New year transitions

It’s that time of day, peeps: Daily Crunch time. To those who celebrated the Christmas holiday on Monday, I hope it exceeded expectations and you’re entering this quieter workweek relatively well rested.

TechCrunch’s intrepid security desk is back at it, covering news this morning of CBS and Paramount owner National Amusements suffering a large data breach. According to the company, the breach, in which hackers stole the personal information of tens of thousands of people, occurred last December — but National Amusement didn’t begin notifying those affected until a few weeks ago. Learn more.

As for the rest of today’s roundup, you’ll find a mix of more timely pieces, retrospectives and forward-looking analyses — best enjoyed in a comfy sweater and with your holiday beverage of choice in hand.

The TechCrunch Top 3

Writing for TechCrunch+, Tim posits that EV fast-charging networks will face a challenge in 2024. For years, electric vehicle charging companies have had little competition — except with each other. But soon, they’ll have to contend with Tesla’s much-lauded Supercharger network. After Ford signed an agreement with Tesla to give its EVs access to 12,000 Superchargers, other automakers followed suit, including GM, Rivian, Volvo, Mercedes, Nissan and Volkswagen. Read more.

In a lighthearted feature, Amanda covers the internet moments that defined 2023, like when a submarine of billionaires disappeared, the first-ever presidential mugshot hit social media and hundreds of thousands of people got fooled into thinking AI-generated Balenciaga images were legit. As Amanda notes, the trends aren’t just entertaining — they give us a sneak peek into what we can expect in the future. Read the full list.

Elsewhere, Paul dove into the struggle between open source and proprietary software — hardly a new struggle but one that came into sharp relief in 2023. As established technologies relied on by millions hit a chaos curve, Paul writes, it made people realize how beholden they were to a platform they had little control over (e.g., OpenAI, Unity). Learn more.

More top reads

Apple Watch ban upheld: A recent U.S. ban on Apple Watch imports will remain in place after the Biden administration declined to veto an earlier ruling by the International Trade Commission (ITC). Read more.

Hackers steal billions in crypto: For yet another year, hackers stole billions of dollars in crypto. The good news? For the first time since 2020, the trend is heading downward, according to crypto security firms. Read more.

Bluesky rolls out in-app media player: Decentralized social network Bluesky is rolling out a new in-app video and music player for links, along with a new “hide post” feature. The holiday additions bring Bluesky’s user experience closer to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. Read more.

Code.org sues WhiteHat Jr: Code.org, the U.S. educational nonprofit, has filed a lawsuit in a California district court alleging that Byju’s subsidiary WhiteHat Jr breached a licensing contract by failing to pay fees while continuing to use Code.org’s platform. Read more.

What VCs want in cyber startups: Sapphire Ventures’ Casber Wang, writing for TechCrunch+, asserts that successful next-gen cybersecurity startups will seek to partner with players, enable IT teams to enhance productivity and address talent shortages while staying on top of mounting threats. Read more.

On the pods

Today on Equity, Alex sat down with Deepka Rana from VC firm Northzone to chat through a bevy of key topics for the new year, including where venture capital is heading, the prognosis for startups at different stages of maturity, why 2023 was “the year of adjustment” and the fate of AI in the EU, where regulation is afoot. Listen here.

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