Epic Games, Spotify, others say down with Apple’s DMA rules

Good afternoon, and welcome to TechCrunch PM! It’s Friday yet again and the team has been busy.

First up, we were in Los Angeles just last night for our latest StrictlyVC event. Signal President Meredith Whittaker, Waymo Co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana, rabbit CEO and Co-Founder Jesse Lyu, Founders Fund Partner Trae Stephens and Lightspeed Ventures partner Faraz Fatemi joined us to discuss a wide range of topics, from the reasons AI could unseat entrenched companies, Waymo’s ascent, what it’s like for rabbit to ride the r1’s hype following its CES 2024 reveal. Don’t miss us next time for StrictlyVC London in May.

Today, several companies tell the European Commission how unhappy they are with Apple’s DMA rules, and Threads says it will make its API available to more developers this summer. Plus, Ivanti hackers keep coming back, a better clean when you have to go, advances in pesticide control, new funding and a way to see what the weather is like inside the ocean.

— Christine

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TechCrunch PM Top 3

Spotify, Epic Games and others have something to say about Apple: Apple’s new DMA rules have already been widely criticized by developers and tech companies, and now a few others are piling on. Epic Games, Spotify, Proton, 37signals and other developers have formalized their complaints in a letter to the European Commission. They collectively argue that Apple has made a mockery of the new law and urge the EC to take “swift, timely, and decisive action against Apple” in order to protect developers.

Groq has got it going on: Groq, the AI chip startup, is not only forming a new business unit, but has also acquired Definitive Intelligence to boost its AI offerings.

Threads hearts developers: Meta’s X rival Threads says its API should be more broadly available to developers by June, along with some new features.

More top reads

More on Ivanti: Hackers continue to exploit flaws in Ivanti’s widely used enterprise VPN appliance and are now targeting organizations across the U.S. defense sector.

Apple walks back its decision to block web apps: Who says Apple can’t be nice? After making a decision last month to block web apps in the European Union, the consumer electronics giant said it will reinstate the functionality in the next public release of iOS 17.4.

A new clean where the sun don’t shine: Fohm rebrands to Saintly and gives you — and the environment — a better way to wipe your bottom.

Thoma Bravo takes Everbridge private: We’ve got an update for you on this deal that has Everbridge, a critical event management software company, going private in what is now a $1.8 billion all-cash deal by private equity giant Thoma Bravo.

Meta’s now on the EU chopping block: Meta’s controversial “subscribe for no ads” option for users in the European Union is facing questions from the European Commission.

Pitch Deck Teardown: See what Haje liked and didn’t like about CommandBar’s seed deck.

AgZen wants to keep pesticides where they belong: The company’s approach uses AI so that instead of spraying too much, plants get sprayed just enough.

A conundrum only Shakespeare would understand: Five deep tech investors decided to put differences aside and work together.

This one time, at Upfront Summit: Read all about the rants, the talk of AI and what else went on at this week’s Upfront Summit that took place in Los Angeles.

Weather from down under … water: Syrenna has built a versatile robotic platform that acts like a mobile weather station for the sea and is ready to emerge from stealth to enable precise, real-time monitoring of the oceans.

Money, money, money: TravelJoy, a tool for travel entrepreneurs and travel business operators, raised $10 million and is leveraging AI for its next phase of business. Rec emerges from stealth with $6.2 million to modernize parks and recreation management and bookings. And Karma3 Labs, now with $4.5 million, aims to solve the trust and safety issues going on in cryptocurrency.

Before you go

MWC 2024: Just because Mobile World Congress is over doesn’t mean the stories stop.

Instagram now has the “Friend Map” feature; maybe you were yearning for a midday cup of joe and were hoping one of your friends could join you. Swayy wants to go one step further than just saying where you are at the moment and has an iPhone app that enables you to share where you plan to go in a couple of hours or even a month from now.

And, if you don’t know what haptics are, you will by the end of this article. Brian Heater spoke with Ultraleap co-founder and CEO Tom Carter about adapting the technology for use in automotive and virtual reality. However, that’s not all the company can do with it.

Catch up on all the MWC coverage here.

On the pods

On today’s Equity, Mary Ann Azevedo and Alex Wilhelm dug into the most critical stories and themes from the week, including Stripe’s valuation recovering, Fervo Energy’s $221 million round, why VCs are investing in companies that shut down companies, and AI and the law. Listen here.

Check back next week when the Equity team will have an interview with Nubank’s CEO.

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