The company formerly known as Facebook is taking a step toward its goal to transport us to the metaverse. Now, Horizon Worlds — the Second Life or Minecraft of Meta’s VR apps — is expanding out of invite-only beta, opening up to all users over 18 years old in the U.S. and Canada. This is […]
USAID should let for-profit companies help it build a better world
If USAID’s NPI expands to work with tech companies, they can provide USAID with existing tools and solutions. Opening up NPI to for-profit businesses is the first step in doing so.
Congress must clarify how the infrastructure bill will impact cryptocurrency
The crypto tax element of the $1 trillion U.S. infrastructure bill is not clearly written, and the government risks squashing a burgeoning part of the economy.
This Week in Apps: SharePlay arrives, Android Dev Summit wraps, Snap and TikTok go to Congress
Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy. The app industry continues to grow, with a record 218 billion downloads and $143 billion in global consumer spend in 2020. Consumers last year also spent 3.5 trillion minutes using apps on Android devices alone. […]
Congress fails to pin down oil company execs on their bad-faith arguments
Spin, lobbying, and obfuscation still rule the day.
Why Facebook’s angry emoji should interest the US SEC
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission must thoroughly investigate Facebook and enforce our laws.
Facebook changes its corporate branding to Meta
Well, it’s official. After 17 years of being called Facebook, the social networking parent company behind Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Oculus has a new name. Facebook’s corporate entity is now Meta. Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg announced the change at the company’s AR/VR-focused Connect event, sharing that the new title captured more of the company’s core […]
In hearing with Snap, TikTok and YouTube, lawmakers tout new rules to protect kids online
Fallout from revelations around teen mental health on Instagram continues — and not just for Facebook. On Tuesday, policy reps from YouTube, Snap and TikTok faced Congress to talk about kids and online safety, marking the first time the latter two companies appeared in a major tech hearing. The hearing, held by the Senate Subcommittee […]
Lawmakers will grill Snap, TikTok and YouTube on kids and safety tomorrow
After dragging in the same companies and their reticent, overtrained executives time and time again, Congress is turning its attention to two of the tech industry’s fresh but important faces: TikTok and Snap. On Tuesday, lawmakers on the Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security will question policy leads from those two […]
Biden’s QSBS tax plan would have unintended consequences for startups
Buried in Biden’s 2021 tax plan are new amendments to the U.S. Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) program, which, if passed, will impact early-stage startup employees, founders and investors.