Technology

Europe takes another big step towards agreeing an AI rulebook

June 14, 2023

The European Parliament has voted to confirm its negotiating mandate for the AI Act — hitting a major milestone which unlocks the next stage of negotiations toward a pan-EU rule-book for artificial intelligence. Parliamentarians backed an amended version of the Commission proposal that expands the rule-book in a way they say is aimed at ensuring […]

Europe takes another big step towards agreeing an AI rulebook by Natasha Lomas originally published on TechCrunch

Paro raises $25M to match freelance financial experts with firms

June 14, 2023

In 2015, Michael Burdick and Dan Wywrot, who’d spent years working at large accounting firms, founded a startup — Paro — to deliver finance and accounting solutions to businesses through a network of freelance talent. They say they were inspired by the lack of flexibility in traditional accounting firms to choose which projects to work […]

Paro raises $25M to match freelance financial experts with firms by Kyle Wiggers originally published on TechCrunch

Informatica acquires Privitar, once valued at $400M, to expand its data management stack

June 14, 2023

One of the recurring themes in the area of enterprise IT these days is consolidation, and today we’re getting another dose of it in the area of enterprise data management. Informatica — which provides a set of tools to enterprises to analyze, manage and share data across their organizations — is acquiring Privitar, a startup […]

Informatica acquires Privitar, once valued at $400M, to expand its data management stack by Ingrid Lunden originally published on TechCrunch

The Download: heat pumps for everyone, and fake Twitter accounts in China

June 14, 2023
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. The surprising truth about which homes have heat pumps The news: Heat pumps, which use electricity to both heat and cool homes, are now just as common in low-income households in the US…

Europe warns it might break up Google’s adtech empire

June 14, 2023

The European Commission has signalled it could be preparing to break up Google’s adtech business. Speaking during a press conference this afternoon, EU EVP Margrethe Vestager, the bloc’s competition chief and head of digital strategy, announced it has sent a formal statement of objections to Google for suspected anti-competitive conduct in its adtech business. If […]

Europe warns it might break up Google’s adtech empire by Natasha Lomas originally published on TechCrunch

Hundreds of subreddits plan to go dark indefinitely after Reddit CEO’s internal memo

June 14, 2023

More than 300 subreddits, including popular ones like r/aww, r/music r/videos, and r/futurology, plan to go dark indefinitely after a large protest against Reddit’s API changes ends on June 14. This means users won’t be able to access these communities during this blackout. This step was announced after The Verge reported that in an internal […]

Hundreds of subreddits plan to go dark indefinitely after Reddit CEO’s internal memo by Ivan Mehta originally published on TechCrunch

Vodafone and Three plan to merge in the UK in a $19B deal (if regulators approve)

June 14, 2023

The mobile market in Europe and the U.K. — once orchestrated to be ripe ground for competition — has been on a long-term course of consolidation, and the latest chapter in that story was made official today. Vodafone Group and Hutchison Group have announced a plan to merge their U.K. carriers, respectively the eponymous Vodafone […]

Vodafone and Three plan to merge in the UK in a $19B deal (if regulators approve) by Ingrid Lunden originally published on TechCrunch

Truecaller reintroduces call recording for premium users

June 14, 2023

Caller identity app Truecaller has introduced call recording on both iOS and Android. While restrictions on both operating systems prevent apps from recording calls natively, Truecaller is getting around it by calling a dedicated recording line. On Android, users can directly use Truecaller’s dialer to start a recording call. If they are using another dialer, […]

Truecaller reintroduces call recording for premium users by Ivan Mehta originally published on TechCrunch

The surprising truth about which homes have heat pumps

June 14, 2023
Heat pumps are having a surprisingly equitable moment in the spotlight. Using electricity, heat pumps can both heat and cool homes. And according to new research, the appliances are now just as common in low-income households in the US as they are in wealthier homes. That pattern is unusual among consumer climate technologies, many of…

One Future Football’s virtual worldwide soccer league launches with backing from Blackbird

June 14, 2023

Founded in Melbourne, One Future Football (1FF) bills itself as the “world’s first global soccer league,” and it’s goal is to attract first-time soccer fans. It launches today with more than 250 CGI generated players, who have backstories created so all fans have someone they can relate to (for example, there are players with diabetes […]

One Future Football’s virtual worldwide soccer league launches with backing from Blackbird by Catherine Shu originally published on TechCrunch