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.
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.
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