TikTok faces a ban in the US, Tesla profits drop and healthcare data leaks

Welcome, people, to Week in Evaluation (WiR), TechCrunch’s common e-newsletter overlaying this week’s noteworthy happenings in tech.

TikTok’s fate in the U.S. looks uncertain after President Joe Biden signed a invoice that included a deadline for ByteDance, TikTok’s mother or father firm, to divest itself of TikTok inside 9 months or face a ban on distributing it within the U.S. Ivan writes about how the impact of TikTok bans in other countries may sign what’s to return stateside.

In the meantime, fallout from the Change Healthcare hack continues. Change, a subsidiary of medical health insurance large UnitedHealth, confirmed this week that the ransomware assault focusing on it earlier this yr resulted in an enormous theft of People’ personal well being information, probably overlaying “a considerable proportion” of People.

And Tesla income dropped 55% because the EV firm contends with elevated strain from hybrid carmakers. The automaker’s progress plan is centered round mysterious cheaper EVs scheduled to launch subsequent yr — in addition to maybe a robotaxi. However a recall on the Cybertruck for defective accelerator pedals actually received’t assist in the interim.

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Amazon grocery plan: Amazon launched a brand new limitless grocery supply subscription within the U.S. The plan, which prices $9.99 per 30 days for Amazon Prime customers, comes with free deliveries for grocery orders over $35 throughout Amazon Contemporary, Entire Meals Market and different native grocery retailers.

California drones grounded: In additional Amazon information, the tech large confirmed that it’s ending Prime Air drone supply operations in Lockeford, California. The Central California city of three,500 was the corporate’s second U.S. drone supply web site after School Station, Texas; Amazon didn’t provide any particulars across the setback.

Fisker plans layoffs: Fisker says it’s planning extra layoffs lower than two months after cutting 15% of its workforce, because the EV startup scrambles to lift money to remain alive. Fisker expects to hunt chapter safety inside the subsequent 30 days if it could actually’t give you the cash.

Stripe expansion: Amongst a slew of different bulletins at its Classes convention in San Francisco, Stripe mentioned that it’ll be de-coupling funds from the remainder of its monetary providers stack. Provided that Stripe beforehand required companies to be funds prospects as a way to use any of its different merchandise, that’s an enormous change.

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Rabbit hands on: Brian writes in regards to the R1, the primary gizmo from AI startup R1. The $199 worth level, touchscreen and funky aesthetic from storied design agency Teenage Engineering make the R1 much more accessible than Humane’s Ai Pin, he concludes.

Lab-grown diamonds: Pascal, an Andreessen Horowitz-backed startup, claims it could actually make high-end jewellery accessible by utilizing lab-grown diamonds chemically and bodily akin to pure diamonds however that value one-twentieth of the worth.

AI poetry: An experiment referred to as the Poetry Camera — an precise, bodily digicam — combines open supply expertise with playful design and inventive imaginative and prescient. As an alternative of merely capturing pictures, the Poetry Digital camera arranges thought-provoking, AI-generated stanzas based mostly on the visuals it encounters.

Rippling deep dive: Connie interviewed Parker Conrad, the CEO of workforce administration startup Rippling, on the corporate’s new $200 million funding spherical, new San Francisco lease (the second greatest to be signed within the metropolis this yr) and extra.