Monday, April 1, 2024

Welcome to TechCrunch AM! This morning, we've got some significant news about venture capital, notes on shifts in the cloud industry, and a big cybersecurity scoop that's well worth your time (especially if you are an AT&T customer). Also in the mix are some neat startups and a nifty climate forecasting tool. — Alex

TechCrunch Top 3

1. GGV Capital splits into Asia and U.S. brands: The firm was known for its cross-border investing between the United States and China, and it has now settled on new names for its U.S.- and Asia-focused firms. GGV's split was announced about half a year ago, but we recently learned that its Singapore-based operation will be called Granite Capital, while its U.S.-based team will work under the name Notable Capital... Read More

2. Cloud providers bend on egress fees: As the reality of a multi-cloud world sets in, Amazon, Microsoft and Google are relaxing their fees for moving your cloud data off their platforms. Egress fees, as the charges are known, were never popular and were built to make it harder to swap vendors. Now, thanks to a stricter regulatory environment and consumer backlash, things are changing... Read More

3. Microsoft to offer Teams separately from Office: After years of bundling Teams with Office, Microsoft is moving to "introduce a new version of Microsoft 365 and Office 365 subscription service that excludes" the corporate chat service. Slack and Teams' other rivals will likely cheer the move, but this far into Teams' life, it seems that the bundling effort has already done its work... Read More

Morning Must Reads

AT&T resets account passcodes after data leak: AT&T is resetting millions of consumer passcodes that were dumped online after TechCrunch informed the company that the "the leaked data contained encrypted passcodes that could be used to access AT&T customer accounts." This is the first time that AT&T has acknowledged that the leaked data belongs to its customers, Zack Whittaker reports... Read More

Google Podcasts will soon be no more: Google wants users to swap their podcast subscriptions over to Yahoo Music. With the imminent demise of Google Podcasts, users that don't make the move before the company's eponymous podcasting service shuts down won't be able to access their subscriptions on the platform after its expiration date. Equitylisteners who use Google Podcasts, you know what to do! Read More

Would a TikTok ban boost Amazon? Many online retailers have been looking to leverage TikTok's reach to fuel their e-commerce business as an alternative to Amazon, but those dreams could be dashed if the U.S. Senate decides to approve the forced divestiture of TikTok's U.S. business. That could mean Amazon and other big marketplaces stand to benefit from the move... Read More

Iron Sheepdog is the best startup name I've seen in ages: I love it! And the name's not random, as the startup works in the short-haul trucking industry. Iron is a metal, just like what trucks are made out of, and sheepdogs move stuff around nearby, like sheep. So, it all makes sense (at least to Monday Morning Alex). The company just raised $10 million... Read More

Ember set sights on new horizons: Many people mocked Ember when it said it was releasing an expensive thermos. Then it sold more than 3 million units. Well done! Now, the company is taking its tech into an entirely new field: a temperature-controlled device for storing and transporting sensitive medications... Read More

Women in AI: TechCrunch's long-running series on women in the AI realm continued this weekend: We interviewed Kate Devlin of King's College, and Brandie Nonnecke of UC Berkeley... Read More

A MESSAGE FROM TECHCRUNCH

The TechCrunch AM Auction Opens Today

More than a quarter of a million users start their weekdays with TechCrunch AM. Want to talk to this engaged audience? TechCrunch's auction for Q3 and Q4 inventory opens today Monday, April 1. Email newsletter.auction@techcrunch.com for more information and to submit your bid.

Submit Your Bid

Around the Web

1. Is AI hype out-shouting AI progress? The FT has a fascinating interview with British AI expert Demis Hassabis about the state of AI today. Turns out, the progress of the tech is often drowned out by AI companies shouting about the tech and the money they're raising... Read More

2. Apple flexes podcasting might: If you want a promo in the top spots of Apple's podcast app, the best way to get featured might be to participate in Apple's subscription service, Semafor reports... Read More

3. Video game movies are big business: That's the takeaway from this WSJ report, which notes that movies based on video games earned more than $700 million at the U.S. box office last year... Read More

A MESSAGE FROM BRAINDATE

Braindate powers connections at TechCrunch Early Stage

Are you ready to network at TechCrunch Early Stage this year? Braindate is thrilled to be powering connections at the event.

More than your typical networking tool, Braindate turns events into knowledge-sharing feasts!

Braindate fosters knowledge-sharing conversations among people at events, communities, and organizations.

Learn from your peers and meet new people based on shared interests!

Learn about Braindate

Before You Go

News you can (sadly) use: An intrepid team of researchers at MIT have come up with a tool that lets you see how many days you can spend outside safely as the planet heats up. You can see how things will pan out from now till the year 2100, so here's hoping things get better soon, because for people in, say, Texas, they don't look very good... Read More