Monday, April 21, 2025

Welcome to TC PM! Today we learn that the FTC is suing Uber over its Uber One subscription program; we dig into how the recent tariff turmoil is affecting the M&A market; and we meet a very neat climate startup that's reusing cement waste. Rock on!

TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: Josh Edelson / AFP / Getty Images

🙅You can't do that: The Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against Uber today that accuses the ride-hailing company of signing users up for its Uber One subscription program and then making it "unreasonably difficult" for them to cancel.

🤨 Status revoked: The recent Donald Trump-ordered student visa cancellations have largely affected people who've spoken in support of Palestine. Now, at least one AI researcher has had their student visa revoked. If the trend continues, it could seriously hurt the AI talent pipeline in the U.S.

🕵 AI age verification: Meta is using AI to try to find teens on its platforms who are lying about their age to get past age-related restrictions. When these accounts are found, the platform is automatically converting them to Teen Accounts that include the restrictions.

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Afternoon must-reads

Image Credits: Getty Images

📆 There's always next year: The venture capital industry had good reason to think that 2025 could be the year M&A meaningfully picked back up. But then came the tariff turmoil. While deals can get done in good and bad markets, they don't often get done in uncertain ones.

🎙️ Podcast partner: Andreessen Horowitz acquired the Turpentine podcast and hired its founder, Erik Torenberg, as a general partner at the firm. The podcast, which interviews VCs on their approach to investing, will continue after the acquisition.

✅ The time has come: We reported last week that Bluesky might be launching an account verification system for its users that was very different than X's or Meta's approach to verification. Bluesky confirmed today that this program is rolling out.

🐦‍🔥 Rising from the ashes: Coal-burning plants are obviously not great for the environment. But the ashes they produce can actually be used to replace 30% of the makeup of cement. Incredibly named PHNX Materials is a startup that has figured out how to do just that.

🤫 The secret is out: Jeff Bezos-backed EV company Slate was shrouded in secrecy just a few weeks ago, but now the cars are popping up on the streets of California. The company has started dropping off concept vehicles in anticipation of a formal launch later this week.

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Around the web

😓 Looked over labor: Many Big Tech companies are outsourcing AI training work, customer service, and content moderation to contractors in Africa through outsourcing firms. There is currently a class action lawsuit against one such firm and its customer, Meta, in Kenya, citing exploitation of content moderators.

🥸 Fake news: Meta blocked news from Instagram and Facebook in 2023 after a Canadian law passed that would have required the company to pay a tax to publishers. As Canada's upcoming election looms, the lack of credible news sources on social media is causing misinformation to proliferate.