Amazon makes a big podcast acquisition, a Chinese robot manufacturer raises $ 100 million, and we review a robotic cat pillow. This is your Daily Crunch for December 30, 2020.
The Big Story: Amazon Acquires WonderyAmazon is the latest company to make a major acquisition in the podcast market: it is buying Wondery, the podcast network behind programs like "Dirty John" and "Doctor Death".
Although Wondery is becoming part of Amazon Music (which added podcast support in September), the company also says it "won't change anything for listeners" and that Wondery podcasts will continue to be available from "a variety of vendors" .
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Startups, financing and venture capitalFlexiv, a Chinese manufacturer of adaptive robots, raises over 100 million dollars: Wang Shiquan, a student at Stanford's Biomimetics and Dexterous Manipulation Lab, founded Flexiv with the aim of building adaptive robots for the manufacturing industry.
Biteable raises a $ 7 million A-series for its template-based online video generator - the product is designed to create video assets that have greater staying power than temporary social videos.
A serious review of a robotic cat pillow - it's cute!
Extra Crunch tips and analysisOn the diversity front, 2020 could prove to be a turning point: VCs have been talking about diversity for eons without doing much about it.
2020 will change the way we look at robotics: from logistics to food preparation, robots are custom built to help humanity survive a pandemic.
Dear Sophie: Tips for Getting a National Interest Green Card on Your Own? - The latest edition of Dear Sophie, a column of advice from lawyer Sophie Alcorn that answers questions related to immigration at work in technology companies.
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All the restSection 230 is threatened in the new bill that calls for the repeal of the liability shield at $ 2,000 checks - the move feels more like a political ploy than a real stab at tech regulation.
NSO used location data from real people to showcase its contact-tracking technology, the researchers say - Researchers say NSO's use of real data "violated the privacy" of thousands of unwitting people.
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