The TechCrunch Podcast

The TechCrunch team made the hard choice to stop production on this show but we encourage everyone who has enjoyed listening to Darrell break down the week's top stories to go check out and subscribe to  Equity, which comes out every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and covers the numbers and nuance behind the headlines.

Credits: The TechCrunch Podcast is produced by Maggie Stamets, hosted by Darrell Etherington, and edited by Kell. 

Darrell called it last October: Meta has built their own Twitter dupe, Threads, and it’s going pretty well so far with 30 million signups in the first 24 hours. Of course, this is a Meta product, so the platform isn’t perfect with it’s non-chronological timeline and security issues. This week we’re hearing from TechCrunch’s Taylor Hatmaker and Morgan Sung on Threads’ staying power and how Meta nailed the timing of this launch.

Articles from the episode:

• Twitter limits the number of tweets users can read amid extended outage
• Twitter silently removes login requirement for viewing tweets
• DoorDash offers delivery workers hourly rate, but there’s a catch
• Meta’s Threads app is a privacy nightmare that won’t launch in EU yet
• Threads passes 30M sign-ups in less than 24 hours
• Meta’s Threads app is a privacy nightmare that won’t launch in EU yet

The TechCrunch Podcast posts every Friday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcasts: Equity, Found and Chain Reaction.

Credits: The TechCrunch Podcast is produced by Maggie Stamets, hosted by Darrell Etherington, and edited by Kell. 

hein invited several fashion influencers to its facilities in China and, surprising no one but Shein and the influencers who took the trip, the internet isn’t thrilled with the viral factory tours. Shein doesn’t appear to think this latest press is bad, though, as they filed confidentially for a US IPO this week. This week Darrell is talking with Amanda Silberling about why Shein is on the "sheouts."

Articles from the episode:

• How Shein’s influencer trip to a Chinese factory backfired
• Netflix quietly axes its basic plan in Canada
• Unicorn social app IRL to shut down after admitting 95% of its users were fake
• DeepMind claims its next chatbot will rival ChatGPT
• LetMeSpy, a phone tracking app spying on thousands, says it was hacked

The TechCrunch Podcast posts every Friday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcasts: Equity, Found and Chain Reaction.

Credits: The TechCrunch Podcast is produced by Maggie Stamets, hosted by Darrell Etherington, and edited by Kell. 

It’s rare for all of a company’s users to turn against it in such an intense way, but Reddit has managed to alienate all of their users at once. After a recent announcement that the company will no longer be offering their API for third-party apps, users have closed ranks and made the site virtually unusable. This week guest-host Haje Kamps talks with TechCrunch Sr. Reporter Morgan Sung about whether there is room for compromise between the moderators who keep the site running, third-party apps that users love, and the profit-motivated Reddit management team.

Articles from the episode:

• A whistleblower raised safety concerns about OceanGate’s submersible in 2018. Then he was fired.
• Volkswagen’s breakthrough could spark a battery manufacturing gold rush
• WhatsApp introduces feature to automatically silence calls from unknown numbers
• Netflix launches website based on the fictional streaming service from ‘Black Mirror’
• Hundreds of subreddits plan to go dark indefinitely after Reddit CEO’s internal memo
• Reddit communities adopt alternative forms of protest, as the company threatens action on moderators
• Hackers threaten to leak 80GB of confidential data stolen from Reddit

The TechCrunch Podcast posts every Friday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcasts: Equity, Found and Chain Reaction.

.

Credits: The TechCrunch Podcast is produced by Maggie Stamets, hosted by Darrell Etherington, and edited by Kell. 

This week we're revisiting Inside Startup Battlefield,  the four-part series that takes you behind TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield competition. If you haven't already be sure to get your tickets to TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco on September 19-21. Save an additional 15% with promo code CRUNCH. Visit techcrunch.com/disrupt to learn more.

In this episode, our host and Startup Battlefield Editor Neesha Tambe breaks down how the Battlefield companies are selected for the TechCrunch Disrupt stage. Then we take a deep dive into what makes a pitch-perfect with pitch coach and TechCrunch writer Haje Jan Kamps and Startup Battlefield judge and VC Nisha Dua. You’ll also hear from: Julia Somerdin from Labby, Young-Jae Kim and Tara Peters from Anthill, Quddus Pativada from Digest AI, Blessing Adesiyan from Mother Honestly, Hikari Senju from Omneky, Mitch Tolson from Ally Robotics, Elizabeth Lawler from App map, Aaron Hall from Intropic materials. Sheeba Dawood from Minerva. 

The TechCrunch Podcast posts every Friday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcasts: Equity, Found and Chain Reaction.

Credits: The TechCrunch Podcast is produced by Maggie Stamets, hosted by Darrell Etherington, and edited by Kell. 

At WWDC this week, Apple revealed its new Vision Pro headset, a platform it described as the advent of spatial computing. The company clearly put a lot of work into building Vision Pro, and VisionOS, the software that powers it, but is it as revolutionary as Apple marketing would have you believe? Today, Darrell is joined by Brian Heater to talk about Apple Vision Pro, and what the future might hold for spatial computing.

Articles from the episode:

• Fidelity has cut Reddit valuation by 41% since 2021 investment
• Character.AI, the a16z-backed chatbot startup, tops 1.7M installs in first week
• First impressions: Yes, Apple Vision Pro works and yes, it’s good
• Apple WWDC 2023: Everything announced from the Apple Vision Pro to iOS 17, MacBook Air and more

The TechCrunch Podcast posts every Friday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcasts: Equity, Found and Chain Reaction.

Credits: The TechCrunch Podcast is produced by Maggie Stamets, hosted by Darrell Etherington, and edited by Kell. 

Many of the leading voices in AI have co-signed yet another ominous open letter warning that we should be“Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI." However, the voices shouting for regulation the loudest have us wondering how much of the AI fear-mongering is warranted, and how much is self-serving theater. This week Darrell is joined by Devin Coldewey to talk about  why AI doomerism is overblown, and why the blowhards doing the blowing want it that way.

Articles from the episode:

• OpenAI’s Altman and other AI giants back warning of advanced AI as ‘extinction’ risk
• EU and US lawmakers move to draft AI Code of Conduct fast
• A popular Android app began secretly spying on its users months after it was listed on Google Play
• Elizabeth Holmes is now behind bars: How we got here
• No ChatGPT in my court: Judge orders all AI-generated content must be declared and checked
• While parents worry, teens are bullying Snapchat AI
• Meta Quest 3 revealed

The TechCrunch Podcast posts every Friday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcasts: Equity, Found and Chain Reaction.

Credits: The TechCrunch Podcast is produced by Maggie Stamets, hosted by Darrell Etherington, and edited by Kell. 

This week Meta was ordered to suspend Facebook EU’s data flows and was hit with a fine of 1.2 billion Euros under GDPR. This fine has big implications for the way these companies will be allowed to collect and share data and it may lead to big changes - either in the laws that govern the use and protection of data, or in the way Meta and other tech giants operate at a fundamental level - or both. In this episode, Natasha Lomas is here to break down a years-long security saga that’s still unfolding.

Articles from the episode:

• Meta ordered to suspend Facebook EU data flows as it’s hit with record €1.2BN privacy fine under GDPR
• Twitter technical issues crash Ron DeSantis’s 2024 campaign announcement 
• The surgeon general’s advisory on risks of youth social media use could shift the conversation
• Virgin Orbit’s launch business sold for parts to Vast, Stratolaunch, and Rocket Lab
• OpenAI launches an official ChatGPT app for iOS

The TechCrunch Podcast posts every Friday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcasts: Equity, Found and Chain Reaction.

.

Credits: The TechCrunch Podcast is produced by Maggie Stamets, hosted by Darrell Etherington, and edited by Kell. 

We don’t spend a lot of time taking a deep-dive into the consumer experience of gaming. But one of the biggest stories in tech this week is the much-anticipated release of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for the Nintendo Switch. So Darrell is joined by Taylor Hatmaker to have a moderately spoiler-free conversation about what Link is getting up to.

Articles from the episode:

• Hardware startup Telly launches a free smart TV entirely supported by ads
• Telly, the ‘free’ smart TV with ads, has privacy policy red flags
• After a 29-year run, Vice files for bankruptcy
• Elon Musk appoints new Twitter CEO, NBCU’s Linda Yaccarino

The TechCrunch Podcast posts every Friday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcasts: Equity, Found and Chain Reaction.

Credits: The TechCrunch Podcast is produced by Maggie Stamets, hosted by Darrell Etherington, and edited by Kell. 

Tech conference season is here and this week TechCrunch reporters attended Google I/O to try the tech, attend talks and demos, and listen to Google CEO Sundar Pichai talk about how they’re integrating AI responsibly. On this episode, Darrell is joined by TechCrunch reporter Brian Heater to talk about all the hits from Google I/O.

Articles from the episode:

• Peloton recalls millions of exercise bikes after reports of injuries
• Shopify to reduce workforce by 20%, sells logistics business to Flexport for 13% equity
• How Shopify bungled its latest layoffs and made employees feel like NPCs
• IBM intros a slew of new AI services, including generative models

The TechCrunch Podcast posts every Friday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts  to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcasts: Equity, Found and Chain Reaction.

Credits: The TechCrunch Podcast is produced by Maggie Stamets, hosted by Darrell Etherington, and edited by Kell.