TikTok has reached a deal to cede a substantial portion of its U.S. operation to a group of American investors, thus ending a years-long tussle in which the federal government has sought to force the platform to do just that. The new partnership is described as a “new TikTok U.S. joint venture” in an internal … Read more
Instacart will pay $60 million in refunds to settle allegations by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that it deceived consumers with false advertising. The federal agency alleged Instacart misled consumers with unlawful tactics, causing them to pay higher fees while also denying refunds. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) stated Instacart’s ‘free delivery’ claims are misleading … Read more
Ethereal Exploration Guild, an Indian spacetech startup better known as EtherealX — developing a fully reusable medium-lift launch vehicle — is close to securing about $21 million in a new funding round co-led by TDK Ventures, with Accel among the participants, TechCrunch has learned. Initially planned as a $15 million Series A, the round has … Read more
Like pretty much every other tech company in existence, Adobe has leaned heavily into AI over the past several years. The software firm has launched a number of different AI services since 2023, including Firefly — its AI-powered media-generation suite. Now, however, the company’s full-throated embrace of the technology may have led to trouble, as … Read more
According to Reuters, Instacart is currently getting the regulatory equivalent of a throat-clearing from the FTC, which has sent the grocery delivery platform a civil investigative demand regarding its AI-powered pricing tool, Eversight. Put another way, the agency wants to know why some people are paying substantially more for their organic granola than others. The … Read more
Billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the next administrator of NASA. The private astronaut and founder of the Shift4 payments processing platform will now be in charge of an agency that faces great uncertainty under President Trump. Isaacman’s confirmation comes a little over a year after Trump nominated him. … Read more
Another day, another nine-figure round for a nuclear startup. Radiant Nuclear said today that it has raised more than $300 million, just one day after Last Energy said it had raised $100 million. Three weeks ago, X-energy raised $700 million, and in August, Aalo Atomics raised $100 million. Heck, Radiant itself raised $165 million just … Read more
Google is expanding its push into consumer finance in India with the launch of a UPI-linked credit card, betting on a country of more than 1.4 billion people where fewer than 50 million currently hold a credit card. On Wednesday, Google entered India’s growing co-branded credit card market with the launch of Flex by Google … Read more
Monzo chief executive TS Anil was asked to step down by the fintech’s board amid concerns over international expansion and his post-IPO commitment, according to reporting from the Financial Times. The FT reports that tensions built between Anil and the board before October’s somewhat unexpected announcement that former Google executive Diana Layfield would take over … Read more
It’s nice to remember that not everything on the internet needs to be a subscription-based platform with ads. On WikiFlix, a Netflix-inspired archive of public domain films, you can watch movies like “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Noseferatu” for free. You don’t even have to make an account! Crazy, right? A project of Wikipedia’s volunteer … Read more
