Daily Crunch: Facebook escalates Apple criticism

Facebook takes aim at Apple, Texas sues Google and we interview the CEO of Boston Dynamics. This is your Daily Crunch for December 16, 2020.

The big story: Facebook escalates Apple criticism

Facebook took a big swing at Apple’s upcoming app tracking restrictions today with full-page ads in the print editions of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post that argued the social networking giant is “standing up to Apple for small businesses everywhere.”

In other words, while Facebook will obviously be affected by Apple’s change (apps will have to ask users for permission before it can track their IDFA identifier, which will presumably lead to a steep drop in ad targeting), the company said that small businesses relying on targeted ad campaigns will be hurt even more.

And while the two campaigns are very different, it’s worth noting that another initiative against Apple is also gaining steam, with major U.S. news publishers joining the Coalition for App Fairness, a group fighting app store fees.

The tech giants

The latest multistate antitrust lawsuit targets Google’s ad business — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is accusing Google of maintaining an illegal monopoly in online advertising.

Following Hyundai acquisition, Boston Dynamics’ CEO discusses the robotics pioneer’s future — Rob Playter discusses the company’s new corporate parent, the future of Handle and Spot’s job at the NYPD.

Amazon’s Project Kuiper will seek multiple launch providers to carry its satellites to space — Amazon’s David Limp shared some new details about the company’s Project Kuiper broadband satellite constellation.

Startups, funding and venture capital

StockX raises $275M Series E, valuing the retailer at $2.8B — Headquartered in downtown Detroit, Michigan, the raise marks the largest VC funding round in Michigan history.

BigID keeps rolling with $70M Series D on $1B valuation — Salesforce Ventures and Tiger Global co-led the round.

New Wave is a new European seed fund headed up by ex-Accel VC Pia d’Iribarne — The firm’s debut fund of $56 million was raised in just three months.

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch

How to pick an investor in good or bad times — Quiq CEO Mike Myer says you should trust your instincts.

ClickUp CEO talks hiring, raising and scaling in the white-hot productivity space — The company, which makes business productivity tools for task management, goals and docs, has reached a valuation of $1 billion.

Dear Sophie: How did immigration change for startup founders in 2020? — Another edition of immigration lawyer Sophie Alcorn’s advice column answering immigration-related questions about working at technology companies.

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

Everything else

Bitcoin passes $20K and reaches all-time high — Bitcoin’s value has rapidly increased over the past two months.

Privacy is the new competitive battleground — New regulations give companies new opportunities to differentiate themselves.

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