Techcrunch

Sony unveils revamped PlayStation Plus; Amazon Glow connects family members one story at a time; TikTok, GIPHY partner on video creation tool Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pinterest to invest an additional $1.2 million in its Creator Fund for underrepresented groups; Spotify puts its Podz acquisition to use with test of new podcast discovery feature; TikTok is testing a ‘watch history’ feature to make it easier to uncover lost videos Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

EU, US come to tentative data deal; Europe says yes to messaging interoperability as it agrees on major new regime for Big Tech; Instacart reduces its valuation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

App ecosystem growth continued in Q1; Coinbase pushes further into India; Instacart turns to software; The latest in Startup news Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

YouTube announces ad-supported TV shows; Microsoft wants you to build your next game in the cloud; Instagram gets down with chronological feeds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Twitter leads call for EU lawmakers to ‘think beyond Big Tech'; New Twitch appeals portal lets users monitor and object to account bans; Microsoft improves its AI translations with Z-Code; The latest in the world of startups Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is the e-commerce business slowing?; ComiXology and the digital revolution in comics; A lawsuit against Grubhub; The latest startup news Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello and welcome to Daily Crunch for Friday, March 18, 2022! Another week is behind us, which means that it’s time to sit back and read the last tranche of startup and technology news. For those of you building, we just announced that Sequoia’s Jess Lee is coming to Early Stage to chat about landing your first investor, and we’ll have a bevy of VCs at our mobility-themed event that should rock, and, since we’re talking moving about, roll. – Alex Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amazon has closed its $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM; Maserati plans to launch a battery-electric version for each model in its portfolio by 2025; says it will begin testing new content tools designed to give advertisers control Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The iPad Air is more powerful than ever; Tesla has idled its Shanghai factory due to COVID-19; Meta is now adding parental supervision tools Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Intel is planning a huge European investment; Facebook will be paying a token fine for a General Data Protection Regulation breach; Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security is warning against the use of Kaspersky cybersecurity software Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mask unlock is finally live on iPhone; Ford is accelerating plans to sell more electric vehicles in Europe; Instagram is now blocked in Russia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

EU to investigate state use of spyware; YouTube is now blocking Russia state-affiliated media globally; Russia says it will block Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Google adds Air Raid Alerts to Android phones in Ukraine; Google suspends Play store billing, YouTube payments in Russia; Chris Dixon, Marc Andreessen back $30M fund exclusively investing in NFT art Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amazon suspends Prime Video in Russia; Developer tools are not worth infinite money; Swiggy preps for huge IPO Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Google is acquiring security intelligence firm Mandiant for $5.4B; Instagram warns users who share Russian state media, hides following lists in Russia and Ukraine; Apple TV+ to stream weekly Major League Baseball games in its first live sports deal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Google says Chrome on macOS is now faster than Safari; Apple suspends Search Ads on the Russian App Store ‘until further notice;’ Uber boosts Q1 profit guidance as the world gets moving again Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Microsoft halts all new sales in Russia; Disney+ is getting an ad-supported subscription tier later this year; Apple Maps now displays Crimea as part of Ukraine to viewers outside of Russia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Spotify shutters Russia office indefinitely in response to Ukraine invasion; Rivian CEO walks back price hike for any customers who preordered before March 1; SpaceX successfully launches 47 Starlink satellites Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amazon to close 68 physical retail locations, including Amazon Books and 4-star stores; Apple’s next event is March 8 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices