Amazon inks logistics deal with India’s post and railway services, announces SMB generative AI tool

Amazon’s march to the Indian market is taking to the rails and the mail. The e-commerce giant today announced new deals with India Post and Indian Railways to boost delivery for small businesses. At its SMB event Amazon Sambhav in New Delhi on Thursday, Amazon also unveiled new efforts to target D2C brands and showcased […]

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Samsung Galaxy A05 flashes new design in first leaked photos

Samsung Galaxy A05 has been doing the rounds in the rumor mill for the past month, and today the affordable smartphone appeared in its first photos. The device was certified by Anatel, the National Telecommunications Agency in Brazil, and the listing came with two photos revealing the front and back. The phone has a glossy panel with a stripe design in Black, while the front has an Infinity-U notch for the selfie camera. Samsung Galaxy A05 Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy A05 with a Helio G85 chipset that is limited to LTE connectivity. The phone's battery capacity is...

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Anker introduces some clever new travel chargers

As someone who travels a lot and writes about tech for a living, I’m perpetually on the look out for things that can ease electronic burden. Anker’s been a go-to for the past several years, for clever, quality accessories on the (relative) cheap. The firm launched a handful of portable accessories this week at IFA […]

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Tecno announces Phantom Ultimate rollable smartphone concept

Tecno unveiled the latest product of its R&D labs today - the rollable smartphone concept Phantom Ultimate. It expands sideways, increasing the display from 6.55” to 7.11” in 1.2-1.3 seconds. This second concept device by Tecno is very similar to the Vision V only without the folding part. The Phantom Ultimate has a single-drive motor system that expands the device at the press of a button, positioned on the top right side of the phone. When the device is rolled, it is a basic 6.55” smartphone, with the extra screen sitting on the back, acting as an Always-On...

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X, formerly Twitter, is now letting paid users hide their likes

Elon Musk-owned X, formerly Twitter, is now rolling out a feature for paid users to let them hide their likes. This comes after rival social networks Threads and Bluesky rolled out the ability for users to see their own likes in the past few weeks. Paid users on X now have a setting under profile […]

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Hyperproof, a compliance and risk management startup, raises $40M

Hyperproof, a software-as-a-service risk and compliance management company, today announced that it raised $40 million in a funding round led by Riverwood Capital with participation from Toba Capital, an early-stage VC firm. The tranche brings Hyperproof’s total raised to $66.5 million and “doubles” the company’s valuation from nine months ago, according to co-founder and CEO […]

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The Galaxy Z Fold5 Thom Browne special edition is coming on September 7

Last week Samsung teased a special Thom Browne edition of the Galaxy Z Fold5, now it has confirmed the reveal date – September 7. This comes with a post on X that shows a Z Fold5, though it appears to be a regular version of Samsung’s foldable. Thom Browne devices usually come with the designer’s trademark three color stripe. Have a look back a the Z Flip3 and Z Fold3 special editions, for example. This probably isn’t what the Z Fold5 Thom Browne edition will look like-news The phone is only part of the package. Previously, the Galaxy Z Fold3 and Z Fold2 special editions came...

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With Beijing’s greenlight, mobility unicorns Zeekr and WeRide inch closer to US IPOs

Six months ago, China’s securities authority announced a set of new rules to facilitate overseas IPOs of Chinese companies, allowing Beijing to tighten its grip on businesses seeking to sell shares abroad. Since then, companies have committed themselves to meeting these new requirements, and now news is surfacing that some have managed to receive regulatory […]

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Fairphone 5 specs leak: up to 8 years of support, new AMOLED display, more modules

Detailed information of the upcoming Fairphone 5 leaked, including the announcement date – tomorrow. The new model will be more powerful, more repairable, more durable and with longer support and, unfortunately, more costly. The Dutch phone company made an interesting choice for the chipset, it went with a Qualcomm QCM6490. That’s a chipset intended for embedded and industrial applications. In terms of performance it should be similar to the Snapdragon 778G. What makes it interesting is that Qualcomm offers long term software support – eight years or until 2031. Fairphone does its...

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Google Pixel 8 Pro leaks on Google Store

Google has not done its best to keep upcoming Pixel phones under wraps ahead of their announcements and the Pixel 8 Pro is no different. The Porcelain white version of the upcoming Google flagship was spotted on the Google Store for a brief time period which shows us yet another confirmation of its design. Google Pixel 8 Pro on Google Store While the image is not the best quality, we can see the updated unfied visor house the alleged 50MP main, 64MP ultrawide and 48MP telephoto modules. The cameras are housed next to the LED flash and the infrared temperature sensor which will...

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Google discontinues its Pixel Pass subscription, which combined phones and services

Google is discontinuing its Pixel Pass subscription service, which allowed people to get a Pixel phone combined with premium services including YouTube Premium, Google Play Pass, and YouTube Premium for a monthly fee. The company said on its support page — spotted first by 9to5Google — that it will stop offering purchases or renewals for […]

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4 ways to show customers they can trust your generative AI enterprise tool

Here are ways your generative AI organization can build as an open book while building trust with potential customers.

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Kuo: iPhone 15 Pro Max will be most popular due to exclusive periscope camera

According to analyst Ming-Chu Kuo, the iPhone 15 Pro Max will account for 35-40% of orders for the 15 series. He expects the 15 Pro Max to sell 10-20% better than the 14 Pro Max. Per his report, the biggest selling feature of the iPhone 15 Pro Max will be its exclusive access to a periscope zoom camera. He expects the iPhone 16 Pro to also have a periscope, greatly benefitting sales. Largan is reportedly the exclusive periscope module supplier for the iPhone 15 Pro Max. This is the same Largan that apparently supplies more than 60% of the periscope lenses for Huawei - the...

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Oppo Find N3 Flip becomes first triple-camera clamshell foldable

Oppo unveiled its latest clamshell foldable today with the Find N3 Flip. It comes as a refinement over last year’s Find N2 Flip with the big update this year being the Hasselblad camera system. There's an updated 48MP ultrawide module with a 114˚ field of view and a 47mm equivalent 32MP portrait lens with 2x optical zoom. The main camera is a 24mm equivalent 50MP unit with f/1.8 aperture and 1.0µm pixels and OIS. Oppo Find N3 Flip The 3.26-inch AMOLED cover screen remains the same in size but it gains more functionality allowing users to run all kinds of apps and widgets without...

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Huawei Mate 60 Pro debuts with three punch holes in the display

Huawei surprised everyone today and launched Mate 60 Pro without a huge teaser campaign or a major event. The new smartphone is already listed for pre-order at Vmall, the company’s online store in China, so local customers can book their units. The most interesting feature is the trio of punch holes in the display, where Huawei nested the selfie camera and the 3D ToF sensor. Aside from that, the phone is an evolutionary update over its predecessor. Huawei brought a big 6.82” 10-bit LTPO OLED screen with a 2720 x 1260 pixels resolution and 120 Hz adaptive refresh rate. The Mate 60 Pro...

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Byju’s says restructuring businesses

Three senior executives are leaving Byju’s as part of a restructuring at the edtech group, the most valuable Indian startup said Tuesday. Mukut Deepak, who led the classes 4-10 business; Himanshu Bajaj, head of the tuition centers, and Prathyusha Agarwal, Byju’s chief business officer are leaving the firm, the Bengaluru-headquartered startup said. Byju’s, valued at […]

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Realme C51's India launch date announced

Last week, Realme teased the launch of the Realme C51 in India. Today, the brand announced the C51 will launch in India on September 4. The Realme C51 is being touted as "Charging ka Champion" in India, meaning champion of charging. The C51 will support 33W SuperVOOC charging, which should fill its 5,000 mAh battery from flat to 50% in 28 minutes, assuming it is the same model available in some other countries. The rest of the specs of the Realme C51 launched outside India include the Unisoc Tiger T612 SoC, 4GB RAM, up to 12GB storage, and Android 13-based Realme UI T. It packs a...

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Reliance’s financial services unit to offer insurance, merchant lending

Jio Financial Services, the financial services unit of Mukesh Ambani-run Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, plans to expand to merchant lending and insurance, Ambani said at Reliance’s annual general meeting in a speech that is likely to have a repercussions for countless startups.

“JFS will massively increase financial services penetration by transforming and modernising them with a digital-first approach that simplifies financial products, reduces cost of service, and expands reach to every citizen through easily accessible digital channels,” he said.

“For tens of thousands of SMEs, merchants, and self-employed entrepreneurs, ease of doing business must mean ease in borrowing, investments, and payment solutions. JFS plans to democratise financial services for 1.42 billion Indians, giving them access to simple, affordable, innovative, and intuitive products and services.”

TechCrunch reported last week that Reliance was testing a sound box payment system at its campus. Analysts believe that the real allure of the sound box extends beyond its auditory alerts — it provides invaluable insights into merchant behaviors, facilitating the offering of loans based on this data.

The company will also enter the insurance segment, offering “simple, yet smart life, general and health insurance products through a seamless digital interface.” Jio Financial Services will explore partnerships with global players, he said.

“It will use predictive data analytics to co-create contextual products with partners and cater to customer requirements in a truly unique way,” he said.

Ambani’s comments offer peek into the strategic trajectory of Jio Financial Services, mere days subsequent to the lackluster inauguration of the financial entity onto the public market. Reliance’s discussion about the future plans of Jio Financial Services has been somewhat limited so far, except for its earlier announcement of a joint venture with BlackRock.

Jio Financial Services company structure (Image: Morgan Stanley)

Jio Financial Services owns 6.1% in Reliance. Ambani said JFS operates in a sector that is very capital intensive, and Reliance has made it one of the “world’s highest capitalised financial service platforms at inception.”

“There is unprecedented opportunity to transform the asset management industry by introducing a full-service tech-enabled asset manager with affordable and transparent investment products to meet the needs of every segment of society,” said Larry Fink, Chairman and chief executive of BlackRock, at Reliance’s event on Monday.

Jio Financial Services will also explore blockchain-based platforms and participation in central bank digital currency, he said.

Ambani added:

I have three reasons to be absolutely confident about JFS achieving tremendous success over the next few years.
1. The digital-first architecture of JFS will give it an unmatched head start to reach millions of Indians.
2. This is a highly capital-intensive business. Your Company has provided JFS with a strong capital foundation to build a best-in-class, trusted financial services enterprise and achieve rapid growth. Reliance has capitalised JFS with a net worth of Rs 1,20,000 crore to create one of the world’s highest capitalised financial service platforms at inception.
3. JFS is blessed with a very strong board, led by Shri K.V. Kamath, a veteran and most respected banker. A highly motivated leadership team is being built with a combination of financial industry experts and young leaders who are eager to take on big challenges.

Ambani to lead Reliance for five more years, children appointed to board in succession planning

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Report: Asus to discontinue Zenfone series

Asus started its Zenfone series back in 2014 and has followed up with regular releases reaching a total of 80 devices under the Zenfone lineup but it seems that may soon come to a close. A new report from Taiwanese media TechNews suggests that Asus is pulling the plug on the Zenfone series. The report cites people familiar with the matter who claim Asus is undergoing an organizational restructuring. The report states that Asus will discontinue its Zenfone division and will move those employees to the ROG Phone department. The restructuring process will also unfortunately result in...

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The battery business is booming and Zeekr kicks off it IPO roadshow

The Station is a weekly newsletter dedicated to all things transportation. Sign up here — just click The Station — to receive the newsletter every weekend in your inbox. Subscribe for free. 

Welcome back to The Station, your central hub for all past, present and future means of moving people and packages from Point A to Point B.

We have a lot to cover so let’s jump in. But wait! One note to share: These days, I’m a semi-regular guest on TechCrunch’s Equity Podcast, including an episode that aired Friday that covers robotaxis, Nvidia’s earning, plus Better.com and startups that are full of shit (you’ll get the joke if you listen).

Vamos.

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Want to reach out with a tip, comment or complaint? Email Kirsten at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com.

Reminder that you can drop us a note at tips@techcrunch.com. If you prefer to remain anonymous, click here to contact us, which includes SecureDrop (instructions here) and various encrypted messaging apps.

Deal of the week

The battery business keeps attracting capital.

Just take a look at Swedish lithium-ion battery producer Northvolt. The company raised around $1.2 billion in a convertible notes from BlackRock and various Canadian pension plans. Participants in the round included Goldman Sachs, Volkswagen, Baillie Gifford, Swedbank Robur, Singapore’s GIC and Hong Kong-based Chow Tai Fook Enterprises.

That cash will be used to build new factories in North America and Europe.

Northvolt has been on a bit of tear the past few years — even before the big battery boom really took off. The company has raised $9 billion in debt and equity since 2017, including $1.1 billion in convertible notes last year. The company has also secured more than $55 billion in orders from customers like BMW, Fluence, Scania, Volvo and Volkswagen.

The Northvolt deal gives me another chance to plug a collection of articles we put together earlier this month on the one-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act, including a look at how startups have benefited and a map that tracks all the battery factories in North America. Once Northvolt picks a location for this next factory, we’ll update the map.

Other deals that caught my attention …

Accure, a startup that uses AI to predict lithium-ion battery failures, raised $7.8 million in a Series A2 round led by Blue Bear Capital and HSBC Asset Management with participation from Riverstone Holdings and Capnamic Ventures.

Channel19, a startup that developed software for refrigerated trucking companies, raised $2.7 million in pre-seed and seed funding round led by Augment Ventures with participation by Accion Venture Lab, TMV, Overton Venture Capital and Refashiond Ventures. Several Silicon Valley and freight tech industry angels also participated, according to the company.

Electric Era, a startup founded by former SpaceX engineers that developed software and hardware to make EV charging stations faster and more reliable, raised $11.5 million in a Series A round led by HSBC’s asset management arm. Climate-tech fund Blackhorn, lithium-mining giant SQM and mobility-focused investor Proeza also participated.

NaaS Technology Inc., an EV charging service company in China, said it plans to acquire Charge Amps AB in a deal valued at $66.4 million.

Nickelytics, an advertising tech startup focused on rideshare, has been acquired by Texas-based venture capital group T72 Club Inc. Terms were not disclosed.

Zeekr, the Chinese EV maker under Geely Holdings, is kicking off its roadshow with investors ahead of its initial public offering, Reuters reported citing unnamed sources. Zeekr’s aim is a share sale that will push its valuation over $13 billion. Zeekr filed confidentially for an IPO back in December and raised $750 million in February. If Zeekr is successful and actually lists, this could be one of the largest Chinese IPOs in the past two years.

Chinese companies listing on U.S. exchanges haven’t had the smoothest of rides. Didi, which raised $4.4 billion in its June 2021 IPO,  ran up against Chinese regulators. The company delisted later that year. A few other Chinese companies, including Hesai are dipping their toes back in the U.S. IPO waters now that there is more regulatory clarity in both countries. Last year, the U.S. and China struck a deal that allows American officials to review audit documents of Chinese businesses that trade in the United States, an agreement expected to lower the likelihood of Chinese companies on U.S. exchanges delisting.

Notable reads and other tidbits

ADAS

Polestar plans to make Mobileye’s hands-off, eyes-off automated driving technology (called Chauffeur) available to owners of the upcoming Polestar 4 electric SUV coupe. The vehicle, which launched in China and will hit global markets in 2024, comes standard with Mobileye’s SuperVision advanced driver assistance system. Polestar plans to add Chauffeur at a later date, but did not specify when.

Tesla shareholders who sued the company for financial losses stemming from Elon Musk’s “funding secured” tweet in 2018 are set to receive compensation now that the case has been settled. The SEC said 3,350 eligible claimants will share in the $42.3 million payout.

Speaking of Tesla, CEO Elon Musk livestreamed a test drive of FSD Beta v12 — a yet-to-be-released version of its automated driving software (the video has since been posted on YouTube by a number of people). To be clear, this is not a self-driving car; it is ADAS that requires a human to be ready to intervene at any time. The 40-minute video showed the vehicle handling roundabouts and intersections and even some construction. At about the 19-minute mark Musk had to intervene and take control of the vehicle when it misread the traffic signal and tried to go through a busy intersection at the wrong time.

Autonomous vehicles

Baidu expanded its Apollo Go driverless ride-hailing service to cover trips to and from Wuhan Tianhe International Airport. The company now operates Apollo Go robotaxis in five cities in China.

Beep has partnered with self-driving software company Oxa (previously known as Oxbotica) to deploy autonomous vehicles in the United States.

Electric vehicles, charging & batteries

Jaguar Land Rover has found a use for its second-life Jaguar I-Pace batteries.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating whether Ford‘s 2022 recall of nearly 49,000 Mustang Mach-E electric vehicles sufficiently addressed issues and whether more vehicles should be included in the recall.

Gig economy

Uber is blaming high insurance rates for its decision to raise the minimum age requirement for new drivers in California to 25 years old. There are some caveats though.

People

General Motors’ Ultium Cells, the joint venture with LG Energy Solutions, reached an agreement with the United Auto Workers to increase pay for workers at its Ohio battery factory by an average of 25%.

Wu Xinzhou, the former vice president of autonomous driving at Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng, posted on social media site Weibo that he’s taken a job at Nvidia.

Disrupt!

Vroom vroom! TechCrunch Disrupt 2023, taking place in San Francisco on September 19–21, is where you’ll get the inside scoop on the future of mobility. Come and hear from today’s leading mobility entrepreneurs on what it takes to build and innovate for a more sustainable future. Save up to $400 when you buy your pass now through September 18, and save 15% on top of that with promo code STATION. Learn more.

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Week 34 in review: Galaxy S23 Ultra display and chipset detailed

The chipset that may power part of the Galaxy S24 lineup next year surfaced. It's the Exynos 2400 and it has a 10-core processor with a Cortex-X4 core running at 3.1GHz, two Cortex-A720 at up to 2.9GHz, another three Cortex-A720 running up to 2.6GHz, and four Cortex-A520 at up to 1.8GHz. It will also feature an upgraded Xclipse 940 GPU boasting twice as many graphics compute units with AMD's RDNA 2 tech. In other Galaxy S24 Ultra news, it will be able to reach a peak brightness of over 2,200 nits - up from the 1,750 nits of the current Ultra. Finally, rumor has it the Galaxy S24 Ultra...

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Never express your ‘use of funds’ slide as percentages

When investors look at a startup slide deck, they are looking for something very specific. Yes, they want to know if the team is great and the market is huge and the problem is worth solving and the solution makes sense. Of course. But another thing they are looking for is whether the founders understand the journey they are on.

If you step on the VC treadmill, you’re signing up for rapid, explosive growth. You have to: If you don’t, you don’t fit into the models of how VC works. And that’s OK — not every company is suitable for VC funding.

The other truth is that your funding amount includes a very literal deadline: If you run out of money, that’s the end of your company. So, before you run out of money, one of three things needs to happen:

• You have an exit event, which usually means getting acquired or going public through an IPO. The latter is more predictable than the former, and early-stage companies usually don’t have that as an option.
• You reach break-even and are able to operate the business from cash flow. In other words, you are making more money than you are spending.
• You raise another round of funding.

For early-stage companies, the first two options are off the table, which means you need to paint a compelling picture for another round of funding. That’s where startups often fall down. Here’s how to fix that.

This slide has two Texas-sized red flags. Can you tell what they are? Also: Yeah, I “designed” this slide. This is why I’m getting some help for the how it should be done example below. Image Credits: Haje Kamps/TechCrunch+

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Looking for your next book? These 9 authors have reading recommendations for you

What’s the hardest part of reading? More often than not, it’s picking a good book. “L’embarras du choix,” as we say in French: Presented with infinite options, it becomes very hard to make a decision. That’s why recommendations are so helpful.

And who’s best placed to recommend books than people who, you know, write books? With this in mind, TechCrunch+ contacted a handful of authors whose work is closely tied to tech and startups. We asked them a simple question: “What book have you read this summer that you think others might enjoy?”

We heard back from:

• Adam DuVander, author of “Technical Content Strategy Decoded”
• Phil Rosen, author of “Life Between Moments: New York Stories”
• Adi Polak, author of “Scaling Machine Learning with Spark: Distributed ML with MLlib, TensorFlow, and PyTorch”
• Andrew Lee Miller, author of “The Startup Growth Book: 50+ Proven Ways to Scale Your Business Without a Marketing Budget”
• David Kadavy, author of “Mind Management, Not Time Management: Productivity When Creativity Matters”
• Sarah E. Brown, author of “Lead Upwards: How Startup Joiners Can Impact New Ventures, Build Amazing Careers, and Inspire Great Teams”
• Zeke Faux, author of “Number Go Up: Inside Crypto’s Wild Rise and Staggering Fall”
• David Spinks, author of “The Business of Belonging: How to Make Community Your Competitive Advantage”
• Purna Virji, author of “High-Impact Content Marketing: Strategies to Make Your Content Intentional, Engaging and Effective”

From fiction to practical guides, from very recent books to a century-old one, here are their picks.

The responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

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Adam DuVander

After a recent book explaining why generic marketing approaches don’t work on software developers, developer marketer Adam DuVander is now back with “Technical Content Strategy Decoded,” a more actionable follow-on explaining what companies should and shouldn’t do.

Book recommendation: “The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles,” by Steven Pressfield

I re-read “The War of Art” this summer. Again. I return to this book because it describes the life of anyone creating anything — and that is most of us. Our greatest obstacle is not ourselves. Pressfield gives us a scapegoat in resistance and a game plan to transcend its grasp.

Phil Rosen

Phil Rosen is a journalist and the author of two books, “Everywhere But Home: Life Overseas as Told by a Travel Blogger” and “Life Between Moments: New York Stories,” a collection of 12 short stories about the Big Apple. 

Book recommendation: “Forever: A Novel,” by Pete Hamill

This is a brilliant novel about an immigrant from Ireland who arrives to New York in the 1700s, and is quickly granted immortality under one condition: He can never leave Manhattan.

It’s a beautiful, tragic story that’s effectively a history of Manhattan through one man’s eyes, and it’s similar to “Forrest Gump” in that he’s always in the right place at the right time through historical events.

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Better.com’s public market debut was Miserable.com

Welcome back to The Interchange, where we take a look at the hottest fintech news of the previous week. Better.com finally went public last week, and the stock’s performance was worse than expected. Affirm, on the other hand, saw its shares get a boost on the back of a better-than-expected earnings report. There was also a mega-raise, and an acquisition too. On another note, if you want to receive The Interchange directly in your inbox every Sunday, head here to sign up!

Better.com finally went public

The biggest fintech news of the week centered around Better.com’s no good, very bad public market debut. Or as my friend and colleague Alex Wilhelm described it, Better.com had a Miserable.com week.

To sum it up, digital mortgage lender Better.com made its public debut on August 24. To no one’s surprise, the stock wasn’t exactly a hit with public investors. In fact, it was a resounding bomb. As of Friday, August 25, the stock had closed a mere $1.19. Shares of SPAC partner, Aurora, were trading at $17.45 on Wednesday, before Better.com officially went public. This is a company that two years ago had planned to go public at a $7.7 billion valuation.

Now, we knew Better.com’s stock wouldn’t exactly perform well. But I’m not sure anyone expected it to be hovering at a share price that gave Better.com a market cap of just $19.14 million.

I had the opportunity to interview Vishal Garg, Better.com CEO and co-founder, a couple weeks ago in anticipation of the company’s going public via a SPAC merger with Aurora Acquisition Corp. I will tell you that after nearly two years of writing about the company’s multiple (and mostly botched) layoffs, all the various ways that Garg has managed to piss off former employees and execs alike, and the company’s swing from a big profit in 2020 to heavy losses in 2022 and beyond, I expected the interview to be a little awkward. The last time I had interviewed Garg was in 2020, when everyone and their brother was refinancing their homes and Better.com was raking in the cash. In the end, Garg was on his best behavior — exhibiting the charm and charisma that no doubt managed to help win over investors such as SoftBank, Activant Capital, Ping An Global Voyager Fund, Ally Financial and Citi, and others who collectively invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the company.

Some highlights of the interview included the following:

• Garg admitted he “had jitters” about the IPO.
• The executive also said he “had a lot of leadership training” and realized that he needed to treat his employees with the same kindness he was treating customers.
• Going public despite all of the company’s challenges was all about getting $550 million from SoftBank.
• Garg continued to tout the company’s technology (which even company naysayers will acknowledge is pretty darn good) and the hope that a housing market turnaround and mortgage rate decrease could work in its favor in 2024 should they both materialize.

On that note, on the same day that Better.com went public, the average 30-year mortgage rate jumped to 7.23%, marking a 22-year high, according to Yahoo Finance. With rates this high, Better.com’s attempt to turn its business around will be even more challenging.

Phil Haslett, co-founder and chief strategy officer of EquityZen, had this to say about the company’s choosing to move forward with its delayed SPAC despite all the negative headlines over the past 20 months. Via email, he wrote: “Senior leadership at Better.com (and its investors) are not surprised the stock is ‘down’ 90%. The de-SPAC was a way to raise $565M. Nobody else was going to give them $500 million. Vishal Garg saw that there was one last wedding dress for sale, and he took it. He knew it wouldn’t fit right, but he didn’t care. He got it done.”

To hear the Equity podcast team riff more about the company and its bomb of a public debut, check out the below link. — Mary Ann

Image Credits: Better.com

Affirm’s very good week

Better.com may have had a rough week, but at least one other publicly traded fintech company’s stock fared far better.

Shares of Affirm’s stock were trading up nearly 30% to just under $18 on Friday afternoon after the company released its fourth-quarter and fiscal year 2023 earnings. The company said it was exiting the year with achieving profitability on an adjusted operating income (AOI) basis and that its revenue was up 22% year-over-year to $446 million. And, as reported by CNBC, Affirm “also gave strong guidance for the fiscal first quarter, projecting $430 million to $455 million in revenue, versus analyst expectations of $430 million.”

Third Bridge analyst Kevin Kennedy had a few thoughts on the results after interviewing a number of execs in the fintech space, telling TechCrunch that “even with generally positive results, it is hard to ignore Affirm’s continued operating losses and loss margins expanded more than 11 percentage points over the past year, resulting in a $2.6 billion accumulated deficit.” On the plus side, Kennedy also noted that the Debit+ card product was “a step in the right direction, and will likely play a key role in the path to profitability by driving better monetization of existing users without the drag of marginal customer acquisition costs.” He said he was also particularly interested to see Affirm’s increased adoption in travel, equipment and auto industries. Lastly, he said: “Our experts believe Affirm’s future as a standalone business will be contingent on the company’s ability to develop and effectively cross-sell a wider spectrum of financial services products, as the BNPL offerings of major diversified tech players like PayPal, Apple and Cash App (Block) are becoming increasingly competitive.”

For context, Affirm’s stock is still trading lower than its 52-week-high of $27.26, but it’s more than double its 52-week-low of $8.62.

Check out our previous interview with the company’s CTO here. — Mary Ann

Weekly news

Sarah Perez reports on a new way for Starbucks lovers to pay for their favorite beverages, sans phone. The contactless checkout method comes as the coffee giant works to move people through the drive-through quicker. Find out how it works.

From Manish Singh are two stories on India retail giant Reliance Retail. First up, the company’s spinoff unit, Jio Financial Services, made its public debut. Second, Reliance is testing a sound box payment system that instantly validates and announces when a payment was successful. Learn more.

And this week on Equity, Mary Ann dug into Latin America’s fintech and AI scene with Mercedes Bent, partner on the early-stage team at Lightspeed Ventures and co-lead of Lightspeed’s LatAm region and angel fund. They spoke on a number of topics, including how and why Mercedes started investing in Latin America, and why she thinks the region is more resilient than others; why we’re early in the hype cycle when it comes to the intersection of AI and fintech; and why generative AI and fintech aren’t always the best combination.

Other items we are reading:

Klarna boasts expansion and growth across Europe as smaller firms ‘dial back’ commitments. Speaking of Klarna, CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski posted an engaging thread on X, detailing the challenges of “trying to hire and manage somebody that does something that you have no clue how to do.”

How fintech company Marqeta is using AI to help consumers

Hadley launches mobile app to increase access to savings plans

Look who’s partnering now:

OZ Câmbio partners with Nium to improve Brazilian SME market and encourage international expansion

Treasury Prime partners with Liberty Bank

Cross River Bank and Current launch credit-building product

Engagement banking fintech Backbase partners with SavvyMoney

Fundings and M&A

As seen on TechCrunch

Fintech startup Ramp raises $300M at a 28% lower valuation of $5.8B 

Moniepoint cleared to acquire Kenyan fintech Kopo Kopo

This venture-backed startup has quietly bought more than 80 mom-and-pop shops

And elsewhere

Yahoo acquires social investing platform Commonstock (Disclosure: Yahoo is TechCrunch’s parent company)

LemFi raises $33M Series A to ease remittance for immigrants

Koverly raises $7.6M for B2B BNPL

Why Ventura Capital and Peter Thiel are backing this Silicon Valley RIA

Discover the Fintech Stage at Disrupt 2023

Check out the Fintech Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023, taking place in San Francisco on September 19–21, where we cover web3, banking, and more. Last-minute passes are still available. Save 15% with code INTERCHANGE. Register now!

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Image Credits: Bryce Durbin

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Weekly deals: the best smartphone deals from the UK, Germany, India and the US

The first day of school is almost here, so now may be a good time to pick up a new phone – or perhaps a new tablet will be more useful. We’ll also look at some accessories too. USA UK Germany India USA Google is charging $444 for the Pixel 7a. At this price you may as well get the Pixel 7 at $450. This offer also comes with a small discount on Pixel Buds too ($60 off for the Pro and $40 off the Buds A-Series). Google Pixel 7 8/128GB $150 off Read our review ...

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Tozo Open Buds review

Introduction One of the key pillars of a good pair of wireless earphones is how they fit your ears. With varying ear shapes and sizes, getting the right fit for your specific ear shape can be a challenge and that’s where open-ear earphones come in place. These types of earphones don’t just go into your ears but rather rest right around them in an effort to overcome the fit issue. We’ll be taking a look at the Tozo Open Buds - one of the newest releases from the audio-focused brand which currently retail for $56 on Amazon. ...

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Microsoft brings Python to Excel, Cruise reduces fleet following crash, and MrBeast creates controversy

Hello, folks, and welcome to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s regular newsletter that covers the biggest happenings in tech over the past few days. Haven’t been able to follow the news closely? Don’t sweat it. WiR will get you up to speed.

In this edition of WiR, we cover Microsoft bringing Python to Excel, Cruise being forced to reduce its robotaxi fleet following a crash, and Amazon launching its new Fire TV Channels app. We also recap Twitter competitor Bluesky buckling under load, influencer MrBeast’s poorly timed Olympics video, IBM building a code translator for COBOL, and Snapchat expanding further into generative AI.

If you haven’t already, sign up here to get WiR in your inbox every Saturday. Now, without further ado, here’s the week’s news!

Most read

Microsoft brings Python to Excel: Microsoft this week announced the public preview of Python in Excel, which will allow advanced spreadsheet users to combine scripts in the popular Python language and their usual Excel formulas in the same workbook. The feature will first roll out to Microsoft 365 Insiders as part of the Excel for Windows beta channel, Frederic reports.

Cruise told to reduce fleet following crash: Cruise, the self-driving car subsidiary of GM, has been asked by the California Department of Motor Vehicles to reduce its robotaxi fleet by 50% in San Francisco following a crash Thursday night with a fire truck.

MrBeast’s geopolitical nightmare: Billionaire creator MrBeast inadvertently stoked generations of geopolitical tension in his latest YouTube video, in which participants from “every country on Earth” competed in “Squid Game”-like elimination challenges for a chance to win $250,000. It was the countries that weren’t included in the competition, as well as the map featured in the video, that made the stunt ripe for discourse.

IBM taps AI to translate COBOL code: IBM this week unveiled Code Assistant for IBM Z, which uses a code-generating AI model to translate COBOL (one of the older programming languages in use) into Java syntax. It’s potentially quite handy, considering there’s over 800 billion lines of COBOL in use on production systems and a strong desire among many of the companies using it to migrate to more modern languages.

Amazon launches Fire TV Channels app: Amazon announced Monday the launch of its new Fire TV Channels app, giving Fire TV customers access to over 400 free ad-supported TV channels, including ABC News, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, MLB, Martha Stewart and more.

Bluesky struggles with growing popularity: X (formerly Twitter) competitor Bluesky buckled following Elon Musk’s announcement that X will no longer support blocking users in favor of mutes only. The company has often had to deal with an influx of users when Twitter announces particularly unwelcome changes, Sarah writes.

Snapchat adds new generative AI features: Snapchat is preparing to further expand into generative AI features, after earlier launching its AI-powered chatbot My AI, which can now respond with a Snap back, not just text. With the company’s forthcoming generative AI feature called “Dreams,” Snap will again experiment with AI images — but soon, those images may contain you and your friends in imaginative backgrounds.

Phone hacking company tries to keep tech secret: For years, cops and other government authorities all over the world have been using phone hacking technology provided by Cellebrite to unlock phones and obtain the data within. And the company has been keen on keeping the use of its technology “hush hush,” Lorenzo reports.

Audio

Have a hankering for new podcast content? You’re in luck. TechCrunch has plenty on deck for your listening enjoyment.

On Equity, the crew discussed Nvidia’s earnings report, raises from Ramp and AI-powered writing platform Lex, Northvolt’s move to North America, the story behind Better.com’s IPO and startups that are literally full of crap (it’ll make sense once you listen — trust me).

Meanwhile, Found focused on Feyi Ayodele, the co-founder and CEO of CancerIQ, a precision health company designed for physicians to help their patients with monitoring cancer risk and prevention. Ayodele recounted how she came up with the startup idea while hiking Mount Kilimanjaro with her mother.

And on Chain Reaction, Erik Svenson talked about Blockstream, a bitcoin and blockchain-focused infrastructure firm that he helped co-found in 2014. Blockstream has its own sidechain technology, Liquid Network, as well as bitcoin mining operations and hardware wallets for Bitcoin and other assets.

TechCrunch+

TC+ subscribers get access to in-depth commentary, analysis and surveys — which you know if you’re already a subscriber. If you’re not, consider signing up. Here are a few highlights from this week:

OnlyFans proves the creator economy boom was real: Venture capital investment into the creator economy category slowed down significantly starting in the second half of 2022. But Ron and Anna write about how OnlyFans’ profitability suggests that there’s juice in the sector yet.

Nvidia rides the AI wave — but for how long?: When Nvidia announced eye-popping earnings on Wednesday with three-digit year-over-year growth, it was easy to get caught up in the excitement. But the lingering question is, can it keep it up?

The late-stage venture market is crumbling: New data from CB Insights details that there have been sharp valuation declines across nearly every startup stage around the world. But is that a reason for panic? Alex and Anna don’t think so — at least not now.

Grab your pass to TC Disrupt 2023

Join 10,000 startup leaders in San Francisco at TechCrunch Disrupt on September 19–21. Last-minute passes are still available. Save 15% with code WIR. Register now!

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A Brazilian phone spyware was hacked and victims’ devices ‘deleted’ from server

A Portuguese-language spyware called WebDetetive has been used to compromise more than 76,000 Android phones in recent years across South America, largely in Brazil. WebDetetive is also the latest phone spyware company in recent months to have been hacked.

In an undated note seen by TechCrunch, the unnamed hackers described how they found and exploited several security vulnerabilities that allowed them to compromise WebDetetive’s servers and access to its user databases. By exploiting other flaws in the spyware maker’s web dashboard — used by abusers to access the stolen phone data of their victims — the hackers said they enumerated and downloaded every dashboard record, including every customer’s email address.

The hackers said that dashboard access also allowed them to delete victim devices from the spyware network altogether, effectively severing the connection at the server level to prevent the device from uploading new data. “Which we definitely did. Because we could. Because #fuckstalkerware,” the hackers wrote in the note.

The note was included in a cache containing more than 1.5 gigabytes of data scraped from the spyware’s web dashboard. That data included information about each customer, such as the IP address they logged in from, and purchase history. The data also listed every device that each customer had compromised, which version of the spyware the phone was running, and the types of data that the spyware was collecting from the victim’s phone.

The cache did not include the stolen contents from victims’ phones.

DDoSecrets, a nonprofit transparency collective that indexes leaked and exposed datasets in the public interest, received the WebDetetive data and shared it with TechCrunch for analysis.

In total, the data showed that WebDetetive had compromised 76,794 devices to date at the time of the breach. The data also contained 74,336 unique customer email addresses, though WebDetetive does not verify a customer’s email addresses when signing up, preventing any meaningful analysis of the spyware’s customers.

It’s not known who is behind the WebDetetive breach and the hackers did not provide contact information. TechCrunch could not independently confirm the hackers’ claim that it deleted victims’ devices from the network, though TechCrunch did verify the authenticity of the stolen data by matching a selection of device identifiers in the cache against a publicly accessible endpoint on WebDetetive’s server.

WebDetetive is a type of phone monitoring app that is planted on a person’s phone without their consent, often by someone with knowledge of the phone’s passcode.

Once planted, the app changes its icon on the phone’s home screen, making the spyware difficult to detect and remove. WebDetetive then immediately begins stealthily uploading the contents of a person’s phone to its servers, including their messages, call logs, phone call recordings, photos, ambient recordings from the phone’s microphone, social media apps, and real-time precise location data.

Despite the broad access that these so-called “stalkerware” (or spouseware) apps have to a victim’s personal and sensitive phone data, spyware is notoriously buggy and known for their shoddy coding, which puts victims’ already-stolen data at risk of further compromise.

WebDetetive, meet OwnSpy

Little is known about WebDetetive beyond its surveillance capabilities. It’s not uncommon for spyware makers to conceal or obfuscate their real-world identities, given the reputational and legal risks that come with producing spyware and facilitating the illegal surveillance of others. WebDetetive is no different. Its website does not list who owns or operates WebDetetive.

But while the breached data itself reveals few clues about WebDetetive’s administrators, much of its roots can be traced back to OwnSpy, another widely used phone spying app.

TechCrunch downloaded the WebDetetive Android app from its website (since both Apple and Google ban stalkerware apps from their app stores), and planted the app onto a virtual device, allowing us to analyze the app in an isolated sandbox without giving it any real data, such as our location. We ran a network traffic analysis to understand what data was flowing in and out of the WebDetetive app, which found it was a largely repackaged copy of OwnSpy’s spyware. WebDetetive’s user agent, which it sends to the server to identify itself, was still referring to itself as OwnSpy, even though it was uploading our virtual device’s dummy data to WebDetetive’s servers.

A side-by-side photo comparison of WebDetetive (left) and OwnSpy (right) running on Android. Image Credits: TechCrunch

OwnSpy is developed in Spain by Mobile Innovations, a Madrid-based company run by Antonio Calatrava. OwnSpy has operated since at least 2010, according to its website, and claims to have 50,000 customers, though it’s not known how many devices OwnSpy has compromised to date.

OwnSpy also operates an affiliate model, allowing others to make a commission by promoting the app or offering “a new product to your clients” in return for OwnSpy taking a cut of the profits, according to an archived copy of its affiliates website. It’s not clear what other operational links, if any, exist between OwnSpy and WebDetetive. Calatrava did not return a request for comment or provide contact information for WebDetetive’s administrators.

A short time after we emailed Calatrava, portions of OwnSpy’s known infrastructure dropped offline. A separate network traffic analysis of OwnSpy’s app by TechCrunch found that OwnSpy’s spyware app was no longer functioning. WebDetetive’s app continues to function.

Destructive attack?

WebDetetive is the second spyware maker to be targeted by a data-destructive hack in recent months. LetMeSpy, a spyware app developed by Polish developer Rafal Lidwin, shut down following a hack that exposed and deleted victims’ stolen phone data from LetMeSpy’s servers. Lidwin declined to answer questions about the incident.

By TechCrunch’s count, at least a dozen spyware companies in recent years have exposed, spilled, or otherwise put victims’ stolen phone data at risk of further compromise because of shoddy coding and easily exploitable security vulnerabilities.

TechCrunch was unable to reach the WebDetetive administrators for comment. An email sent to WebDetetive’s support email address about the data breach — including whether the spyware maker has backups — went unreturned. It’s not clear if the spyware maker will notify customers or victims of the data breach, or if it still has the data or records to do so.

Destructive attacks, although infrequent, could have unintended and dangerous consequences for victims of spyware. Spyware typically alerts the abuser if the spyware app stops working or is removed from a victim’s phone, and severing a connection without a safety plan in place could put spyware victims in an unsafe situation. The Coalition Against Stalkerware, which works to support victims and survivors of stalkerware, has resources on its website for those who suspect their phone is compromised.

How to find and remove WebDetetive

Unlike most phone monitoring apps, WebDetetive and OwnSpy do not hide their app on an Android home screen, but instead disguise themselves as an Android system-presenting Wi-Fi app.

WebDetetive is relatively easy to detect. The app appears named as “WiFi” and features a white wireless icon in a blue circle on a white background.

A screenshot showing the “WiFi” app, which presents as a system Wi-Fi app. However, this app is spyware in disguise. Image Credits: TechCrunch

When tapped and held, and the app info is viewed, the app is actually called “Sistema.”

This “WiFi” app icon, when tapped, will actually show as an app called “Sistema,” designed to look like an Android system app, but is actually WebDetetive spyware. Image Credits: TechCrunch

We have a general guide that can help you remove Android spyware from your phone, if it is safe to do so. You should ensure that Google Play Protect is switched on as this on-device security feature can defend against malicious Android apps. You can check its status from the settings menu in Google Play.

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If you or someone you know needs help, the National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-7233) provides 24/7 free, confidential support to victims of domestic abuse and violence. If you are in an emergency situation, call 911. The Coalition Against Stalkerware also has resources if you think your phone has been compromised by spyware.

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Samsung Galaxy A05's battery capacity revealed by FCC

The Samsung Galaxy A05s got FCC certified last week, and now the Galaxy A05 has also bagged FCC certification. The US certifying authority's website lists the smartphone with model codes SM-A055F and SM-A055F/DS. It doesn't detail the Samsung Galaxy A05's specs sheet, but it did reveal the phone's battery size. The Samsung Galaxy A05 is listed on FCC with a battery having model designation WT-S-N28 and 5,000 mAh capacity. That's the same size as its predecessor, Galaxy A04, unveiled last August. Samsung Galaxy A05 on FCC We are yet to hear anything about the Galaxy A05 from...

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Yes, in my backyard

W
elcome to the TechCrunch Exchange, a weekly startups-and-markets newsletter. It’s inspired by the daily TechCrunch+ column where it gets its name. Want it in your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here.

Can startups help solve the U.S. housing crisis? BuildCasa thinks so. It raised a $3.5 million round of pre-seed funding to let California homeowners build new homes in their backyards. — Anna

Leveraging new zoning laws

There aren’t enough homes in the U.S., which would need another 3.8 million units of housing to fill the gap, Axios recently noted, citing data from Freddie Mac. And while causes and consequences are open to debate, it shouldn’t be too controversial to say that increasing housing supply is part of the solution.

What does this have to do with startups, you may ask? Quite a bit, it turns out: New business models have emerged as a result of recent laws that aim to solve the housing shortage.

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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5's teardown shows its shock dispersion layer

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 unveiled last month is a minor update over last year's Fold4. However, it now uses a new hinge mechanism for a gapless design and also comes with a shock dispersion layer under the flexible folding screen, which we see in the YouTube channel JerryRigEverything's Fold5 teardown video that you can watch below. Once you are done watching the Galaxy Fold5's teardown, you can also watch its durability test by the same YouTuber. We've attached the video below for those who missed it. And if you are planning to buy one, you can read our Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5's...

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The scoop on Gen-Z and how they are rewriting the rules of the Internet

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines.

Welcome to an old-school Equity tradition: the bonus show! Despite getting through our regular episodes this week, we have one more for you. Why the extra edition? Because Battery Ventures dropped an interesting report on Gen-Z and I wanted to talk about it.

So, I got Courtney Chow, a vice president at Battery and one of the report’s authors to chat with me about it. You can read the report itself here.

This is what we got into:

• The fracturing of culture: Gen-Z is large, and very diverse. The trend away from monolithic cultural primacy that began years ago has accelerated with the generation, making culture itself more personal, and more distinct. For startups, this means branding will become a different challenge if they want to reach this demographic slice.
• Everything is short-form video: Given massive usage of TikTok by Gen-Z and the popularity of other platforms that feature short-form video, we were curious how smaller companies can compete with incumbents that already have a Reels strategy, if you will.
• Ethical capitalism: One of the most interesting areas of the Battery report was its notes on how entrepreneurial Gen-Z is, and how diverse they are. Gen-Z also has expectations around goods and services they purchase relating to the actions of the companies behind the sale. So, if you want to sell to Gen-Z, you might need to care about climate change, for example.

Gone are the days when millennials were the punching bag of media, blamed for this, and blamed for that. Now we are ____

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and we’ll chat Monday!

For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website.

Equity drops at 7 a.m. PT every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. TechCrunch also has a great show on crypto, a show that interviews founders and more!

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Apple iPhone 14 Pro vs. Samsung Galaxy S23

Introduction If you are looking to buy a compact flagship smartphone in 2023, then this dilemma would have probably come up at least once – "iPhone 14 Pro or Galaxy S23". While those two smartphones are not in the same price range, they are so frequently compared that we decided to pit them head to head and give you the complete breakdown, which is the best one of the two. You can compare the complete specs sheets or check our editor's assessment further below. Size comparison Apple iPhone 14 Pro 206 g ...

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Sony Xperia 5 V's key specs revealed through Geekbench

Sony yesterday announced it will unveil the Xperia 5 V on September 1. The company hasn't divulged any smartphone features yet, but a Sony device bearing model code XQ-DE54, and believed to be the Xperia 5 V, has appeared on Geekbench with its key specs. The XQ-DE54 is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC, runs Android 13, and has 8GB of RAM onboard. However, there could be more RAM options that are yet to be confirmed. The XQ-DE54 scored 2,004 and 5,059 points in Geekbench's single and multi-core tests, respectively, which aligns with what some other phones scored in our Geekbench...

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Realme C51 teased to launch soon in India

Realme recently introduced a couple of smartphones and TWS earphones in India, and it's already preparing to launch a new smartphone in its biggest market. The brand teased the launch of a new C-series smartphone in India, with its post on X captioned, "Buckle up as the newest champion is coming soon in town!" The post also includes an image showing the smartphone with a Dynamic Island-like feature called Mini Capsule. But this won't be the first Realme smartphone to have a feature like that since the C55 launched in March came with Mini Capsule. However, that one had a punch-hole display,...

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Samsung US still offers free storage upgrade on select Galaxy Z Fold5 units

Part of the pre-order perks for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 was a free storage upgrade from 256GB to 512GB storage. While the pre-orders ended a couple of weeks ago, you can still get double the storage for free under one condition. The Phantom lack and Icy Blue colorways are available from Samsung US with a $120 discount – exactly the price of the storage upgrade. This means that a black 512GB unit costs $1,800, while a cream-colored model is $1,920. The Galaxy Z Fold5 in Phantom Black and Icy Blue colors are $120 off If you’re looking at an unlocked unit, there is a $200...

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All hail the new EU law that lets social media users quiet quit the algorithm

Internet users in the European Union are logging on to a quiet revolution on mainstream social networks today: The ability to say ‘no thanks’ to being attention hacked by AI.

Thanks to the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA), users of Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, ByteDance’s TikTok and Snap’s Snapchat can easily decline “personalized” content feeds based on “relevance” (i.e. tracking) — and switch to a more humble kind of news feed that’s populated with posts from your friends displayed in chronological order. And this is just the tip of the regulatory iceberg. The changes apply to major platforms in the EU but some are being rolled out globally as tech giants opt to streamline elements of their compliance.

Facebook actually got out ahead of today’s DSA compliance deadline by launching a chronological new Feeds tab last month — doing so globally, seemingly, not just in the EU. But it’s a safe bet Meta wouldn’t have made the move without the bloc passing a law that mandates mainstream platforms give users a choice to see non-personalized content.

Notably the new chronological Facebook news feed does not show any “Suggested For You” posts at all. And that total separation of tracking-based content recommendations from non-personalized content selections is absolutely down to the DSA. If Meta could injection a little AI-powered attention hacking into the humble chronological news feed it surely would. But the bloc’s law requires no crossing of these streams. Respect for user agency demands a space safe from surveilling AIs.

We’ve also recently seen YouTube announce that logged in users with the ‘watch history’ feature turned off won’t be bothered by next video recommendations based on profiling what they’ve watched before. Also, seemingly, a change it’s decided to roll out everywhere, not just in the EU — but again a development that’s clearly been driven by the DSA.

You might ask why does the ability to switch off profiling-based content recommendations matter? Isn’t it a relatively minor detail in the grand scheme of platform power? Well yes and no. The power of platforms to keep users engaged inside their walled gardens derives from a number of factors — one of which is the massive information asymmetry they can wield against our eyeballs by tracking what we click at, engage with, linger on, search for and so on.

Content choices based on this tracking don’t even have to be very sophisticated — and, indeed, the programming can feel terribly crude. Such as how, for the past many, many months, after I happened to watch a cat video on Instagram, my Home feed has been peppered with unavoidable injections of fur. And these suggested cat videos never seem to end. It’s truly been the longest tail…

Instagram feed screengrab: Natasha Lomas/TechCrunch

How this typically went down was after scrolling through the (smaller) stack of Instagram posts from people I do actually follow (still peppered with suggested cat videos) the AI would take over — populating the rest of the feed (apparently bottomless) with what seemed like an infinite selection of cat videos. Cats being cute, cats being acrobatic, cats being funny, cats being memed, cats being rescued from dire conditions… It got to the point where I would dread logging on to Instagram because of what I would be compelled to look at.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love cats. So, naturally, I’m a fan of cute cat videos. But I sure don’t love a firehose of fur being force-injected into my eyeballs just so Mark Zuckerberg can hold me on his platform a bit longer and keep getting richer than Croesus. It’s pure manipulation and boy does that feel ick. So I have actually been counting down the days for DSA compliance to kick in — and usher in a legal end to this unavoidable algorithmic cat parade.

Today on Instagram I can report finding fur-free peace at last!

Of course the AI-selected cat videos haven’t gone very far. The home feed page now offers two choices: “Following” and “For you” — the second of which remains populated with plenty of furry felines. But at least I can now opt to see only posts from accounts I follow and actively avoid the stuff that’s been selected to try to hack my attention.

Instagram’s ‘Explore’ tab appears to default to algorithmic content selections (“For you”) but click on the down arrow next to the label and you’ll also now see a novel option: “Not personalized”. Click on that and the feed of content Meta’s AIs calculated would best grab the user’s eyeballs (in my case that’s cats and climbing videos) is replaced by a grid of images that look culled from a National Geographic-inspired stock photo selection. Frankly it looks a bit boring but I never looked at the Explore tab anyway. And boring is peaceful.

Instagram's "not personalized" 'For you' feed (EU only) looks like it will be great news for landscape and architecture posts pic.twitter.com/94gQjMh95w

— Natasha (@riptari) August 25, 2023

Over on Facebook, switch on the new (though actually retro) chronological news feed and it makes the platform feel — momentarily — like an entirely different product as friends whose posts would typically be buried by the algorithm as too quotidian (i.e. not engaging enough) sudden get their 15 minutes of fame and pop up right there in your eyeline.

The Facebook home page still defaults to an AI-sorted view, including personalized recommendations for Reels and Stories. But if you switch to the chronological news feed it’s a throwback to Facebook circa 2008, before the platform flipped from ranking posts in reverse chronological order to applying a popularity filter (based on engagement). And we all know what happened to the tone of social media discourse after adtech giants’ algorithms started selecting for outrage… So don’t underestimate the power of a humble news feed comprised of friends’ unsorted shower thoughts. This might be just the sort of content revolution our hyper-polarized societies need. 

An ‘AI off’ switch could make even bigger splash on TikTok — where the stickiness of its content selection algorithm has been credited with driving major viral trends and powering the platform’s overall popularity. But stepping away from its AI firehose will still require users to exercise their agency — since the regulation only demands that platforms offer a choice which is not based on profiling. So it remains to be seen whether TikTok’s community will engage with the new non-personalized feeds.

They might just be horrified at how banal lots of the stuff posted to the platform can be once they step outside the AI-filtered attention bubble. While a generation of digital native social media influencers will surely flee screaming from the prospect of reduced engagement. But other users who are tired of influencer babble polluting their feeds might just be weeping with relief at the prospect of an easy toggle to remove distracting noise. 

The impact of increased empowerment of users on mainstream platforms may not lead to immediate big bang change. But we should celebrate our new ability to quiet quit their algorithms. It’s long overdue.

Think of it as the start of the unbundling of platform power. The DSA, along with its sister regulation the Digital Markets Act — an ex ante competition reform which targets the most powerful intermediating digital platforms — is a substantial piece of regulation that puts many more demands on platforms than providing users with a free choice to deny personalization. Including requiring they identify and mitigate systemic risks that arise from their use of AIs; and open up their data to external researchers so independent academics can robustly study technosocial impacts, to name two.

That kind of public interest visibility atop tech giants is also long overdue. And the information asymmetry that adtech giants, especially, have exploited to fatten their bottom lines at our eyeballs’ expense has always been drastically unfair.

It’s past time they gave back. And it’s past time we had simple options to stop their content targeting systems from stealing our free time.

Quiet quitting the algorithm could be the next big trend. Just don’t expect this one to go viral.

Coming soon to TikTok in Europe: A ‘For You’ feed without the TikTok algorithm

Google to go further on ads transparency and data access for researchers as EU digital rulebook reboot kicks in

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