Oct 28th
TechCrunch Disrupt 2024
San Francisco, CA
The Latest
Featured Article
Devialet’s Gemini II are the most luxurious wireless earbuds you can get
Devialet isn’t like any other tech company — its products are at the intersection of audio engineering and luxury. That’s why its new wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation don’t look like other earbuds. This isn’t a mass market product. When I covered the product launch at the Paris Opera, the French company’s CEO Franck…
1:25 am PDT • October 13, 2023
Gaming
It’s official: Microsoft closes $68.7B Activision Blizzard acquisition as UK approves restructured deal
11:13 pm PDT • October 12, 2023
After a prolonged antitrust tussle, Microsoft’s near-two-year attempt to buy gaming giant Activision is finally happening, after the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) accepted a restructured proposal that addresses…
Security
Indian state government fixes website bug that revealed Aadhaar numbers and fingerprints
6:00 pm PDT • October 12, 2023
A security researcher says a bug on an Indian state government website inadvertently revealed documents containing residents’ Aadhaar numbers, identity cards and copies of their fingerprints. The bug was fixed…
Government & Policy
EU turns up the heat on X over illegal content in wake of Israel-Hamas war
5:38 pm PDT • October 12, 2023
The European Union is cranking up the heat on Elon Musk-owned X. Late Thursday, the Commission sent the company a formal request for more information — after issuing a public warning…
Transportation
Ford’s joint EV battery venture increases wages at planned factories amid UAW strike
1:38 pm PDT • October 12, 2023
Ford and its joint venture partner SK On will increase wages at two planned EV battery factories in Kentucky and Tennessee in an effort to assuage striking autoworkers. That offer…
Crypto
FTC sues bankrupt crypto company Voyager’s CEO over false FDIC insurance claims
12:12 pm PDT • October 12, 2023
After settling on Thursday with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), bankrupt crypto company Voyager is permanently banned from handling consumers’ assets. But the government agency also announced on Thursday that…
Crypto
FTX trial stirs up more chaos as ex Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison testifies on faulty balance sheets, bribes and more
12:00 PM PDT • October 12, 2023
Welcome back to Chain Reaction. It’s week two of the Sam Bankman-Fried trial and I’m writing this live from outside the Southern District of New…
GM’s self-driving car subsidiary Cruise has opened its robotaxi service to users in Houston — an expansion that comes amid increasing criticism of the company’s operations in San Francisco, it’s…
Apps
Threads is rolling out an edit button, and it’s not locked behind a paywall
11:30 am PDT • October 12, 2023
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced today that Threads, Instagram’s Twitter-like app, is rolling out an edit button. With this new feature, you can edit your post as many times as…
Apps
After delays, X updates Community Notes fact-checks to improve speed and distribution
11:01 am PDT • October 12, 2023
After X’s crowdsourced fact-checking system faced multi-day delays to correct misinformation on the platform, the company formerly known as Twitter has announced a series of improvements focused on speeding up…
Where we’ll be next
Jun 11th
StrictlyVC – Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
May 21st
StrictlyVC – London
London
When Slow Ventures announced that it would set aside $20 million to invest in individual creators, GP Sam Lessin responded to onlookers’ confusion with a memorable quip: “it’s def not…
Startups
How to fundraise when your deep tech startup sounds like sci-fi
10:51 am PDT • October 12, 2023
Your pitch may well be the first time a VC has even heard of a concept, so how can they possibly work out how to invest in your idea when…
Apps
Bluesky gets its first third-party app for iOS and Android with Graysky, launching this month
9:48 am PDT • October 12, 2023
Bluesky, the Jack Dorsey-backed Twitter alternative, is getting its first third-party app for both iOS and Android users: a new app called Graysky. Though numerous Bluesky projects built on the…
Biotech & Health
Israeli biotech startup Mana.bio launches AI-fueled programmable drug therapy
9:27 am PDT • October 12, 2023
Israeli biotech startup Mana.bio has been planning to launch its programmable drug treatment solution for months, and decided to forge ahead in spite of the attacks that happened this past…
AI
Google’s AI-powered search experience can now generate images, write drafts
9:00 am PDT • October 12, 2023
Google’s AI-powered search feature, SGE (Search Generative Experience), is gaining some new skills, starting today. The AI feature, which introduces a conversational mode in Search, is now going to be…
Media & Entertainment
Medium expects to be profitable in 2024 as it climbs toward 1M subscribers
8:49 am PDT • October 12, 2023
Media is a tough game, and wringing value out of words on the Internet is a never-ending battle. We spoke with Medium’s CEO Tony Stubblebine about how Medium got itself…
Commerce
Lanch, which creates food delivery brands for influencers, gobbles up $6.9M
8:42 am PDT • October 12, 2023
Two of the biggest drivers of growth on social and e-commerce platforms have been food and influencers, so it should come as no surprise that startups are now getting in…
Security
Cloud gaming firm Shadow says hackers stole customers’ personal data
8:05 am PDT • October 12, 2023
French technology company Shadow has confirmed a data breach involving customers’ personal information. The Paris-headquartered startup, which offers gaming through its cloud-based PC service, said in an email to customers…
Apps
Google announces updates to privacy controls related to browsing history, Password Manager and more
7:52 am PDT • October 12, 2023
Google announced a few updates around security on Thursday for Cybersecurity Awareness month with the aim of taking the “security burden off users.” The tech giant announced that it’s offering…
Media & Entertainment
Block acquires music financial services startup Hifi
7:37 am PDT • October 12, 2023
Block, the Jack Dorsey-founded fintech company previously known as Square, has acquired Hifi, a music-focused fintech startup. The company declined to share deal terms. Hifi founder and CEO Damian Manning…
