Hello, lovely folks, and welcome to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s regular newsletter that highlights top tech news from the past week (or more). If you haven’t already, sign up here to get WiR delivered to your inbox every Saturday.
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Reddit’s CEO lashed out: Reddit CEO Steve Huffman isn’t backing down from protests over API changes made by the platform, writes Ivan. In interviews with The edge, NBCNews And NPRHuffman defended the company’s business decisions to charge third-party apps, saying the API was not designed to support those customers.
Subreddits go dark: In Reddit-related news, over 300 subreddits, including popular ones like r/aww, r/music r/videos, and r/futurology, went dark – preventing users from accessing it – indefinitely after a large protest against Reddit’s API changes ends on June 14. Over the past few days (June 12-14), thousands of subreddits have joined in solidarity to protest Reddit’s aforementioned API changes, which could potentially shut down many third-party apps. .
Twitter expelled: Twitter owes its Boulder, Colorado landlord three months’ rent and a judge has approved the eviction of the tech giant from its office there, according to court documents. Since its takeover by Elon Musk, Twitter’s business has more or less fallen into disarray, with numerous reports of unpaid bills.
Carvana collapses: The big Carvana rally now looks more like a dot on the radar, write Harri and Alex. The company has raised billions of dollars in equity and debt financing since its launch in 2013, and it has bought a few startups, namely Car360 and Adesa. But through it all, the company has yet to record a real win.
Ransomware gang lists victims: Clop, the ransomware gang responsible for exploiting a critical security vulnerability in a popular enterprise file transfer tool, has begun listing the victims of the mass hacks, including a number of banks and companies. American universities. Since late May, the Russia-linked ransomware gang has been exploiting the security flaw in MOVEit Transfer, a tool used by corporations and businesses to share large files over the Internet.
Check skin conditions with Google Lens: Google is improving Google Lens, its computer vision app that displays information about objects it identifies, with a useful new feature. The lens can now show skin conditions similar to those you might see on your own skin, such as moles and rashes, from an uploaded photo.
Minimum Wage for NYC Delivery Drivers: New York City has established a new minimum wage for food delivery people who deliver for platforms like Uber Eats, DoorDash, Grubhub and Relay. This should be a historic victory for site workers, but Rebecca writes that delivery people and companies are unhappy about it.
YouTube allows more users to monetize: YouTube is reducing creator access to monetization tools under the YouTube Partner Program (PPY). Specifically, the company is extending its affiliate program to US-based creators who are already part of the YPP and have over 20,000 subscribers.
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TechCrunch’s collection of podcasts is the gift that keeps on giving – although this writer might be a little biased. Equity was down this week, but The TechCrunch Podcast revisited Inside Startup Battlefield, the four-part series that takes you behind TechCrunch’s competitive Startup Battlefield.
Findmeanwhile, featured Amy Brown, co-founder and CEO of Authenticx, a Midwestern startup that helps insurance companies and medical organizations extract data from their call centers using AI.
And on Chain reactionPatrick Kaminski, Director of Digital Innovation for web3 and metaverse at L’Oréal, and Manon Cardiel, Head of Strategic Planning and Partnerships within web3 and metaverse at L’Oréal, spoke about their experiences in the burgeoning blockchain space.
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TC+ subscribers get access to in-depth commentary, analysis and polls, which you know if you’re already a subscriber. If not, consider signing up. Here are some highlights from this week:
Corporate America bets on AI: Hype or not, the potential of AI has seduced tech companies, and companies large and small have begun to bet heavily on efforts that leverage AI in some way to boost their growth to new heights. Alex and I are investigating.
Small VCs have an impact on diversity: Smaller funds — especially those with $50 million or less in assets under management — are helping usher in a new wave of diversity in venture capital. As Dominic writes, the latest generation of investors come from historically neglected or marginalized communities who create funds and then reinvest in those funds.
