Catherine Shu
Writer
The Latest from Catherine Shu
Mercari’s new Instant Pay feature transfers verified sellers’ balances to their debit cards within minutes
For online sellers, waiting three to five days for e-commerce platforms to transfer their balance is one of their biggest pain points. Mercari is going after rivals with its new Instant Pay feature, w
Amazon adds Hindi to the Alexa Skills Kit
Users of Amazon’s voice assistant will soon be able to talk to Alexa in Hindi. Amazon announced today that it has added a Hindi voice model to its Alexa Skills Kit for developers. Alexa developers c
Meredith Whittaker, AI researcher and an organizer of last year’s Google walkout, is leaving the company
Meredith Whittaker, founder of Google’s Open Research Group and one of the leaders of last year’s employee walkouts, is leaving the company. Google confirmed her departure, which was first disclo
Brooklinen, known for high-quality bed sheets, launches its first line of loungewear
Brooklinen, the direct-to-consumer bed sheet brand backed by investors including FirstMark, is entering the apparel space with its first line of loungewear. The company says its designs, including top
Swit, a collaboration suite that offers ‘freedom from integrations,’ raises $6 million in seed funding
A marketplace dominated by Slack and Microsoft Teams, along with a host of other smaller workplace communication apps, might seem to leave little room for a new entrant, but Swit wants to prove that w
Online community theAsianparent raises Series C to add e-commerce and expand into new markets
TheAsianparent, Southeast Asia’s largest online community and content platform for mothers with 23.5 million monthly active users, announced today that it has raised a Series C led by Fosun Group, t
The Commerce Department will accept applications from companies that want to supply Huawei, but it remains blacklisted
About two months after Huawei was placed on the Commerce Department’s Entity List, the Chinese telecom equipment and smartphone giant will be able to do business with American suppliers again —
Zoom patches Mac client after flaw allowed websites to turn on webcams without permission
Video conferencing giant Zoom has published a patch for its Mac client removing a rogue web server from users’ computers that allowed any website to join a video call without permission. News of
Amazon warehouse workers in Minnesota plan to strike on Prime Day over labor practices
Amazon warehouse workers in Minnesota are planning to strike during Prime Day on July 15, one of the company’s biggest sales events. Bloomberg reports that about 100 employees are expected to walk o
Smart scooter company Gogoro launches GoShare, an end-to-end vehicle-sharing platform
Founded in 2011, Gogoro now makes the best-selling electric scooters in Taiwan, where it is headquartered. The startup has always seen itself as an end-to-end platform developer, however, and today it
MoviePass temporarily suspends service to improve its mobile app
MoviePass is temporarily suspending its service, starting on July 4, in order to finish working on improvements to its mobile app, the company announced today. The hiatus comes after a difficult year
Despite Trump’s promised reprieve, Commerce Department tells staff to continue treating Huawei as blacklisted
President Donald Trump recently promised to ease the ban on American companies doing business with Huawei, but the Commerce Department is requiring its staff to treat Huawei as if the blacklist is sti
TikTok is being investigated in the UK for how it handles children’s data and safety
TikTok is being investigated in the U.K. for how it handles the safety and personal data of underage users. According to The Guardian, information commissioner Elizabeth Denham told a parliamentary co
Equinix and Singapore’s GIC will launch a $1 billion joint venture to build hyperscale data centers in Europe
Equinix, one of the world’s largest data center companies, announced that it will form a $1 billion joint venture with GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund. The partnership will focus on buildin
Japan will restrict the export of some materials used in smartphones and chips to South Korea
Japan’s trade ministry said today that it will restrict the export of some tech materials to South Korea, including polyimides used in flexible displays made by companies like Samsung Electronics. T
Fungible raises $200 million led by SoftBank Vision Fund to help companies handle increasingly massive amounts of data
Fungible, a startup that wants to help data centers cope with the increasingly massive amounts of data produced by new technologies, has raised a $200 million Series C led by SoftBank Vision Fund, wit
WeWork acquires Waltz, an app that lets users access different spaces with a single credential
WeWork announced today that it will acquire Waltz, a building access and security management startup, for an undisclosed amount. Waltz’s smartphone app and reader allows users to enter different pro
San Francisco takes the final steps toward becoming the first U.S. city to ban vaping product sales
San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an ordinance today that prohibits the sale of e-cigarettes within the city. If signed into law, the new legislation would amend the city
FedEx sues the Department of Commerce after incident involving misrouted Huawei packages
FedEx is suing the United States Department of Commerce, claiming that it has been “essentially deputize[d]” to enforce its trade blacklist. The lawsuit comes a month after Huawei said it
JD.com’s logistics arm raises a $218 million investment fund
The logistics division of JD.com, Alibaba’s closest e-commerce competitor in China, has raised 1.5 billion yuan (about $218 million) to invest in logistics-related companies and technology. Limited