Author: GT

Amazon is bringing back its annual sales event, Prime Day, in July, the e-commerce giant said on Tuesday. This year, consumer demand for the popular sale event could be dampened by the possibility of tariffs increasing the cost of goods. To highlight the impact of President Trump’s tariffs, Amazon will reportedly begin to display the cost of the tariffs next to the total price of goods on its site, according to Punchbowl News. The White House swiftly blasted Amazon’s decision to display the impact of tariffs as “a hostile and political act by Amazon,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt…

MADRID (AP) — The sweeping power outage that hit Spain and Portugal this week has raised questions about the electricity grid in a region not normally known for blackouts. Monday’s outage, one of the worst ever in Europe, started in the afternoon and lasted through nightfall, affecting tens of millions of people across the Iberian Peninsula. It disrupted businesses, hospitals, transit systems, cellular networks and other critical infrastructure.Authorities in Spain and Portugal are still investigating exactly what caused the failure, though some information has emerged about happened. Here’s what to know: What happened?Spain and Portugal lost most of their electricity…

More investors are warming up to the idea that Bitcoin could be a legitimate store of value, especially with the availability of ETFs. XRP was created by Ripple, and it has a real use case, which sets it apart from most other cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin and XRP are coming off strong gains in 2024, but one looks like a better buy than the other. Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is the world’s largest cryptocurrency, with a market capitalization of $1.8 trillion, which represents more than half of the total value of all coins and tokens in circulation across the entire industry. It’s in…

The AI revolution isn’t coming — it’s already underway, and the time to grab your Early Bird ticket ends in just 6 days. Don’t miss your chance to dive into the AI ecosystem and lock in the lowest rates. On June 5, TechCrunch Sessions: AI takes over UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall for a one-day gathering of the world’s top founders, investors, researchers, technologists, and enthusiasts who are actively shaping the future of AI. Early Bird pricing ends soon — save up to $210 on your pass, and get 50% off a second ticket for your co-founder, colleague, or AI-obsessed friend.…

Hungry to learn more about Anthropic, directly from Anthropic? You aren’t alone if so, which is why we’re so delighted to announce that Anthropic co-founder and Chief Science Officer Jared Kaplan is joining the main stage at TechCrunch Sessions: AI on June 5 at UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall. Lean into this session exploring the frontier of AI with Kaplan — and save big with Early Bird pricing. Save $210 on your ticket and get 50% off a second when you register by May 4 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Don’t wait — register now to secure your savings. About Jared Kaplan’s…

We’re in the final stretch. TechCrunch Sessions: AI takes over Zellerbach Hall in almost a month, and the exhibit floor is almost completely booked. If you’ve been considering showing off your AI product or innovation, now’s the time to commit. Exhibit tables are in short supply, and the May 9 deadline is fast approaching. At TC Sessions: AI on June 5, AI leaders, engineers, founders, researchers, investors, and visionaries will gather to explore what’s next in artificial intelligence. They’re coming to scout what’s cutting-edge, what’s investable, and what’s actually moving the industry forward. If that sounds like your company, you…

NEW YORK (AP) — The founder and former CEO of the failed cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius Network should face 20 years behind bars for lying and self-dealing that cost customers billions of dollars in losses, prosecutors told a judge Tuesday. Alexander Mashinsky, 59, told thousands of customers that their money was safe and secure, leading to investors pouring over $20 billion into Celsius by 2021, they wrote in a submission ahead of a scheduled May 8 sentencing in Manhattan federal court. “They were not,” prosecutors said, noting that Celsius declared bankruptcy in 2022 and acknowledged that it could not return…

Spotify reported on Tuesday that its premium subscriber base grew by 5 million in the first quarter, representing a 12% increase year-over-year. This brings the total to 268 million, marking the second-highest total ever and the highest net addition of paid subs for a first quarter since 2020.  Spotify also reported a record-high quarterly operating income of €509 million (around $528 million). However, this was below the company’s guidance of €548 million ($625 million). Total revenue jumped 15% year-over-year to €4.2 billion ($4.8 billion).  Additionally, the music-streaming giant now has a total of 678 million monthly active users (MAUs) and…

Two recent shepherds of U.S. crypto oversight — Republican former lawmaker Patrick McHenry and Democrat former Commodity Futures Trading Commission chief Rostin Behnam — shared a view that there’s a tremendous amount of work still to do on U.S. crypto legislation but that now is the moment to do it. McHenry, in a discussion hosted by Georgetown University’s Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy, said that Senator Tim Scott, the South Carolina chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and Representative French Hill, the Arkansas Republican who leads the House Financial Services Committee, present the industry an ideal opportunity to…

A court in India has ordered the blocking of encrypted email provider Proton Mail across the country. On Tuesday, the Karnataka High Court directed the Indian government to block Proton Mail, a popular email service known for its enhanced security, following a legal complaint filed by New Delhi-based M Moser Design Associates. The local firm alleged that its employees had received emails containing obscene and vulgar content sent via Proton Mail. In a Tuesday hearing streamed on YouTube, Justice M Nagaprasanna ordered the Indian government to “block Proton Mail, bearing in mind the observations made in the course of the…