Update: At the close of trading today, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was up 3.8%, with SaaS and cloud stocks rising a simply bonkers 6.2%. On the back of sizable gains posted yesterday, tech stocks are once again rising sharply in pre-market trading today. Futures concerning the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index are indicating a 3.4% gain this […]
Shares of American ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft are sharply higher in pre-market trading this morning on the expected passage of Proposition 22, a California ballot measure that allows tech-enabled, on-demand companies to continue classifying gig workers as independent contractors. Shares of Uber are up 11.88% in pre-market trading, while shares of Lyft — which […]
Uber, Lyft, Instacart and DoorDash — the major backers of California’s Proposition 22 — are getting their way. The proposition, which will keep gig workers classified as independent contractors, is projected to pass. The Associated Press called the race with 67% of precincts partially reporting. Update 11/4 10:34 a.m. PT: With 99% of precincts partially […]
With key wins notched in a few states, Trump didn’t quite declare victory prematurely on social media as platforms had feared — but he did baselessly raise the specter of voter fraud. “We are up BIG, but they are trying to STEAL the Election,” Trump tweeted. “We will never let them do it. Votes cannot […]
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s win in a Georgia House race means that QAnon is headed to Capitol Hill. Greene openly supports the complex, outlandish conspiracy theory, which posits that President Trump is waging a secret war against a shadowy group of elites who engage in child sex trafficking, among other far-fetched claims. The FBI identified QAnon […]
Intel continues to snap up startups to build out its machine learning and AI operations. In the latest move, TechCrunch has learned that the chip giant has acquired Cnvrg.io, an Israeli company that has built and operates a platform for data scientists to build and run machine learning models, which can be used to train […]
It’s no secret that the Trump administration has pursued a variety of avenues to keep foreigners out of the U.S., including through a recent overhaul of the H-1B visa program for high-skilled foreign workers that will require employers to pay H-1B workers higher wages and narrow the types of degrees that would qualify an applicant […]
Even as the country is in the final days of a polarizing election, the cogs of VC never stop turning. On this ever-so-quiet, non-election-news Tuesday, venture firms still managed to file paperwork with the SEC indicating newly raised funds. Precursor Ventures and Insight Partners will join Hustle Fund in closing new capital. The filings are […]
A scourge of robocalls urging Americans to “stay safe and stay home” has gotten the attention of the FBI and the New York attorney general over concerns of voter suppression. The brief message, which doesn’t specifically mention Election Day, has prompted New York Attorney General Letitia James to launch an investigation into the matter. James announced […]
Yes, there’s a high-stakes presidential election underway, but tech news doesn’t stop completely: Chinese regulators pull the brakes on Ant Group’s IPO, Spotify adds standalone streaming support on Apple Watch and PayPal outlines its plans for 2021. This is your Daily Crunch for November 3, 2020. The big story: China postpones Ant Group IPO The […]
Waymo has taken a dual approach to operations on Election Day. In San Francisco, where Waymo has been testing its autonomous vehicles, driving operations have been temporarily suspended Tuesday and Wednesday “out of an abundance of caution.” Its fleet of autonomous vehicles was moved Monday to nearby Mountain View, according to an internal email first […]
Hustle Fund, a pre-seed fund built by former operators and founders, has raised $30 million for a new fund, per SEC filings. Hustle Fund first filed paperwork for this fund, its second to date, in May 2019 with intention to raise $50 million. Its inaugural investment vehicle closed at $11.5 million. Hustle Fund was unable […]
Listen chief, it’s Election Day in the United States. You know that, I know that. Everyone knows that — and in the off-chance anyone wasn’t clued in to the fact, the last few weeks have offered a non-stop barrage of reminders to vote. Today. Tuesday. November 3. 2020. It seems the last one to find […]
Spotify confirmed today it has begun to roll out support for standalone streaming on its Apple Watch app. The feature had been spotted in testing back in September, and arrives roughly two years after Spotify debuted its dedicated Apple Watch app. With support for standalone streaming, users can listen to Spotify music or podcasts via […]
As gaming’s popularity reaches epic heights, venture investors’ activity in the industry doesn’t seem to equate with the overall size of the games market. Spurred by an unreal year where traditional entertainment has been upended by the COVID-19 pandemic and consumers find unity in virtual worlds like Animal Crossing and Fortnite, gaming has never been […]
Robotic vacuum giant iRobot this week sent warnings to select owners of the Roomba i7+, noting that the Clean Base docking station has the potential to malfunction and short circuit. According to iRobot, concern stems from “very rare cases,” wherein liquids are deposited into the Clean Base Automatic Dirt Disposal unit. “We learned that certain Roomba i7+ […]
News today that Ant Group’s IPO is suddenly on hold in both Shanghai and Hong Kong caused a sell-off of Alibaba shares. This afternoon, equity in sister-company Alibaba is off around 8% in the wake of the delayed offering and news that Ant had run into regulatory issues with the Chinese government. Ant was spun […]
Hulu is bringing its Watch Party social viewing feature to its livestreamed election news coverage, provided via its existing partnership with ABC News Live. The company announced today it will allow its on-demand customers to test Watch Party while watching ABC’s “Election 2020” coverage via the Hulu.com website. The new co-viewing feature lets Hulu users […]
When Quibi announced it was shutting its doors recently after raising $1.75 billion, it begged an obvious question: If the original idea didn’t work, why not adjust its model or do something completely different while it still had capital? It wouldn’t have been the first company to decide to shift gears. Perhaps because of the […]
NBC News has updated its iOS app with a new feature that brings election news, data and results directly to your iPhone or iPad home screen. With the app’s new “Decision 2020” iOS 14 widget, you can customize a series of widgets with information related to early voting stats, polls, as well as the current […]
