Daily Crunch - FTC and 48 state AGs sue Facebook

Wednesday, December 09, 2020 • By Anthony Ha

Facebook faces big antitrust lawsuits, DoorDash and C3.ai go public and YouTube announces new election misinformation policies. This is your Daily Crunch for December 9, 2020.

The big story: FTC and 48 state AGs sue Facebook

The Federal Trade Commission filed an antitrust lawsuit against Facebook today, as did 48 attorneys general representing 46 states.

They’re separate suits, although the two groups coordinated their investigations. Both suits claim that Facebook has behaved illegally when it acquired Instagram and WhatsApp, and that it used its monopoly power to suppress competition. The FTC suit also calls for Instagram and WhatsApp to be split off from the company.

In response, Facebook tweeted, “Years after the FTC cleared our acquisitions, the government now wants a do-over with no regard for the impact that precedent would have on the broader business community or the people who choose our products every day.”

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DoorDash, C3.ai skyrocket in public market debuts — Two American tech unicorns saw their values climb after they began trading today.

YouTube declares war on US election misinformation… a month late — YouTube waited until the “safe harbor” deadline, when audits and recounts must be wrapped up at the state level, to enforce a set of rules against election misinformation.

Google CEO says company will review events leading up to Dr. Timnit Gebru’s departure — In CEO Sundar Pichai’s memo, he said the company needs to “accept responsibility for the fact that a prominent Black, female leader with immense talent left Google unhappily.”

Image Credits: Getty Images

Startups, funding and venture capital

Squire, a barbershop tech startup, triples its valuation to $250M in latest round — Squire raised $59 million in a round led by Iconiq Capital.

Career Karma raises $10M to connect students to coding bootcamps — The startup is bringing a pick-and-shovel strategy to the coding bootcamp world.

Ada Ventures closes first fund at $50M, investing in diverse founders tackling society’s problems — A year ago this week, Ada Ventures launched on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt.

Startups, funding and venture capital image

Image Credits: Squire

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch

Coinbase’s backstory and future with ‘Kings of Crypto’ author Jeff John Roberts — “Kings of Crypto” tells the story of Coinbase, Brian Armstrong and the dream of a crypto economy.

As several marketplace unicorns prepare IPOs, a VC digs into the data — “Growth trumps all,” says Menlo Ventures partner Venky Ganesan.

How DoorDash and C3.ai can defend their red-hot IPO valuations — An excited market brings big valuations, stacks of cash and high expectations.

(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: Dan Kitwood / Getty Images

Everything else

Gift Guide: The best books for 2020 as recommended by VCs and TechCrunch writers (Part 2) — Here are nine more books (plus one bonus) recommended by VCs and TechCrunch writers.

Streamers, including Netflix and CBS All Access, roll out new family-friendly features — Netflix announced the rollout of the Kids Activity Report and Family Profiles, while CBS All Access added a Kids Mode.

TC Sessions: Space 2020 launches next week — We’ll be (virtually) hosting out-of-this-world experts, innovative agencies and bold, boundary-breaking startups.