Thursday, November 7, 2024

Welcome to TechCrunch AM! It's Dom, and I'll be guest-writing the newsletter once again. Today, we have Anthropic seeking out defense contracts, Canada cracking down on TikTok, a review of the new MacBook Pro, iMac and the new Apple Mini, a preview of iOS 18.2, and so much more. Let's dive in! — Dom

TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: Jakub Porzycki / NurPhoto / Getty Images

1. Canada turns the screws on TikTok: In the latest blow to TikTok, Canada yesterday ordered TikTok Canada's offices to close, citing national security risks. The app can still be used to view, post and create content, however, and businesses can continue advertising on it. Read More

2. Anthropic lines up for defense: The AI company is teaming up with Palantir and Amazon Web Services to provide its Claude family of AI products to U.S. defense agencies. Read More

3. The Macbook Pro M4 review: Apple is back with its yearly refresh of its MacBook line, and this year's Pro models come with a new chip, a better display and more power. Still, TC's Brian Heater feels the M3 MacBook Air is still the best Apple laptop for most. We also have reviews of the new Apple Mini and the IMac (M4). Read More

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Morning must-reads

Image Credits: Apple

Apple trickles out more AI features: Apple is letting users try more AI features in the iOS 18.2 public beta. Among other things, the update will bring an emoji generator, an AI image playground, and ChatGPT integration for Siri. Read More

It's the end of an era for caller identification app Truecaller. Its founders are stepping down from the helm, passing the reins over to Rishit Jhunjhunwala, the company's product chief and head of its crucial Indian business. The reshuffle comes at a time when the company is finding its footing after a tough few years. Read More

Solar-powered success: Norwegian GlintSolar has raised $8 million to help increase the adoption of solar energy across Europe. The company's platform helps energy giants and large solar developers cut the time it takes to plan and pre-design solar installations. Read More

The future of work is here: SocialCrowd, a company that lets companies track and reward employee engagement, has raised a $2.5 million seed round. The round demonstrates that investors are still quite interested in future of work software. Read More

Taking flight: SpaceX is planning on conducting another test flight of Starship as soon as November 18. The company said it was going to try and recreate some of the successes of its last Starship attempt less than a month ago. Read More

A Message from Carta

VC and accelerator leaders share what makes a winning pitch

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Around the web

Like it or not, AI regulation is coming: The U.K. is talking about bringing in regulations to safeguard against AI risks as early as next year. The Financial Times spoke to Peter Kyle, the country's technology secretary, about how the AI revolution is progressing in the "Unicorn Kingdom" and what the future of regulation looks like. Read More

AI-powered ink? The Wall Street Journal dived into the question of whether it's appropriate to have AI create tattoos. This is a somewhat big debate in the AI community, as artists talk about design copyright and taking away the chance for artists to, well, be artists. Read More

Before you go

Image Credits: Slava Blazer Photography

The cream of the crop: Two hundred companies participated in TechCrunch's Startup Battlefield competition this year, but the one to take the prize was Salva Heath. Still, there were so many amazing startups that we made a list of all of the standouts this year. Read More