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[The Daily Crunch logo]( By [Christine Hall]( Thursday, December 14, 2023 In todayâs top story, Kirsten learned exclusively that General Motorsâ self-driving car division Cruise was slashing 24% of its workforce. Most of the cuts are being made in non-engineering positions. [Get more of the scoop](. This follows Kirstenâs coverage yesterday of [a number of Cruise managers and executives leaving]( after an initial safety probe involving a pedestrian that was struck and dragged by one of the companyâs robotaxis. Meanwhile, Ivan writes about a new Instagram feature that enables generative AIâpowered editing of photo backgrounds. [See it in action](. And Lorenzo has a look at a supply chain attack that targeted Ledger, a company that makes hardware and software for crypto wallets. [Learn how it started](. [ image] Image Credits: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images More top reads Mega deal: Indiaâs Udaan, a business-to-business e-commerce startup, scores $340 million in new funding. [Read about one of Indiaâs largest funding deals this year](. Not just human, but superhuman: OpenAI thinks superhuman AI is coming and, of course, wants to build tools to control it. [Here is the companyâs plan](. A dose of their own medicine: Microsoft disrupts a cybercrime operation by selling fraudulent accounts to a notorious hacking gang. [Take that](! Mission accomplished: Amazonâs Project Kuiper confirms its super-fast satellite communication tech works in space. [Learn more](. Connected home: Google Nest Renew and OhmConnect merge into âRenew Homeâ with a $100 million boost from Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners. [Hereâs how it will work](. No strings attached: Metaâs Threads is finally available to users in the European Union. [Welcome](! At it again: Apple again targets iMessage-on-Android app Beeper, but the company isnât taking it lying down. [Thereâs a fix](. A good sign: Paris-based venture capital firm Singular raises $435 million for its second fund. [Learn more](. Youâve got email . . . and a calendar: Encrypted email service Proton Mail finally gets its own desktop app. [See what you get](. Pivot: Jumia, a Pan-African e-commerce company, discontinues its food delivery across seven markets, instead shifting focus to expanding its physical goods business. [Hereâs why](. The elephant in the social media room: Mastodon founder touts Threadsâ federation, saying it makes his X rival âa far more attractive option.â [Get the scoop](. Shop till you drop: Social commerce platform Maka raises $2.65 million to simplify buying fashion and beauty products in Africa. [Read more](. Pay for play: Andreessen Horowitz says it will give literally any politician money if they help deregulate tech. [Call it optimism](. Even more for your Thursday: [Spotify confirms test of prompt-based AI playlists feature]( [Temuâs latest lawsuit against Shein is wild]( (TC+) [Boston Dynamics joins forces with firm behind âAvatar,â âJurassic Parkâ animatronics]( [Linktree acquires link-in-bio platform Koji in its second investment of the year]( [BoxGroup closes on $425M for two funds to back early-stage startups]( [More top reads image] Image Credits: Dhiraj Singh / Bloomberg / Getty Images [On the pods]( For this weekâs episode of [Chain Reaction](, Jacquelyn interviewed Johann Kerbrat, the general manager of crypto at Robinhood. Johann is leading the application’s effort to expand its crypto exchange business and make digital assets more accessible to retail investors. We discussed Robinhoodâs expansion outside the U.S., how the platform restricted holding and trading of certain crypto assets in June, and where it stands today. We also talked about: - Appealing to mainstream audiences.
- Growing crypto on its platform.
- Regulatory concerns.
- Robinhoodâs 2024 objectives. Chain Reaction comes out every Thursday at 12:00 p.m. ET, so be sure to subscribe to us on[Apple Podcasts,]([Spotify](or your favorite pod platform to keep up with the action. [Read More]( [On the pods image] Image Credits: Bryce Durbin [Read more stories on TechCrunch.com]( Newest Jobs from Crunchboard - [Michigan Online, Software Engineer at University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI, USA)](
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