Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. Today we got the gang together — Natasha and Danny and Alex — to chat about the most recent IPOs in tech-land, namely debuts from Freshworks and Toast. TechCrunch has covered their pair of firms somewhat closely during their IPO run, as […]
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Robinhood muscles deeper into Coinbase’s territory with new crypto wallet feature
The fervor around Dogecoin delivered big revenues for stock-trading app Robinhood, and the company announced Wednesday that it’s wandering deeper down the crypto rabbit hole, sharing that it will soon begin testing crypto wallets for its users. The crypto wallets, which Robinhood says it will begin rolling out next month over time to users on […]
Syria sees spike in COVID-19 cases as fears grow of new wave
September 22, 2021 By Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) – Syria is facing a new surge in COVID-19 infections in both government-held areas and territory outside state control that could overwhelm the war-ravaged country’s fragile health system, aid workers, officials and medical sources said on Wednesday. Government health authorities said the number of cases reported in […]
Robinhood muscles deeper into Coinbase’s territory with new crypto wallet feature
The fervor around Dogecoin delivered big revenues for stock-trading app Robinhood, and the company announced Wednesday that it’s wandering deeper down the crypto rabbit hole, sharing that it will soon begin testing crypto wallets for its users. The crypto wallets, which Robinhood says it will begin rolling out next month over time to users on […]
Peter Beck says Rocket Lab actively prepared for interplanetary missions ‘from day one’
Rocket Lab long ago graduated from underdog launch provider to industry heavyweight (with funding to match). Now the company is planning to go to the moon, Mars and Venus in the next decade. But it may come as a surprise that the company planned to go beyond Earth’s orbit from the very beginning, as founder […]
Qikfox is on a mission to democratize the internet
Qikfox isn’t your average browser. Not only has it been built to protect consumers from the proliferation of online scams, but it’s also on a mission to democratize content publishing and bring it to the masses. Qikfox, which has already raised seed capital from longtime venture investor Tim Draper and is exhibiting at TechCrunch’s Startup […]
Evergrande debt troubles seem particular to China -U.S. Fed’s Powell
September 22, 2021 (Reuters) -U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that the debt problems of property developer Evergrande seem particular to China and that he did not see a parallel with the U.S. corporate sector. A potential default by Evergrande, Asia’s biggest junk-bond issuer, drove a steep selloff on Wall Street and […]
Fed’s Powell: Don’t assume Fed can thwart default fallout
September 22, 2021 By Dan Burns (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve may not be able to shield the economy and financial markets from the effects of a U.S. debt default, the central bank’s chief said on Wednesday as he urged Congress to raise the country’s debt limit to avoid that catastrophic risk. “It’s just very […]
BlackBerry beats quarterly revenue expectations on cybersecurity boost
September 22, 2021 (Reuters) -Canada’s BlackBerry Ltd beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter revenue on Wednesday as hybrid working trends drove demand for its cybersecurity and Internet of Things software products. U.S.-listed hares of the company were up 7.6% at $10.31 in extended trading. Firms such as BlackBerry are benefiting from an uptick in demand […]
Britney Spears’ attorney proposes that her conservatorship end this fall
September 22, 2021 By Lisa Richwine LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – An attorney for Britney Spears on Wednesday asked a Los Angeles judge to terminate the 13-year-old conservatorship that oversees her personal life and finances by the fall. In a filing submitted to Los Angeles Superior Court, lawyer Mathew Rosengart asked that the musician’s father, Jamie […]
AI luminary Kai-Fu Lee and sci-fi author Chen Qiufan predict the future in ‘AI 2041’
Where will today’s technologies lead us over the next 20 years, and what will an AI-infused world look like across the globe? Sinovation founder and AI thought leader Kai-Fu Lee and breakout sci-fi author Chen Qiufan (AKA Stanley Chen) make an educated guess in “AI 2041,” a set of 10 stories and 10 essays exploring […]
AI luminary Kai-Fu Lee and sci-fi author Chen Qiufan predict the future in ‘AI 2041’
Where will today’s technologies lead us over the next 20 years, and what will an AI-infused world look like across the globe? Sinovation founder and AI thought leader Kai-Fu Lee and breakout sci-fi author Chen Qiufan (AKA Stanley Chen) make an educated guess in “AI 2041,” a set of 10 stories and 10 essays exploring […]
Fed to release paper on central bank digital currency soon, Powell says
September 22, 2021 By Jonnelle Marte (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve will release research “soon” examining the costs and benefits of a central bank digital currency, or CBDC, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday. “We’re working proactively to evaluate whether to issue a CBDC and, if so, in what form,” Powell said in a […]
Facebook’s technology head Mike Schroepfer to step down
September 22, 2021 (Reuters) – Facebook Inc’s Mike Schroepfer said on Wednesday that he was stepping down as the company’s chief technology officer. Schroepfer said in a Facebook post https://ift.tt/3Aymcap that Andrew Bosworth, vice president of AR and VR technology at the social media company, will transition into the role in 2022. (Reporting by Chavi […]
Biden wants to keep working on police reform bill but willing to take executive action
September 22, 2021 WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden on Wednesday said the White House will continue to work with the U.S. Congress on police reform and he will also look into further executive actions he can take to help hold police officers accountable for breaking the law after negotiations in the Senate on reform […]
Polish broadcast regulator approves licence for U.S.-owned broadcaster
September 22, 2021 By Alicja Ptak WARSAW (Reuters) -Poland’s broadcasting regulator on Wednesday extended an operating licence for the popular U.S.-owned, anti-government news channel TVN24, but questioned if it had the right to continue operating, asking the government for legal clarity. Critics say TVN24 is a prime target in ruling party efforts to quash media […]
Exclusive-Echoes, uncertainty as Afghan pilots await U.S. help in Tajikistan
September 22, 2021 By Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S.-trained Afghan pilot was talking to Reuters on a smuggled cellphone from Tajikistan, where he is being held, when something strange happened – his voice started looping, repeating everything he had just said, word for word. His fiancee, an American nurse in Florida, was on […]
Britain’s financial watchdog ‘vigilant’ ahead of COVID furlough expiry
September 22, 2021 By Huw Jones LONDON (Reuters) – Regulators will monitor how Britain’s furlough scheme ends this month for signs of distress among consumers, the Financial Conduct Authority said on Wednesday. It also said it was ready to take more legal action to counteract an upturn in financial crime triggered by COVID-19. Britain rolled […]
Xiaomi says its devices do not censor users following Lithuania report
September 22, 2021 By Andrius Sytas VILNIUS (Reuters) – China’s Xiaomi Corp said on Wednesday that its devices do not censor users’ communications, a day after Lithuania’s Defence Ministry recommended that consumers avoid Chinese phones due to a censoring feature in the smartphone giant’s flagship phone. The censoring capability in Xiaomi’s Mi 10T 5G phone […]
GM names former U.S. auto safety chief to global regulatory post
September 22, 2021 By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) – General Motors Co on Wednesday named David Strickland, the former top U.S. auto-safety official who now serves as a senior Senate aide, as its regulatory affairs chief as the largest American automaker expands its electric vehicle plans. Detroit-based GM said it is tapping Strickland as vice […]