Author: TechBrunch

Spotify announced Gen AI Ads, among other changes to its advertising business at an event in New York City on Thursday. In particular, the company has introduced Spotify Ad Exchange (SAX), a new program offering. This allows advertisers to contact Spotify logged in users via real-time auctions. In scaling Sax News, Spotify said it has “instantly” inked its new partnerships with Google's Demandside Platform, Display & Video 360 and Magnite with “Yahoo DSP, Adform, and more.” Trade desks are also supported. SAX will offer “full addressability” and measurement capabilities, the company said. Partners can initially advertise the entire music in…

TechCrunch All Stage – Altimate Founder Summit – is becoming a powerhouse event where 1,200 founders and VCs come together across all stages to create meaningful connections and quickly gain actionable insights to apply to expand the startup. Join the Sowa Power Plant in Boston on July 15th. Be part of your conversation with a scaling expert. Sign up now and save up to $210! Registering in more than four groups will save more. About the breakout session Image credit: TechCrunch Adding more value to this already packed agenda, we look forward to announce that Index Ventures partner Jahanvi Sardana…

With President Donald Trump's latest tariffs announced today, the day he calls “liberation day” – Web3 startups believe they can use their blockchain platform to automatically track tariffs on goods coming and going to the United States. This claim can be bold and is typical of many such bold claims made by other Web3 startups. However, there may be more than just eye contact, as WATR's platforms are already being used to verify products by large mining companies and automakers. Created by former Shell, BP and JP Morgan executives, the company is led by Mariam Ayati, who leads global origination…

Caller Identity app TrueCaller said earlier this week it surpassed the 450 million user mark. The company said it has added 50 million users and 15.5 million users in the last 10 months since the beginning of 2025. India is the company's largest user base. Therefore, it was not surprising that TrueCaller promoted Chief Product Officer and MD Rishit Jhunjhunwala to the position of CEO after TrueCaller last year's co-founder decided to step back from day to day operations. Image credit: TrueCaller Jhunjhunwala said India remains an important market for Truecaller, while it has grown in other regions as well.…

Circle, the publisher of USDC, is a stablecoin pinned to US dollars submitted for publication on Tuesday. The company reported that its earned money from interest earned on its reserve assets, with revenues and reserves in 2024 at $1.68 billion, up from $1.45 billion the previous year. Circle's net income in 2024 was $156 million, up from $268 million in 2023. This is the second attempt by a circle to be listed on the stock exchange. The company previously tried to make public in 2022 in conjunction with SPAC, but it abolished the plan when the SEC did not approve…

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney manufactures Fortnite and tools for other developers, including Unreal Engine, calling Apple and Google “Gangster-style business” and is engaged in illegal practices while speaking at the Y-combinator event on Wednesday. The executive also highlighted that the practices of large tech companies had a direct impact on their business by scaring users from installing Epic's game store software and preventing Epic from offering developers. In particular, Epic Games has played a major role in the fight against the Big Tech monopoly over the past few years. The company sued both Apple and Google. For exclusive practice…

The companies behind Automattic, WordPress.com, Tumblr, WooCommerce and various other online services are cutting their workforce. The layoffs will affect 16% of staff across the department, an Automattic blog post published Wednesday revealed. Prior to the layoffs, the Automattic website lists 1,744 employees. (Automattic refused to check this number, but I've heard that the exact number is 281.) The post explained that this “restructuring” is necessary due to the market's competitiveness and the speed at which technology is evolving, as it was shared with company employees via Slack on Wednesday. But the move also comes after a turbulent year for…

Tiktok, owned by Chinese company Bytedance, has been at the heart of US controversy for four years due to concerns about user data that the Chinese government may access. Earlier this year, the app experienced a temporary suspension in the US, leaving millions of users suspense before it was quickly restored. Tiktok returned to the App Store and Google Play Store in February. Nevertheless, Tiktok's future remains uncertain, with a potential second ban on April 5th looming. Many investors are competing for opportunities to buy apps, and if a transaction occurs, the platform's US business could rise to over $60…

According to a new report from The New York Times, Amazon has submitted a bid to get all of Tiktok. Last-minute bids come as Tiktok faces the April 5 deadline to drop China's ownership or face a ban in the US, but according to a Times report, it appears that the parties involved in the contract consultations are not taking Amazon's bids seriously. President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with officials to discuss the fate of the app on Wednesday. Earlier this week, Trump said that contracts with the ordinance by Tiktok's parent company to sell the app will…

Also known as the open social web, which includes Mastodon, Meta threads, Pixelfed and other apps, Fediverse has added security. On Wednesday, the nonprofit organization announced the launch of a new security fund that pays people responsible for revealing security vulnerabilities that affect the Fediverse app and services. All software has security issues, but Mastodon (open source and decentralized X alternative) has fixed a number of bugs over the years, leading to the need for such programs. Another issue found in Fediverse is that many servers do not necessarily have a security background or are run by independent operators who…