Tech

In the Netherlands, central heating boilers will be banned by 2026 and its government has incentivized the installation of heat pumps. Meanwhile, the U.K. government estimates that heating buildings accounts for 25% of the U.K.’s greenhouse gas emissions. It passed the Energy Security Bill, and is aiming to install 600,000 heat pumps a year by

Apple has devised a pocket-sized companion that (hypothetically) does it all: music, videos AND books, sans the nagging smartphone or clumsy smartwatch. Cupertino, you’re so close. In a patent application published recently by the U.S. Patent Office, Apple sketched out such a device, a headphone-case-meets-pocket-computer with a touchscreen display and the prerequisite guts for flicking

Roku has announced that the ad-supported Disney+ tier, Disney+ Basic, is now available to its users. When the ad-supported plan launched four months, many users were surprised to find that it wasn’t accessible on Roku. At the time, Disney told TechCrunch that was still in talks with Roku about reaching an agreement that suits both

As generative AI proliferates, it’s beginning to reach the ads we hear on podcasts and the radio. Startup Adthos this week launched a platform that uses AI to generate scripts for audio ads — and even add voiceovers, sound effects and music. Customers can optionally go in and edit the ads using a browser-based, multi-track

Lux Capital, known for investing in life science and frontier tech startups, is back in the market to fundraise for its latest vehicle — but this time without a dedicated late-stage entity. The firm is targeting over $1 billion for Lux Ventures VIII, according to meeting materials from the New Mexico State Investment Council (NM

The materials developer formerly known as ELeather has a new name and $18 million in fresh growth funding from some of the world’s fanciest brands. Now going by Generation Phoenix, the upcycler says its new investors include Coach parent Tapestry, Jaguar Land Rover and Dr. Martens, plus lead investor Material Impact and prior investor Hermès.

In an early FAFO test for Elon Musk, Germany could be set to fine Twitter for repeatedly failing to comply with a social media hate speech takedowns law, aka the NetzDG, which requires swift removal of illegal content like hate speech. The Federal Justice Office (BfJ) announced the move in a press release today —

TechCrunch Disrupt 2023 will have a whole new look this fall with one aim in mind: bring together investors, founders and technologists who have specific industry interests — all under one roof at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Disrupt has always been big. But this year we’re folding TC Sessions, the standalone industry events

U.S.-based savings and investing startup Acorns has acquired London-based GoHenry, a startup focused on providing money management and financial education services to 6-18 year-olds in an all-equity deal, the two companies announced today. The combined valuation of the company, as well as further financial terms, were not disclosed. When Acorns last raised funding, $300 million

After 25 years of extremely detailed reviews of digital cameras and accessories, the irreplaceable DPReview is being shut down by Amazon as the company proceeds with a new round of layoffs. DPReview was founded in 1998 in England, and bought by Amazon in 2010, which relocated the team to Seattle to be closer to its

Netflix is restructuring its film units and vowing to make fewer but better movies, according to a new report from Bloomberg, which Netflix partially confirmed. The report said the streaming giant is combining film units that produce small and midsize films, resulting in a handful of layoffs, including two longtime executives. Netflix told TechCrunch that

Welcome to the TechCrunch Exchange, a weekly startups-and-markets newsletter. It’s inspired by the daily TechCrunch+ column where it gets its name. Want it in your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here. Tel Aviv has the fifth most unicorn companies in the world. Yet, relatively little has been written outside of Israel about the major concerns

Welcome to Startups Weekly, a nuanced take on this week’s startup news and trends by Senior Reporter and Equity co-host Natasha Mascarenhas. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here. Reporter’s note: Before we get into this, thank you to the Startups Weekly readers who pointed out that last week’s link to my column was

It’s estimated that about a third of all food produced worldwide every year, which is approximately 1.3 billion tons, is estimated to be wasted. Aravita, a Brazilian artificial intelligence startup, thinks that supermarkets are the best place to start fixing this problem. Marco Perlman, co-founder and CEO, started the company with Aline Azevedo and Bruno

We’re an impatient bunch here at TechCrunch+, so while we await tidied quarterly venture reports from major startup databases, we’re also running our own queries to get early looks at the state of the fundraising world. As it’s the last day of the first quarter, we’re too antsy to wait any longer to see what’s

Sonos has two new speakers going on sale Tuesday, March 28, and they’re both significant new models that occupy a couple of key spots in the overall Sonos line-up: The Era 100 is essentially the replacement for the Sonos One, arguably the ‘default’ starter speaker for anyone looking to build out a Sonos system. The

When Netflix launched its ad-supported plan four months ago, there were a few devices that the plan didn’t support—Apple TV being one of them. Starting this week, the cheaper tier is available in the Netflix tvOS app. A Reddit user that goes by websgeisti noticed the update yesterday. The user noted that Netflix’s Basic with

As the global venture capital market contracts following a historic investing boom, the downturn impacts each startup market differently. While we’ve given the United States’ startup ecosystem most of our attention lately, it’s time to broaden our perspective. And narrow our focus. In the wake of Techstars’ decision to discontinue its Swedish accelerator program, TechCrunch+

It’s estimated that over $400 billion are spent annually to run customer contact centers around the world. To cut costs, in recent years, contact centers have embraced AI and automation; research from The Harris Poll indicates that 46% of customer interactions were already automated as of 2021. That’s good news for the vendors selling contact

Pity Donald Trump. He spent four years in office tearing up trade agreements and ranting about rewriting old ones, all to little avail. Now, a key U.S. climate law is doing more to change the dynamics of international trade than any blustering and bullying ever did. The Inflation Reduction Act has been hailed as a

Google can add another antitrust investigation to its stack. This one has been opened by Spain’s competition authority, the CNMC, which said today it’s concerned about possible anti-competitive practices related to the licensing of news content by local publishers. In a press release it said it is investigating “a series of practices that could involve

Have you ever wanted an iPhone case that looks like a pair of Crocs? You know, the ugly-but-comfy slip-on shoes covered in holes that you can optionally decorate with colorful push-pins? You haven’t? Well, apparently some designer at smartphone case maker Casetify saw a pair of Crocs and thought to themselves, wow, that would make

Walt Disney Co. has eliminated its metaverse division as part of staff cuts that promise to reduce head count by around 7,000 across the company over the next two months, reports The Wall Street Journal. CEO Bob Iger said Monday that those layoffs would begin this week. Disney’s next-generation storytelling and consumer experiences unit, the

To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3 p.m. PDT, subscribe here. Happy Monday Crunch, our Crunch-a-licious friends! Our favorite part of Lorenzo’s excellent piece on how the feds busted a cybercrime forum: “​​In a spectacular snafu on the hacker’s part . . .

The concept of “shoppable videos” has been around for at least a decade, with some big companies, like Showroom, Firework, Vimeo, YouTube and Klarna getting in on the action. There have also been startups embracing this space that have received some attention from investors in the past, like Cinematique, which gave it a go in

The reports issued by the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are usually grim affairs. But even by that standard, last week’s seemed particularly bleak. The upshot is that the world has already warmed by 1.1 degrees Celsius, and we’re on track to hit 1.5 degrees Celsius — the “safe” limit set by the Paris

The UK’s antitrust watchdog has narrowed its probe of Microsoft’s $68.7 billion bid for video game giant, Activision Blizzard, the regulator said today. In February, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) provisionally concluded the merger “could harm U.K. gamers” through higher prices, fewer choices or less innovation. Today it updated its position, saying new evidence

Framework is one of a few companies leading the charge against disposable electronics, in particular laptops. It just showed off some new models, but also a unique case that you can slot your old parts into to form a new (old) desktop or home media PC. After reviewing last year’s Framework 13 and finding it

Basketball can be played just about anywhere and by anyone in the U.S. and now many other parts of the world, thanks to a confluence of factors that lower a lot of barriers: ubiquitous hoops set up in parks, schools, driveways and backyards; you can play with one or many; and the only other equipment

To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3 p.m. PDT, subscribe here. Friday Crunch is here! Friday Crunch is here! We are ready to go sit by the proverbial pool with an umbrella-ed drink in it. (Realistically, it’ll be the TV and a beer,