Samsung’s vice chairman receives presidential pardon for bribery conviction – TechCrunch

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Final evening was a full moon, someway it’s already midway by August, and do you know there’s a Seaside Plum LaCroix taste? The world’s gone topsy-turvy, however at the very least it’s time for the weekend.

What did you do that week that made you’re feeling alive? Are you able to do extra of that subsequent week? And that concludes our microtherapy session. Now, let’s get on with the information.  — Christine and Haje

The TechCrunch Prime 3

• Pardon me: A presidential pardon is restoring Samsung’s vice chairman Jay Lee’s potential to take the corporate’s helm. Lee had been convicted on bribery expenses in 2017, and the pardon will erase it, Kate writes.
• 5G begets 4G: Yeah, you learn that proper. Amazon launched AWS Personal 5G so firms can construct their very own 4G networks…for now, Paul writes. That is one thing that has been within the works since late 2021, and the corporate mentioned ultimately there might be capabilities for 5G networks.
• Location obliteration: Natasha L explains how Google was fined $40 million by Australia’s authorities, which discovered the tech large had misled customers about its Android location monitoring settings.

Startups and VC

Don’t miss Brian’s Actuator e-newsletter, which is often all concerning the state of {hardware} and robotics, however at this time is usually about Amazon and iRobot.

And in your each day dose of levity, don’t miss Amanda’s wonderful piece of satire: FWD: fwd: From the CEO: BeCareful whilst you BeReal!

A number of extra highlights:

What does the longer term appear like for e-commerce aggregators?

Within the online game Katamari Damacy, gamers management an avatar who rolls a sticky ball that captures something it touches. The objective: create a sphere giant sufficient to grow to be a star or moon.

E-commerce aggregators work in a lot the identical method by buying smaller manufacturers, then optimizing their manufacturing and gross sales channels to spice up market share.

This mannequin was efficient in a prevaccine period when customers stopped visiting shops, however is the brand-rollup mannequin nonetheless viable at this time?

“Decreased client confidence, inflated model worth and a freeze in funding capital are creating an ideal storm,” says David Wright, co-founder and CEO of e-commerce accelerator Sample. “Until aggregators change how they function, their future is bleak at greatest and nonexistent at worst.”

(TechCrunch+ is our membership program, which helps founders and startup groups get forward. You possibly can join right here.)

Massive Tech Inc.

Have you ever seen these ransomware group members? The U.S. authorities is providing $10 million in alternate for data resulting in the identification and placement of members of the Russia-based Conti ransomware operative, Carly writes.

Talking of alleged fraudulent conduct, Manish writes about India’s anti-money-laundering company freezing $46.4 million in belongings belonging to Singapore-based crypto alternate Vauld whereas it appears into the corporate’s enterprise practices.

In the meantime, Brian appears into what’s taking place over at Boston Dynamics after being acquired by Hyundai in 2020, which features a new synthetic intelligence and robotics institute buoyed by $400 million.

• Pew examine reveals what we’ve identified for some time: That teenagers should not utilizing Fb anymore. The examine discovered that Fb misplaced like half of its customers aged 13–17 since 2015, Amanda experiences.
• You need to spend cash to earn a living: That’s what Rivian’s management is saying anyway. The electrical automobile maker is sticking to its plans to ship 25,000 automobiles by the top of the yr, however it will should burn by $700 million to take action, Harri experiences.
• Your neighbor simply bought fascinating or creepy, unsure which but: In the event you’ve ever needed to see what occurs on different individuals’s Ring doorbells, MGM, which is owned by Amazon, is ready to make you cheerful, Amanda writes.
• Friday options: Let’s take a stroll by some new app options, we could? Aisha experiences on Instacart’s new characteristic for actually hungry but additionally indecisive prospects, and she or he explores LinkedIn’s new creator instruments designed to higher share visible content material. In the meantime, Google is updating the search high quality of its “featured snippets,” Taylor writes.