Aisha Malik, Author at TechCrunch

iRobot lays off another 105 employees

Aisha Malik — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 22:21:23 +0000

Roomba maker iRobot is laying off 105 employees — about 16% of the company’s workforce, per an SEC filing — saying the cuts are part of an “operational restructuring plan.” The move comes after iRobot slashed roughly 350 jobs — about 31% of its workforce — earlier this year. Those cuts were made after plans […]

Apple warns investors its new products might never be as profitable as the iPhone

Aisha Malik — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 23:47:17 +0000

Apple is warning investors that its new and future products might never be as profitable as the iPhone. The disclosure comes as the company is pursuing newer technologies like artificial intelligence and mixed-reality headsets. Apple added the warning in its latest annual report under the “business risks” section, as first reported by the Financial Times. […]

CoffeeSpace is a Hinge-like app that wants to help you find your co-founder

Aisha Malik — Sat, 02 Nov 2024 14:00:00 +0000

CoffeeSpace is on a mission to help people find partners for their startup ideas online. The startup, which exhibited as part of the Startup Battlefield 200 at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024, has launched a social networking app that matches people exploring startup ideas and looking for co-founders. The startup’s algorithm only matches candidates who meet each […]

CareYaya is enabling affordable home care by connecting healthcare students with elders

Aisha Malik — Sat, 02 Nov 2024 13:00:00 +0000

CareYaya, a platform that matches people who need caregivers with healthcare students, is working to disrupt the caregiving industry. The startup, which exhibited as part of the Battlefield 200 at TechCrunch Disrupt, is looking to enhance affordable in-home support, while also helping students prepare for their future healthcare careers. The startup was founded in 2022 […]

Google Maps is getting new AI features powered by Gemini

Aisha Malik — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 17:08:25 +0000

Google Maps is getting new features powered by Gemini, Google’s generative AI model. On Thursday the company announced incoming updates that will allow Google Maps users in the U.S. to tap into AI to help them find new places to visit and answer questions about different locations. The platform is also getting enhanced navigation features […]

NFL quarterback turned-founder Colin Kaepernick on the challenges facing disrupters

Aisha Malik — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 00:04:44 +0000

Former NFL quarterback and civil rights activist Colin Kaepernick took the stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 on Wednesday to talk about the challenges facing people who want to disrupt something — both inside and outside of the tech world. “One of the biggest challenges that you will likely face when you try to disrupt something […]

Matt Mullenweg says Automattic is ‘very short-staffed’ amid WordPress vs. WP Engine drama

Aisha Malik — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 18:38:54 +0000

Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg says the company is “very short-staffed” amid WordPress’s ongoing drama with WP Engine, which hosts websites built on WordPress. The WordPress co-founder took the stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 on Wednesday. The saga began when Mullenweg called WP Engine a “cancer to WordPress.” Mullenweg called out WP Engine, claiming that they […]

Tony Fadell on mission-driven a–holes, Silicon Valley entitlement and why LLMs are ‘know-it-alls’

Aisha Malik — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 00:22:11 +0000

Tony Fadell, the father of the iPod and founder of Nest, took the stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 on Tuesday to talk about how building the next generation of deep tech startups requires mission-driven a–holes. The entrepreneur and investor did not hold back onstage as he called out Silicon Valley for its entitlement and dunked […]

Ashton Kutcher explains why he’s betting on AI, but not trying to pick a ‘winner’

Aisha Malik — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 21:54:48 +0000

Ashton Kutcher, co-founder of Sound Ventures, believes that every company is going to become an AI company, but that there might not be a winner in the space. The actor and investor spoke at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 on Tuesday alongside Sound co-founder Guy Oseary and partner Effie Epstein to detail what the firm is looking […]

Luna wants to help young girls navigate their health and well-being

Aisha Malik — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 17:46:10 +0000

Meet Luna, a health and well-being app for teen girls that is designed to help them navigate teenhood. The app lets teens ask questions about their health and wellness and get responses from experts. It also lets them track their periods, moods, and skin. The London-based startup presented today at on the Startup Battlefield stage […]

DGLegacy wants to help you ensure your loved ones inherit your assets

Aisha Malik — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 21:28:12 +0000

DGLegacy, a company that’s designed a digital legacy planning and inheritance app, pitched today at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 Startup Battlefield to detail how it’s helping people ensure that their loved ones inherit their assets. Founded by husband-and-wife duo Ana Mineva and Peter Minev, DGLegacy allows users to proactively inform their beneficiaries of their assets and […]

Former Disney star Bridgit Mendler talks scaling connectivity and resilience for space

Aisha Malik — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 19:23:34 +0000

Former Disney Channel star and singer Bridgit Mendler took the stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 on Monday to detail how her startup, Northwood Space, is investing in a forgotten part of the space industry: ground infrastructure. Ground stations are the critical communication points for satellites to communicate with Earth. Northwood aims to mass-produce ground stations, as […]

Google expands AI Overviews in Search to more than 100 countries

Aisha Malik — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 16:27:46 +0000

Google Search’s AI Overviews, which display a snapshot of information at the top of the results page, are beginning to roll out in more than 100 countries and territories, the company announced on Monday. Google first launched the feature in the United States in May before slowly rolling out to additional regions. Google says AI […]

How Apple Intelligence changes the way you use Siri on your iPhone

Aisha Malik — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 15:50:00 +0000

Here’s a look at what’s going to change with Siri, and what the introduction of Apple Intelligence will allow you to do with the digital assistant.

Screenable’s app turns any iPhone into a starter phone for kids

Aisha Malik — Fri, 25 Oct 2024 13:00:00 +0000

A new app called Screenable will help parents introduce their children to technology by turning an iPhone or iPad into a starter phone. The app is designed to grow over time with a child, as it offers different modes for kids of different ages. For starters, the app’s “Dumb Phone” mode essentially turns an iPhone […]

Snapchat brings camera shortcut to the iPhone lock screen

Aisha Malik — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 14:29:34 +0000

Users with iPhone iOS 18 and later can now replace the flashlight or native camera lock screen shortcut with the Snapchat camera. Once a picture is taken or video is recorded with the shortcut, users will have to unlock their phone before sharing. Snapchat says more than 55,000 Snaps are created every second on average, […]

TikTok will now show its STEM feed to adults, not just teens

Aisha Malik — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 14:00:00 +0000

TikTok announced on Wednesday that it’s bringing its STEM feed to all users in the United States, United Kingdom, and Ireland by default. Previously, the feed was only turned on by default for users under the age of 18. The social network says the expansion will make it easier for people to find educational content […]

Spotify now lets you create custom cover art for your playlists

Aisha Malik — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 13:53:52 +0000

Spotify is rolling out the ability for users to design and customize their own playlist cover art, the company announced on Tuesday. While users have already been able to upload a custom image for a playlist, this new feature lets you design you own cover art right in the app. The feature is rolling out […]

Google replaces executive in charge of Search and advertising

Aisha Malik — Thu, 17 Oct 2024 18:23:01 +0000

Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced on Thursday that Prabhakar Raghavan, the executive in charge of the company’s search engine and ads products, is leaving his role. Longtime Google executive Nick Fox will replace Raghavan, who will now take on the role of chief technologist. “Prabhakar has decided it’s time to make a big leap in […]

Instagram rolls out new safety features to protect teens from sextortion

Aisha Malik — Thu, 17 Oct 2024 11:00:00 +0000

Instagram is introducing a series of new safety features to protect users from sextortion scammers, the company announced on Thursday. Most notably, the company is no longer going to allow people to screenshot or screen record ephemeral images or videos sent in private messages. Up until now, you have been able to screenshot ephemeral content […]