apple has a strong quarter despite coronavirus, Impossible Foods is coming to Walmart and NASA launches a new Mars rover. Here’s your Daily Crunch for July 30, 2020.

The big story: Apple beats Q3 expectations

Apple’s latest earning report suggests that the company is thriving despite COVID-19, with revenue of $59.69 billion in the third quarter of its fiscal year. That’s significantly higher than the $52.25 billion expected by analysts, and it reflects 11% growth year over year.

This isn’t the first time Apple has reported earnings since coronavirus became a part of our lives, but Q3 was its first quarter to occur entirely during the pandemic.

The company also announced a four-for-one stock split scheduled for the end of August, through which Apple investors will receive three more shares for each share they already own, with single shares becoming correspondingly more affordable.

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The tech giants

Amazon says police demands for customer data have gone up — The figures show that in the first half of 2020, Amazon received 23% more subpoenas and search warrants compared to the first half of 2019.

PayPal and Venmo QR Code checkout is coming to 8,200 CVS stores in Q4 — CVS will become the first nationwide retailer to allow customers to pay using either their PayPal or Venmo QR code at the register, without fees.

Google is making autofill on Chrome for mobile more secure — The new autofill experience on mobile will use biometric authentication for credit card transactions.

Startups, funding and venture capital

Impossible Foods starts selling in Walmart and expands distribution of its new sausage product — Impossible Foods will now be available at more than 2,000 Walmart stores across the country.

Rocket launch startup Astra readies for orbital test flight as early as Sunday — The startup only incorporated three years ago, and it's building its rockets in Alameda, California.

We've updated The TechCrunch List with 116 new VCs ready to write first and lead checks into startups — Thanks to reader response and recommendations, the list keeps growing!

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch

Six leading investors assess the remote-work startup landscape — In our latest VC survey, we try to understand if SaaS fatigue is real and where open-space still exists in the remote-work world.

Four keys to building your startup — Insights from Sequoia’s Jess Lee, Initialized’s Garry Tan, Floodgate’s Ann Miura-Ko and Neo’s Ali Partovi.

Jesus, SaaS and digital tithing — Part 1 of a series on “church tech.”

(Reminder: Extra Crunch is our subscription membership program, which aims to democratize information about startups. You can sign up here.)

Everything else

NASA successfully launches its Mars 2020 Perseverance rover using an Atlas V rocket — The Perseverance rover is equipped with sensors specifically designed to help it find evidence of ancient, microbiotic life on Mars.

CBS All Access adds 3,500 new episodes before rebranding in 2021 — ViacomCBS had previously announced plans to launch an expanded and rebranded version of CBS All Access this summer, to better compete against streaming offerings like Disney+ and HBO Max.

Just 48 hours left on early-bird passes to Disrupt 2020 — Less than 48 hours now!

• Digital Experience Director at G&S Business Communications (Raleigh, NC, USA)
• Senior Design Engineer at Anivive Lifesciences (Long Beach, CA, USA)
• Full Stack Developer at NOCTEM (Pittsburgh, PA, USA)
• Public Relations Manager – Tech & Emerging Companies/Bay Area (4485) at Latham & Watkins (Menlo Park, CA, USA)
• Software Developer at Triblio, Inc. (Reston, VA, USA)

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U.S. tech giants face antitrust scrutiny, Spotify has a mixed quarter and at-home fitness startup Tempo raises funding. This is your Daily Crunch for July 29, 2020.

P.S. Yep, I’m back from vacation. Thanks to Darrell Etherington for filling in!

The big story: Tech CEOs face Congress

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Apple’s Tim Cook, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Google’s Sundar Pichai all appeared remotely this afternoon before the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee.

Different representatives seemed to focused on very different issues: Republicans repeatedly returned to the question of whether the large tech platforms are suppressing conservative viewpoints, while Democrats seemed more concerned about potentially anticompetitive behavior.

For example, citing newly revealed emails sent by Zuckerberg to other Facebook executives, Rep. Jerry Nadler declared, “Facebook saw Instagram as a powerful threat that could siphon business away from Facebook so rather than compete with it, Facebook bought it.” And Rep. Val Demings (like Nadler, a Democrat) suggested that Google was responsible for “effectively destroying anonymity on the internet.”

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The tech giants

Spotify users are streaming again, but ad revenues still suffer due to COVID crisis — In its latest earnings report, Spotify said it grew its active monthly users by 29%, reaching 299 million.

Google One now offers free phone backups up to 15GB on Android and iOS — Google One is Google's subscription program for buying additional storage and live support, and it’s getting an update.

Samsung reportedly considering a Google deal that would deprioritize Bixby — That’s according to Reuters.

Startups, funding and venture capital

Mirror competitor Tempo raises a $60M Series B — The news comes almost exactly a month after Mirror, one of the San Francisco-based company's chief competitors, was acquired by fitness brand Lululemon for $500 million.

Remitly raises $85M at a $1.5B valuation, says money transfer business has surged — CEO Matt Oppenheimer told us that customer growth has increased by 200% compared to a year ago.

LA's consumer goods rental service, Joymode, sells to the NYC retail investment firm, XRC Labs — Joymode's founder Joe Fernandez will continue on as an advisor to the startup as it moves to pivot its business to focus on retail partnerships.

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch

How to time your Series A fundraise — At our Early Stage event last week, Emergence Capital’s Jake Saper said that finding the right time to fundraise requires a micro- and macro-level strategy.

Investment in AI startups slips to three-year low — A new report from CB Insights shows historically strong but declining investing rates for AI startups.

Where is voice tech going? — One of the biggest stories in emerging technology is the growth of different types of voice assistants.

(Reminder: Extra Crunch is our subscription membership program, which aims to democratize information about startups. You can sign up here.)

Everything else

Walmart launches its own voice assistant, 'Ask Sam,' initially for employee use — The tool allows Walmart employees to look up prices, access store maps, find products, view sales information, check email and more.

The Hummer EV is shaping up to be GM's electric answer to the Ford Bronco and Tesla Cybertruck — GM just released its first look at the vehicle, which was announced pre-COVID, at the Super Bowl.

• Digital Experience Director at G&S Business Communications (Raleigh, NC, USA)
• Senior Design Engineer at Anivive Lifesciences (Long Beach, CA, USA)
• Full Stack Developer at NOCTEM (Pittsburgh, PA, USA)
• Public Relations Manager – Tech & Emerging Companies/Bay Area (4485) at Latham & Watkins (Menlo Park, CA, USA)
• Software Developer at Triblio, Inc. (Reston, VA, USA)

See more jobs on CrunchBoard

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