Sunday, July 14, 2024

Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch

X ended the week with bad news out of Europe: The European Commission released preliminary findings alleging that the social network formerly known as Twitter is in violation of the EU’s Digital Services Act.

In its findings, the commission claimed that X’s blue check marks are illegal, because users might be misled into thinking that their owners have been verified or are otherwise trustworthy. It also claimed that X’s ad repository does not meet DSA standards and that the company failed to provide needed access to researchers.

X will now have a chance to respond to the preliminary findings. CEO Elon Musk wrote, “We look forward to a very public battle in court, so that the people of Europe can know the truth.”

In addition, the commission sided with an individual user who accused X of violating the DSA, as well as other European regulations, when it shadowbanned his account. While this is just an individual case, it could ultimately have broader enforcement implications for X.

Keep reading to see what TechCrunch has been covering this weekend.

Weekend news and opinion

Image Credits: girafchik123 / Getty Images

What is an AI agent, really? Ron Miller tries to figure out why no one seems to agree on an answer. The basic definition (AI-powered software designed to replace a human agent) sounds straightforward, but questions remain about what role these agents will play. Read more

How Synapse collapsed: Fintech company Synapse filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, leaving the many other fintech businesses that use its technology in the lurch. Mary Ann Azevedo pieces together the full timeline of the company’s failure and lays out the ways its collapse is still affecting banking customers. Read more

India still loves cheap feature phones: Remarkably, feature phone shipments in India grew 10% last year. Jagmeet Singh looks at why feature phone owners continue to resist upgrading to a smartphone and how telecom giant Reliance Jio is capitalizing (or not) on the trend. Read more

Every U.S. AI startup that raised $100 million this year: Rebecca Szkutak rounds up this year’s big AI funding rounds, from AlphaSense (which raised a $650 million Series F) to xAI (which raised a $6 billion Series B). Read more

What else we’re reading 📖

The Verge spoke to Canva co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins about how the design software company has grown to 185 million monthly users, and even asked about the company’s infamous Hamilton-style rap video: “Was it a little cringey? Yes, that was the point.” Read more

Meanwhile, Wired profiled Priscila Barbosa, whose business creating Uber and Lyft driver accounts en masse eventually led to prison time and the threat of deportation. Read more