Daily Crunch - TikTok's ownership drama continues

Oracle appears to be the winner in the battle for ownership of TikTok’s U.S. operations, we run down the possibilities for Apple’s event later this week and Google announces an event of its own. This is your Daily Crunch for September 14, 2020.

The big story: TikTok's ownership drama continues

News broke over the weekend that there was a surprising winner in the bidding war over TikTok’s U.S. operations, with The Wall Street Journal reporting that Oracle would be announced as the Chinese social media app’s “trusted tech partner” in the United States.

And although there have been Chinese state-run media reports that neither Microsoft (which had been seen as the front runner) nor Oracle would end up owning TikTok, Oracle soon released the following statement:

Oracle confirms Secretary Mnuchin’s statement that it is part of the proposal submitted by ByteDance to the Treasury Department over the weekend in which Oracle will serve as the trusted technology provider. Oracle has a 40-year track record providing secure, highly performant technology solutions.

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The tech giants

What to expect from Apple’s hardware event — The “Time Flies” slogan is the clearest indication that we’re getting some Watch news.

Google will announce a new Pixel, smart speaker and Chromecast September 30 — After opting to skip a virtual version of I/O earlier this year, the company has confirmed that it will be doing a big hardware reveal for members of the press at the tail end of the month.

Arm co-founder starts ‘Save Arm’ campaign to keep independence amid $40B Nvidia deal — Nvidia announced over the weekend that it would buy Arm Holdings from SoftBank, but the deal has hit a hitch.

Startups, funding and venture capital

Airtable raises $185M and launches new low-code and automation features — The round values the company at a $2.585 billion post-money valuation.

Blue Origin’s human lunar lander all-star space team completes first key milestone for moon mission — This means that the company can now move ahead to further NASA reviews and, ultimately, the preliminary design phase.

Quantum startup CEO suggests we are only five years away from a quantum desktop computer — “I think within the next several years, five years or so, you’ll start to see [desktop quantum machines],” said IonQ CEO and president Peter Chapman.

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch

How to hire your first engineer: A guide for nontechnical founders — They could become CTO someday, so choose wisely.

As low-code startups continue to attract VC interest, what’s driving customer demand? — Mendix CEO Derek Roos shares his insight with The Exchange.

Extra Crunch membership now available to readers in Australia — Not an Extra Crunch article, but exciting news for TechCrunch readers in Australia!

(Reminder: Extra Crunch is our subscription membership program, which aims to democratize information about startups. You can sign up here.)

Everything else

Scientists detect a gas that typically indicates the presence of biological life in the atmosphere of Venus — Scientists from the Royal Astronomical Society announced a potentially revolutionary scientific discovery.

Original Content podcast: Disney’s ‘Mulan’ is a decent remake overshadowed by controversy — We did our best to acknowledge that context while also discussing the merits of the film itself.

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