Daily Crunch: Huawei faces Android ban

NelsonG · May 20, 2019

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1. Huawei responds to Android ban with service and security guarantees, but its future is unclear

Google is complying with a federal directive that placed Huawei and 70 of its affiliates on an “entity list,” meaning that any U.S. company needs government approval before doing business with the Chinese tech company.

In response, Huawei said today that it will continue to provide security updates and after-sales support to its existing lineup of Android smartphones. Still, what the company didn’t say will probably spark concerns.

2. TikTok owner ByteDance’s long-awaited chat app is here

The new app is called Feiliao, or Flipchat in English, a hybrid of an instant messenger plus interest-based forums, and it’s currently available for both iOS and Android. It arrived only four months after Bytedance unveiled its video-focused chatting app Duoshan.

3. Identity platform Auth0 raises $103M, pushing its valuation over $1B

Auth0 — pronounced “auth-zero” — provides authentication-as-a-service to its corporate customers. In other words, it offers a secure login system used to properly authenticate the identity of employees.

4. Sam Altman’s leap of faith

Earlier this year, founder-investor Sam Altman left his high-profile role as the president of Y Combinator to become the CEO of AI research outfit OpenAI. Connie Loizos talks to him about YC’s evolution and his current work.

5. Robin picks up $20M Series B to optimize the office

Robin hooks into Google Calendar and Outlook to help employees get a sense of what meeting rooms and activity spaces are available in the office, complete with tablet signage out front.

6. This week’s TechCrunch podcasts

The team at Equity has thoughts on the latest funding round for luggage startup Away, while we have plenty of opinions about the latest “Game of Thrones” developments on Original Content.

7. What Uber and Lyft’s investment bankers got right

Danny Crichton argues that Uber and Lyft are proof that investment bankers actually are pretty smart in their advice about the pubic markets, and founders should be cautious about ignoring their words. (Extra Crunch membership required.)