Welcome, of us, to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s common e-newsletter masking this week’s noteworthy happenings in tech.
TikTok’s destiny within the U.S. appears to be like unsure after President Joe Biden signed a invoice that included a deadline for ByteDance, TikTok’s mother or father firm, to divest itself of TikTok inside 9 months or face a ban on distributing it within the U.S. Ivan writes about how the impression of TikTok bans in different nations might sign what’s to return stateside.
Meanwhile, fallout from the Change Healthcare hack continues. Change, a subsidiary of medical health insurance big UnitedHealth, confirmed this week that the ransomware assault focusing on it earlier this yr resulted in an enormous theft of Americans’ non-public well being data, presumably masking “a substantial proportion” of Americans.
And Tesla income dropped 55% because the EV firm contends with elevated strain from hybrid carmakers. The automaker’s development plan is centered round mysterious cheaper EVs scheduled to launch subsequent yr — in addition to maybe a robotaxi. But a recall on the Cybertruck for defective accelerator pedals definitely received’t assist in the interim.
Lots else occurred. We recap all of it on this version of WiR — however first, a reminder to join to obtain the WiR e-newsletter in your inbox each Saturday.
News
Amazon grocery plan: Amazon launched a brand new limitless grocery supply subscription within the U.S. The plan, which prices $9.99 monthly for Amazon Prime customers, comes with free deliveries for grocery orders over $35 throughout Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market and different native grocery retailers.
California drones grounded: In extra Amazon information, the tech big confirmed that it’s ending Prime Air drone supply operations in Lockeford, California. The Central California city of three,500 was the corporate’s second U.S. drone supply website after College Station, Texas; Amazon didn’t provide any particulars across the setback.
Fisker plans layoffs: Fisker says it’s planning extra layoffs lower than two months after reducing 15% of its workforce, because the EV startup scrambles to boost money to remain alive. Fisker expects to hunt chapter safety inside the subsequent 30 days if it may possibly’t provide you with the cash.
Stripe growth: Among a slew of different bulletins at its Sessions convention in San Francisco, Stripe stated that it’ll be de-coupling funds from the remainder of its monetary providers stack. Given that Stripe beforehand required companies to be funds clients with the intention to use any of its different merchandise, that’s a giant change.
Analysis
Rabbit arms on: Brian writes concerning the R1, the primary gizmo from AI startup R1. The $199 worth level, touchscreen and funky aesthetic from storied design agency Teenage Engineering make the R1 way more accessible than Humane’s Ai Pin, he concludes.
Lab-grown diamonds: Pascal, an Andreessen Horowitz-backed startup, claims it may possibly make high-end jewellery accessible through the use of lab-grown diamonds chemically and bodily akin to pure diamonds however that value one-twentieth of the value.
AI poetry: An experiment known as the Poetry Camera — an precise, bodily digicam — combines open supply know-how with playful design and creative imaginative and prescient. Instead of merely capturing photographs, the Poetry Camera arranges thought-provoking, AI-generated stanzas based mostly on the visuals it encounters.
Rippling deep dive: Connie interviewed Parker Conrad, the CEO of workforce administration startup Rippling, on the corporate’s new $200 million funding spherical, new San Francisco lease (the second largest to be signed within the metropolis this yr) and extra.