#Tech news

TikTok faces a ban in the US, Tesla profits drop and healthcare data leaks


Welcome, folks, to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunchā€™s regular newsletter covering this weekā€™s noteworthy happenings in tech.

TikTokā€™s fate in the U.S. looks uncertain after President Joe Biden signed a bill that included a deadline for ByteDance, TikTokā€™s parent company, to divest itself of TikTok within nine months or face a ban on distributing it in the U.S. Ivan writes about how the impact of TikTok bans in other countries could signal whatā€™s to come stateside.

Meanwhile, fallout from the Change Healthcare hack continues. Change, a subsidiary of health insurance giant UnitedHealth, confirmed this week that the ransomware attack targeting it earlier this year resulted in a huge theft of Americansā€™ private health info, possibly covering ā€œa substantial proportionā€ of Americans.

And Tesla profits dropped 55% as the EV company contends with increased pressure from hybrid carmakers. The automakerā€™s growth plan is centered around mysterious cheaper EVs scheduled to launch next year ā€” as well as perhaps a robotaxi. But a recall on the Cybertruck for faulty accelerator pedals certainly wonā€™t help in the interim.

Lots else happened. We recap it all in this edition of WiR ā€” but first, a reminder toĀ sign upĀ to receive the WiR newsletter in your inbox every Saturday.

News

Amazon grocery plan: Amazon launched a new unlimited grocery delivery subscription in the U.S. The plan, which costs $9.99 per month for Amazon Prime users, comes with free deliveries for grocery orders over $35 across Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market and other local grocery retailers.

California drones grounded: In more Amazon news, the tech giant confirmed that itā€™s ending Prime Air drone delivery operations in Lockeford, California. The Central California town of 3,500 was the companyā€™s second U.S. drone delivery site after College Station, Texas; Amazon didnā€™t offer any details around the setback.

Fisker plans layoffs: Fisker says itā€™s planning more layoffs less than two months afterĀ cutting 15% of its workforce, as the EV startup scrambles to raise cash to stay alive. Fisker expects to seek bankruptcy protection within the next 30 days if it canā€™t come up with the money.

Stripe expansion: Among a slew of other announcements at its Sessions conference in San Francisco, Stripe said that itā€™ll be de-coupling payments from the rest of its financial services stack. Given that Stripe previously required businesses to be payments customers in order to use any of its other products, thatā€™s a big change.

Analysis

Rabbit hands on:Ā Brian writes about the R1, the first gizmo from AI startup R1. The $199 price point, touchscreen and funky aesthetic from storied design firm Teenage Engineering make the R1 far more accessible than Humaneā€™s Ai Pin, he concludes.

Lab-grown diamonds: Pascal, an Andreessen Horowitz-backed startup, claims it can make high-end jewelry accessible by using lab-grown diamonds chemically and physically akin to natural diamonds but that cost one-twentieth of the price.

AI poetry: An experiment called the Poetry Camera ā€” an actual, physical camera ā€” combines open source technology with playful design and artistic vision. Instead of merely capturing images, the Poetry Camera arranges thought-provoking, AI-generated stanzas based on the visuals it encounters.

Rippling deep dive:Ā Connie interviewed Parker Conrad, the CEO of workforce management startup Rippling, on the companyā€™s new $200 million funding round, new San Francisco lease (the second biggest to be signed in the city this year) and more.



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