Daily Crunch - The UK is creating a big tech watchdog

Friday, November 27, 2020 • By Darrell Etherington

The UK’s getting a dedicated regulator to try to encourage more competition and limit the power of big tech. This is your Daily Crunch for November 27, 2020.

The big story: UK sets up pro-competition regulator

The UK is looking to do more to actively limit the power of big tech companies within the country, with a new pro-competition regulator designed to oversee web platforms including Facebook and Google. This body could impose restrictions like forcing ad platforms to opt out of behaviour-based advertising altogether.

Dell Technologies Biggest Sale of the Year!

Alibaba gets into the EV market in China with SAIC — The EV market in China is massive, so a massive company like Alibaba getting into the business is not really surprising. It’s partnering up with local automaker SAIC, which makes sense given it’s an entirely new market for Alibaba.

Google-Fitbit merger approval requires human rights safeguards, says Amnesty International – A major international NGO has sent a letter to the EU’s competition chief urging them to build in human rights protections as part of allowing Google’s Fitbit acquisition to proceed.

India sets rules for Ola and Uber fee structure – Uber and Ola (as well as other ride-hailing firms) are now subject to a maximum fee of 20% on rides in India, thanks to a new rule structure put in place on Friday.

Image Credits: Fitbit

Startups, funding and venture capital

College students create an undergraduate hacker house for women – Lacking any options for a good way to take a break from traditional schooling and live and work together building something, a group of college-aged women created their own.

Bigblue aims at ecommerce fulfilment automation – A French startup just raised a seed round to create an automated, end-to-end fulfilment solution for ecommerce companies looking to operate in Europe.

Startups, funding and venture capital image

Image Credits: Bigblue

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch

Remote work is the new normal and Wall Street needs to wise up – After stocks for companies focused on remote and home-based work and play took a beating on positive news about COVID-19 vaccines, Ron and Alex explain why this is a short-sighted reaction from public market investors.

Slack could be overpriced on Salesforce tip – Alex looks into the ramifications of the potential Salesforce Slack acquisition and more in The Exchange.

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

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch image

Image Credits: Ron Miller/TechCrunch

Everything else

Facebook’s Libra could debut in January – Facebook’s forthcoming cryptocurrency might actually be available by January. I’m surprised it still exists, tbh.