'Copy-from-China' social media app Lemon8 squeezes its way into US top 10

TechCrunch Newsletter [TechCrunch logo]( [The Daily Crunch logo]( By [Christine Hall]( Friday, April 07, 2023 Hello, and welcome to your Friday. Did the week drag on, or did it go by quickly for you? Or maybe you had today off. No matter, I’m here to bring you all of today’s techy goodness. The lesson for today: “[Don’t ever leak data](.” Oh, and support our colleagues over at the [Chain Reaction]( and [Found]( podcasts: They were [nominated for a Webby](, so please [support them with a vote]( by April 20. — [Christine]( [ image] Image Credits: Peter Dazeley / Getty Images The TechCrunch Top 3 - [That’s one a-spicy application](: ByteDance’s latest hit, Lemon8, which some describe as a cross between Instagram, Pinterest and Amazon, is now sitting among the top 10 apps in the U.S. However, [Rita]( says Lemon8 is more like another app called Xiaohongshu and discusses why ByteDance may have taken another page from the China playbook. - [Get your unicorn horn ready](: You’re going to need a TechCrunch+ subscription to read this next one, but I promise, it’s worth it. [Alex]( went unicorn IPO hunting and came back with a list of names, saying, “The first group of upcoming potential unicorn IPOs is shaping up well.” - [In a galaxy far, far away](: If you’re a Star Wars fan, Disney+ will debut a new series called “The Acolyte” in 2024.[Aisha]( writes that this storyline takes place at the end of the High Republic era before the events of the main Star Wars films. Startups and VC Everyone needs some good competition to get the creativity flowing. [Kyle](, [Devin]( and [Manish]( teamed up to look at [Anthropic’s $5 billion, four-year plan to take on OpenAI](. Going through the company’s pitch deck, the trio describe the business model that will take Anthropic there and the investors behind it. Wrapping up the week, as mentioned yesterday, there was a group of us watching Y Combinator’s Winter 2023 Demo Day. Artificial intelligence and open source were [big buzzwords on Day 1](, while [Day 2 had us wondering]( if crypto is back and why accountants are suddenly getting a lot of love. [VCs to recommerce startups: Let's pop some tags]( Thanks in large part to Gen Z’s interest in sustainable shopping, recommerce is soaring to new heights, and VCs are looking for the come up. Since Etsy went public in 2015, companies like Poshmark, The RealReal and thredUP followed suit, attracting even more investors to the sector. Last year, VCs flowed approximately $6 billion to resale platforms, writes Brian Schwarzbach, an investor with Cathay Innovation. In a post for TC+, he explores three recommerce areas attracting VC funds and shares “some food for thought for founders building startups in this (re)emerging space.” [TechCrunch+]( is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack.[You can sign up here](. Use code “DC” for a 15% discount on an annual subscription! [Read More]( [VCs to recommerce startups: Let's pop some tags image] Image Credits: Kinga Krzeminska / Getty Images Big Tech Inc. Sometimes things don’t go as planned. In India, its [central bank decided to press pause]( on plans it had for a rival to the nation’s dominant payment system, Unified Payments Interface. [Manish]( writes that the project, called New Umbrella Entity, had made some traction, attracting interest from large companies and financial institutions, and inviting bids in 2021 for licenses to operate new retail payment and settlement systems across India. However, the project just failed to have that sizzle and pop that the Reserve Bank of India was looking for. Catch a falling iPod and put it in your pocket…[Harri]( reports on [Apple’s patent application for what looks to be a teeny, tiny iPod]( that can do it all: music, videos and books, no smartphone or smartwatch needed. Though not sure how you can read on something that small. I guess we’ll see. And we have five more for you: - WTF Twitter?: [Twitter is censoring Substack links]( by making the posts impossible to reply to, like or retweet. [Amanda]( has more. - Not much Cruise-ing going on: [Cruise recalls 300 robotaxis]( and is issuing a software update after crashing into a city bus,[Kirsten]( reports. - No chip off any block right now:[Samsung cuts memory chip production](, with [Kate]( reporting that the consumer electronics giant hit its worst quarterly profit since 2009. - Price wars: That’s [Tesla’s strategy for competing with legacy carmakers](, [Kirsten]( writes. Meanwhile, [Rita]( reports on [a promotion over at Tesla China](, and Kirsten reports that [JB Straubel could return to Tesla]( as a board member. - Oops, ChatGPT did it again: [Devin]( asks, “[Can AI commit libel?](” Well, some new legal challenges are going to try and answer that question. [Read more stories on TechCrunch.com]( Newest Jobs from Crunchboard - [Information Technology Manager at Alameda County Water District (Fremont, CA, USA)]( - [Information Services Support Specialist at Administration South (Toppenish, WA 98948, USA)]( - [Lead Software Developer at AWE Learning (Chester, PA, USA)]( - [IT Support Specialist at Human Rights Watch (New York, NY, USA)]( - [Head of Engineering at Qblox (Delft, Netherlands)]( [See more jobs on CrunchBoard]( [Post your tech jobs]( and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $200 per month. [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Youtube]( [Instagram]( [Flipboard]( [View this email online in your browser]( [Privacy Policy]( | [Terms of Service]( | [Unsubscribe]( © 2023 Yahoo. All rights reserved. 110 5th St, San Francisco, CA 94103