U.S. lawmakers have written a letter to TikTok questioning its independence from its Chinese parent company ByteDance, in the wake of a recent report from The Wall St. Journal that noted that several high-level executives had been transferred from ByteDance to TikTok, where they took on top roles across the organization. The report noted the former ByteDance execs now held key positions in advertising, HR, monetization, business marketing and others related to TikTok’s e-commerce initiatives.
The letter, penned by senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), asks TikTok to explain why it has hired several executives from ByteDance, “further calling into question the independence of TikTok’s operations and the security of its U.S. users’ information,” they wrote. Snd6000z
The WSJ’s report on the transfers suggested that the employee movement between the two organizations indicates that TikTok still maintains close ties to its Beijing-based parent, despite the video social network’s attempt to distance itself from its Chinese roots — and the applicable laws that could apply if the Chinese government were to pressure TikTok for its data or use the app in the spread of CCP propaganda.
TikTok, however, has consistently maintained its independence from China, even moving U.S. user data to Oracle servers in the U.S., in hopes of staving off a U.S.-wide TikTok ban.
Still, concerns about TikTok’s ties to China have led to the app being banned across a number of U.S. government-issued devices, including those in use by the U.S. House of Representatives and various U.S. states. Montana also became the first U.S. state to ban TikTok on personal devices, while New York City this summer became the latest government to ban TikTok from city-owned devices this summer, following a state-wide ban in 2020.
In the new letter, the senators noted that even TikTok employees had found the transfers “alarming” and reportedly joked that “TikTok is solving its ByteDance problem by moving ByteDance to the U.S.” It also stated that the relationship between the two entities “poses a unique risk to the security and privacy” of U.S. user data, and referenced earlier reports where TikTok had been found to be spying on U.S. journalists, for example.
TikTok, meanwhile, had promised U.S. officials there was a firewall between it and its parent company with the storage of U.S. user data on U.S. soil overseen by a U.S. company, the letter continued. But the transfers suggested that TikTok is “attempting to preserve ByteDance’s influence over TikTok while avoiding suspicion,” it read.
TikTok has been given until October 13 to respond to the various questions about the employee transfers the lawmakers posed. The full text of the letter can be read here, which includes questions about the employee transfers, the roles the employees now hold and if any of the changes were disclosed to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) prior to The WSJ’s reporting, among other things.
CFIUS’ review of TikTok began back in 2019 when the Trump administration was weighing a national ban. The agency holds the power to force TikTok to spin off its U.S. operations in lieu of ban if it didn’t believe the mitigation measures TikTok has enacted — like the move to Oracle servers — offered enough protection.
“In a large, global organization, it is not uncommon for employees to work on different products or geographies over the course of their career,” TikTok said in a statement. “This is neither a recent development, nor is it unique to TikTok. We welcome the opportunity to provide the Senators facts and context the Journal chose to ignore in their initial story.”
Updated, 10/3/23, 3:46 PM ET with TikTok comment.
Russian hacker Mikhail Matveev<\/a>, also known on the internet as \u201cWazawaka\u201d and \u201cBoriselcin,\u201d is wanted by the FBI<\/a>, which is offering a $10 million reward for information that could lead to his arrest, and has been put on a U.S. sanctions list. But, according to Matveev, his life hasn\u2019t changed much since he was outed as an alleged cybercriminal and put on the FBI’s most wanted list.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are Russian people, we are not afraid of the American government,\u201d Matveev told TechCrunch in an online interview. \u201cMy life has changed for the better after the sanctions, I don’t feel them on me, as well as sanctions are a plus for my security, so sanctions help us.\u201d<\/p>\n In an interview where he answered both in English and in Russian, Matveev said that being sanctioned means Russia will not deport him. And to avoid getting caught outside of Russia, he won\u2019t travel anymore, and said he has \u201cburned\u201d his passport. His last trip, he said, was to Thailand in 2014, where he ate scorpion, which he said was \u201cdelicious.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier this year, the U.S. government accused Matveev of participating in \u201ca global ransomware campaign\u201d against victims all over the world. Prosecutors claim Matveev is \u201ca prolific ransomware affiliate,\u201d who worked with the Hive<\/a>, LockBit<\/a> and Babuk ransomware gangs to carry out \u201csignificant attacks\u201d against corporations and critical infrastructure in the U.S. and elsewhere, including hospitals and government agencies. In particular, the feds said Matveev \u201callegedly intentionally infected\u201d the computers of Washington, D.C.\u2019s Metropolitan Police Department with ransomware.<\/a><\/p>\n Matveev, however, said he actually isn\u2019t affiliated with any ransomware group and that he only \u201crented their software for my own purposes.\u201d Since the indictment and sanctions, he said, he has joked about the measures taken against him with people still involved in ransomware operations.<\/p>\n \u201cWe sometimes throw memes at each other,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He said he was using the ransomware to both test it in a controlled environment and to deploy it in real-life scenarios.<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cI have never been the author of the Hive and Lockbit project, I was only an affiliated independent person \u2014 by myself, my own master,\u201d Matveev said, adding that he is not interested in ransomware anymore.<\/p>\n Since he was indicted and sanctioned, Matveev has kept a prolific life on X<\/a>, formerly Twitter, given interviews to cybersecurity publications<\/a> and trolled the U.S. government by printing a T-shirt featuring his own FBI most wanted poster<\/a> and asking his followers if they\u2019d like to buy similar merch<\/a>.<\/p>\n An unnamed FBI spokesperson said the bureau declined to comment.<\/p>\n We verified that Matveev was really the person behind the X account by asking him for selfies. Matveev provided a selfie showing his left hand, which has only four fingers, per Matveev\u2019s FBI\u2019s most wanted page<\/a>, as well as a selfie holding a piece of paper that had this reporter\u2019s name handwritten on it. Matveev said he lost his finger in 2017 when he was installing a server cabinet that weighed 35 kg (around 77 lbs), which forced him to get surgery.<\/p>\n The alleged hacker declined to say how much money he has made with his ransomware work, and said he now invests in crypto, and recommended everyone do the same. Matveev said he is also working on a website about cybersecurity. Although he declined to say how much money he\u2019s made with his ransomware activities, he denied that the income the FBI is attributing to him and his accomplices \u2014 $200 million in ransomware payments \u2014 is real.<\/p>\n Matveev added that he is not interested in ransomware anymore. But asked if he misses hacking, he said \u201cvery much :(\u201d and he also said he may go back to hacking \u201cbut no one will know about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Do you have more information about any ransomware gang? We\u2019d love to hear from you. You can contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely on Signal at +1 917 257 1382, or via Telegram, Keybase and Wire @lorenzofb, or email lorenzo@techcrunch.com<\/a>. You can also contact TechCrunch via\u00a0SecureDrop<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Russian hacker Mikhail Matveev, also known on the internet as \u201cWazawaka\u201d and \u201cBoriselcin,\u201d is wanted by the FBI, which is offering a $10 million reward for information that could lead to his arrest, and has been put on a U.S. sanctions list. But, according to Matveev, his life hasn\u2019t changed much since he was outed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574594,"featured_media":2608652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"255ef6b9-2b32-3869-827f-d856f69dada9","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T15:06:06Z","apple_news_api_id":"5ad9e3cc-edd2-4f46-8cba-6e22bf98aa1d","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T16:10:55Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AWtnjzO3ST0aMum4iv5iqHQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[21587494],"tags":[51751,965824,68079,61188,1816,447167588,192933,10759],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nFBI most-wanted Russian hacker reveals why he burned his passport | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
\u201cWe are Russian people, we are not afraid of the American government,\u201d Matveev told TechCrunch in an online interview. \u201cMy life has changed for the better after the sanctions, I don’t feel them on me, as well as sanctions are a plus for my security, so sanctions help us.\u201d<\/p>\n
In an interview where he answered both in English and in Russian, Matveev said that being sanctioned means Russia will not deport him. And to avoid getting caught outside of Russia, he won\u2019t travel anymore, and said he has \u201cburned\u201d his passport. His last trip, he said, was to Thailand in 2014, where he ate scorpion, which he said was \u201cdelicious.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, the U.S. government accused Matveev of participating in \u201ca global ransomware campaign\u201d against victims all over the world. Prosecutors claim Matveev is \u201ca prolific ransomware affiliate,\u201d who worked with the Hive<\/a>, LockBit<\/a> and Babuk ransomware gangs to carry out \u201csignificant attacks\u201d against corporations and critical infrastructure in the U.S. and elsewhere, including hospitals and government agencies. In particular, the feds said Matveev \u201callegedly intentionally infected\u201d the computers of Washington, D.C.\u2019s Metropolitan Police Department with ransomware.<\/a><\/p>\n Matveev, however, said he actually isn\u2019t affiliated with any ransomware group and that he only \u201crented their software for my own purposes.\u201d Since the indictment and sanctions, he said, he has joked about the measures taken against him with people still involved in ransomware operations.<\/p>\n \u201cWe sometimes throw memes at each other,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He said he was using the ransomware to both test it in a controlled environment and to deploy it in real-life scenarios.<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cI have never been the author of the Hive and Lockbit project, I was only an affiliated independent person \u2014 by myself, my own master,\u201d Matveev said, adding that he is not interested in ransomware anymore.<\/p>\n Since he was indicted and sanctioned, Matveev has kept a prolific life on X<\/a>, formerly Twitter, given interviews to cybersecurity publications<\/a> and trolled the U.S. government by printing a T-shirt featuring his own FBI most wanted poster<\/a> and asking his followers if they\u2019d like to buy similar merch<\/a>.<\/p>\n An unnamed FBI spokesperson said the bureau declined to comment.<\/p>\n We verified that Matveev was really the person behind the X account by asking him for selfies. Matveev provided a selfie showing his left hand, which has only four fingers, per Matveev\u2019s FBI\u2019s most wanted page<\/a>, as well as a selfie holding a piece of paper that had this reporter\u2019s name handwritten on it. Matveev said he lost his finger in 2017 when he was installing a server cabinet that weighed 35 kg (around 77 lbs), which forced him to get surgery.<\/p>\n The alleged hacker declined to say how much money he has made with his ransomware work, and said he now invests in crypto, and recommended everyone do the same. Matveev said he is also working on a website about cybersecurity. Although he declined to say how much money he\u2019s made with his ransomware activities, he denied that the income the FBI is attributing to him and his accomplices \u2014 $200 million in ransomware payments \u2014 is real.<\/p>\n Matveev added that he is not interested in ransomware anymore. But asked if he misses hacking, he said \u201cvery much :(\u201d and he also said he may go back to hacking \u201cbut no one will know about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Do you have more information about any ransomware gang? We\u2019d love to hear from you. You can contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely on Signal at +1 917 257 1382, or via Telegram, Keybase and Wire @lorenzofb, or email lorenzo@techcrunch.com<\/a>. You can also contact TechCrunch via\u00a0SecureDrop<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Russian hacker Mikhail Matveev, also known on the internet as \u201cWazawaka\u201d and \u201cBoriselcin,\u201d is wanted by the FBI, which is offering a $10 million reward for information that could lead to his arrest, and has been put on a U.S. sanctions list. But, according to Matveev, his life hasn\u2019t changed much since he was outed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574594,"featured_media":2608652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"255ef6b9-2b32-3869-827f-d856f69dada9","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T15:06:06Z","apple_news_api_id":"5ad9e3cc-edd2-4f46-8cba-6e22bf98aa1d","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T16:10:55Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AWtnjzO3ST0aMum4iv5iqHQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[21587494],"tags":[51751,965824,68079,61188,1816,447167588,192933,10759],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nFBI most-wanted Russian hacker reveals why he burned his passport | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Matveev, however, said he actually isn\u2019t affiliated with any ransomware group and that he only \u201crented their software for my own purposes.\u201d Since the indictment and sanctions, he said, he has joked about the measures taken against him with people still involved in ransomware operations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe sometimes throw memes at each other,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said he was using the ransomware to both test it in a controlled environment and to deploy it in real-life scenarios.<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cI have never been the author of the Hive and Lockbit project, I was only an affiliated independent person \u2014 by myself, my own master,\u201d Matveev said, adding that he is not interested in ransomware anymore.<\/p>\n Since he was indicted and sanctioned, Matveev has kept a prolific life on X<\/a>, formerly Twitter, given interviews to cybersecurity publications<\/a> and trolled the U.S. government by printing a T-shirt featuring his own FBI most wanted poster<\/a> and asking his followers if they\u2019d like to buy similar merch<\/a>.<\/p>\n An unnamed FBI spokesperson said the bureau declined to comment.<\/p>\n We verified that Matveev was really the person behind the X account by asking him for selfies. Matveev provided a selfie showing his left hand, which has only four fingers, per Matveev\u2019s FBI\u2019s most wanted page<\/a>, as well as a selfie holding a piece of paper that had this reporter\u2019s name handwritten on it. Matveev said he lost his finger in 2017 when he was installing a server cabinet that weighed 35 kg (around 77 lbs), which forced him to get surgery.<\/p>\n The alleged hacker declined to say how much money he has made with his ransomware work, and said he now invests in crypto, and recommended everyone do the same. Matveev said he is also working on a website about cybersecurity. Although he declined to say how much money he\u2019s made with his ransomware activities, he denied that the income the FBI is attributing to him and his accomplices \u2014 $200 million in ransomware payments \u2014 is real.<\/p>\n Matveev added that he is not interested in ransomware anymore. But asked if he misses hacking, he said \u201cvery much :(\u201d and he also said he may go back to hacking \u201cbut no one will know about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Do you have more information about any ransomware gang? We\u2019d love to hear from you. You can contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely on Signal at +1 917 257 1382, or via Telegram, Keybase and Wire @lorenzofb, or email lorenzo@techcrunch.com<\/a>. You can also contact TechCrunch via\u00a0SecureDrop<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Russian hacker Mikhail Matveev, also known on the internet as \u201cWazawaka\u201d and \u201cBoriselcin,\u201d is wanted by the FBI, which is offering a $10 million reward for information that could lead to his arrest, and has been put on a U.S. sanctions list. But, according to Matveev, his life hasn\u2019t changed much since he was outed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574594,"featured_media":2608652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"255ef6b9-2b32-3869-827f-d856f69dada9","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T15:06:06Z","apple_news_api_id":"5ad9e3cc-edd2-4f46-8cba-6e22bf98aa1d","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T16:10:55Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AWtnjzO3ST0aMum4iv5iqHQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[21587494],"tags":[51751,965824,68079,61188,1816,447167588,192933,10759],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nFBI most-wanted Russian hacker reveals why he burned his passport | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
\u201cI have never been the author of the Hive and Lockbit project, I was only an affiliated independent person \u2014 by myself, my own master,\u201d Matveev said, adding that he is not interested in ransomware anymore.<\/p>\n
Since he was indicted and sanctioned, Matveev has kept a prolific life on X<\/a>, formerly Twitter, given interviews to cybersecurity publications<\/a> and trolled the U.S. government by printing a T-shirt featuring his own FBI most wanted poster<\/a> and asking his followers if they\u2019d like to buy similar merch<\/a>.<\/p>\n An unnamed FBI spokesperson said the bureau declined to comment.<\/p>\n We verified that Matveev was really the person behind the X account by asking him for selfies. Matveev provided a selfie showing his left hand, which has only four fingers, per Matveev\u2019s FBI\u2019s most wanted page<\/a>, as well as a selfie holding a piece of paper that had this reporter\u2019s name handwritten on it. Matveev said he lost his finger in 2017 when he was installing a server cabinet that weighed 35 kg (around 77 lbs), which forced him to get surgery.<\/p>\n The alleged hacker declined to say how much money he has made with his ransomware work, and said he now invests in crypto, and recommended everyone do the same. Matveev said he is also working on a website about cybersecurity. Although he declined to say how much money he\u2019s made with his ransomware activities, he denied that the income the FBI is attributing to him and his accomplices \u2014 $200 million in ransomware payments \u2014 is real.<\/p>\n Matveev added that he is not interested in ransomware anymore. But asked if he misses hacking, he said \u201cvery much :(\u201d and he also said he may go back to hacking \u201cbut no one will know about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Do you have more information about any ransomware gang? We\u2019d love to hear from you. You can contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely on Signal at +1 917 257 1382, or via Telegram, Keybase and Wire @lorenzofb, or email lorenzo@techcrunch.com<\/a>. You can also contact TechCrunch via\u00a0SecureDrop<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Russian hacker Mikhail Matveev, also known on the internet as \u201cWazawaka\u201d and \u201cBoriselcin,\u201d is wanted by the FBI, which is offering a $10 million reward for information that could lead to his arrest, and has been put on a U.S. sanctions list. But, according to Matveev, his life hasn\u2019t changed much since he was outed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574594,"featured_media":2608652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"255ef6b9-2b32-3869-827f-d856f69dada9","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T15:06:06Z","apple_news_api_id":"5ad9e3cc-edd2-4f46-8cba-6e22bf98aa1d","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T16:10:55Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AWtnjzO3ST0aMum4iv5iqHQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[21587494],"tags":[51751,965824,68079,61188,1816,447167588,192933,10759],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nFBI most-wanted Russian hacker reveals why he burned his passport | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
An unnamed FBI spokesperson said the bureau declined to comment.<\/p>\n
We verified that Matveev was really the person behind the X account by asking him for selfies. Matveev provided a selfie showing his left hand, which has only four fingers, per Matveev\u2019s FBI\u2019s most wanted page<\/a>, as well as a selfie holding a piece of paper that had this reporter\u2019s name handwritten on it. Matveev said he lost his finger in 2017 when he was installing a server cabinet that weighed 35 kg (around 77 lbs), which forced him to get surgery.<\/p>\n The alleged hacker declined to say how much money he has made with his ransomware work, and said he now invests in crypto, and recommended everyone do the same. Matveev said he is also working on a website about cybersecurity. Although he declined to say how much money he\u2019s made with his ransomware activities, he denied that the income the FBI is attributing to him and his accomplices \u2014 $200 million in ransomware payments \u2014 is real.<\/p>\n Matveev added that he is not interested in ransomware anymore. But asked if he misses hacking, he said \u201cvery much :(\u201d and he also said he may go back to hacking \u201cbut no one will know about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Do you have more information about any ransomware gang? We\u2019d love to hear from you. You can contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely on Signal at +1 917 257 1382, or via Telegram, Keybase and Wire @lorenzofb, or email lorenzo@techcrunch.com<\/a>. You can also contact TechCrunch via\u00a0SecureDrop<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Russian hacker Mikhail Matveev, also known on the internet as \u201cWazawaka\u201d and \u201cBoriselcin,\u201d is wanted by the FBI, which is offering a $10 million reward for information that could lead to his arrest, and has been put on a U.S. sanctions list. But, according to Matveev, his life hasn\u2019t changed much since he was outed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574594,"featured_media":2608652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"255ef6b9-2b32-3869-827f-d856f69dada9","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T15:06:06Z","apple_news_api_id":"5ad9e3cc-edd2-4f46-8cba-6e22bf98aa1d","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T16:10:55Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AWtnjzO3ST0aMum4iv5iqHQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[21587494],"tags":[51751,965824,68079,61188,1816,447167588,192933,10759],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nFBI most-wanted Russian hacker reveals why he burned his passport | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
The alleged hacker declined to say how much money he has made with his ransomware work, and said he now invests in crypto, and recommended everyone do the same. Matveev said he is also working on a website about cybersecurity. Although he declined to say how much money he\u2019s made with his ransomware activities, he denied that the income the FBI is attributing to him and his accomplices \u2014 $200 million in ransomware payments \u2014 is real.<\/p>\n
Matveev added that he is not interested in ransomware anymore. But asked if he misses hacking, he said \u201cvery much :(\u201d and he also said he may go back to hacking \u201cbut no one will know about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Do you have more information about any ransomware gang? We\u2019d love to hear from you. You can contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely on Signal at +1 917 257 1382, or via Telegram, Keybase and Wire @lorenzofb, or email lorenzo@techcrunch.com<\/a>. You can also contact TechCrunch via\u00a0SecureDrop<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Russian hacker Mikhail Matveev, also known on the internet as \u201cWazawaka\u201d and \u201cBoriselcin,\u201d is wanted by the FBI, which is offering a $10 million reward for information that could lead to his arrest, and has been put on a U.S. sanctions list. But, according to Matveev, his life hasn\u2019t changed much since he was outed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574594,"featured_media":2608652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"255ef6b9-2b32-3869-827f-d856f69dada9","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T15:06:06Z","apple_news_api_id":"5ad9e3cc-edd2-4f46-8cba-6e22bf98aa1d","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T16:10:55Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AWtnjzO3ST0aMum4iv5iqHQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[21587494],"tags":[51751,965824,68079,61188,1816,447167588,192933,10759],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nFBI most-wanted Russian hacker reveals why he burned his passport | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Russian hacker Mikhail Matveev, also known on the internet as \u201cWazawaka\u201d and \u201cBoriselcin,\u201d is wanted by the FBI, which is offering a $10 million reward for information that could lead to his arrest, and has been put on a U.S. sanctions list. But, according to Matveev, his life hasn\u2019t changed much since he was outed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574594,"featured_media":2608652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"255ef6b9-2b32-3869-827f-d856f69dada9","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T15:06:06Z","apple_news_api_id":"5ad9e3cc-edd2-4f46-8cba-6e22bf98aa1d","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T16:10:55Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AWtnjzO3ST0aMum4iv5iqHQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[21587494],"tags":[51751,965824,68079,61188,1816,447167588,192933,10759],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nFBI most-wanted Russian hacker reveals why he burned his passport | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
The FBI’s wanted poster for Mikhail Matveev.<\/p>\n"},"alt_text":"The FBI's wanted poster for Mikhail Matveev.","media_type":"image","mime_type":"image\/png","media_details":{"width":1425,"height":893,"file":"2023\/10\/mikhail-matveev-ransomware-most-wanted.png","filesize":1043148,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"file":"mikhail-matveev-ransomware-most-wanted.png?resize=150,94","width":150,"height":94,"filesize":1043148,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/mikhail-matveev-ransomware-most-wanted.png?w=150"},"medium":{"file":"mikhail-matveev-ransomware-most-wanted.png?resize=300,188","width":300,"height":188,"filesize":1043148,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/mikhail-matveev-ransomware-most-wanted.png?w=300"},"medium_large":{"file":"mikhail-matveev-ransomware-most-wanted.png?resize=768,481","width":768,"height":481,"filesize":1043148,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/mikhail-matveev-ransomware-most-wanted.png?w=1024"},"large":{"file":"mikhail-matveev-ransomware-most-wanted.png?resize=680,426","width":680,"height":426,"filesize":1043148,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/mikhail-matveev-ransomware-most-wanted.png?w=680"},"tc-social-image":{"file":"mikhail-matveev-ransomware-most-wanted.png?resize=1200,752","width":1200,"height":752,"filesize":1043148,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/mikhail-matveev-ransomware-most-wanted.png?w=1200"},"guest-author-32":{"file":"mikhail-matveev-ransomware-most-wanted.png?resize=32,32","width":32,"height":32,"filesize":1043148,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/mikhail-matveev-ransomware-most-wanted.png?w=32&h=32&crop=1"},"guest-author-50":{"file":"mikhail-matveev-ransomware-most-wanted.png?resize=50,50","width":50,"height":50,"filesize":1043148,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/mikhail-matveev-ransomware-most-wanted.png?w=50&h=50&crop=1"},"guest-author-64":{"file":"mikhail-matveev-ransomware-most-wanted.png?resize=64,64","width":64,"height":64,"filesize":1043148,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/mikhail-matveev-ransomware-most-wanted.png?w=64&h=64&crop=1"},"guest-author-96":{"file":"mikhail-matveev-ransomware-most-wanted.png?resize=96,96","width":96,"height":96,"filesize":1043148,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/mikhail-matveev-ransomware-most-wanted.png?w=96&h=96&crop=1"},"guest-author-128":{"file":"mikhail-matveev-ransomware-most-wanted.png?resize=128,128","width":128,"height":128,"filesize":1043148,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/mikhail-matveev-ransomware-most-wanted.png?w=128&h=128&crop=1"},"concierge-thumb":{"file":"mikhail-matveev-ransomware-most-wanted.png?resize=50,31","width":50,"height":31,"filesize":1043148,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/mikhail-matveev-ransomware-most-wanted.png?w=50"},"full":{"file":"mikhail-matveev-ransomware-most-wanted.png","width":1024,"height":642,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/mikhail-matveev-ransomware-most-wanted.png"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0","keywords":[]}},"source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/mikhail-matveev-ransomware-most-wanted.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2608652"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/attachment"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2608652"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/133574594"}]}}],"wp:term":[[{"id":21587494,"description":"Security news coverage encompasses investigative cybersecurity reporting and analysis on the latest security breaches, hacks and cyberattacks around the globe.","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/category\/security\/","name":"Security","slug":"security","taxonomy":"category","parent":0,"yoast_head":"\nSecurity News | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n
It’s not a matter<\/span> of if but when<\/em> an organization will face a cybersecurity incident. Incidents like what happened to MGM Resorts after the ransomware groups ALPHV\/BlackCat and Scattered Spider brought systems down for days, causing severe strains on revenue due to disrupted productivity, lost business during downtime, attorney fees, and remediation costs.<\/p>\n While insufficient information has been disclosed to understand the full extent of the MGM Resorts breach, in recent years we have directly witnessed a significant shift in the tactics employed by highly coordinated threat actor groups, such as ALPHV\/BlackCat. These groups are increasingly prioritizing targeting infrastructure over endpoints during our incident response engagements.<\/p>\n What can organizations do to prevent becoming the next headline? Here are five areas to watch out for.<\/p>\nEnhance help desk procedures to include video chats and photo IDs to verify the authenticity of requests<\/h2>\n The 2023 Data Breach Investigations Report by Verizon unveiled that in 74% of the reported breaches, a human factor played a role, whether partially or entirely, in causing the breach. The term “human element” encompasses various situations, ultimately pointing to human involvement in creating a vulnerability, whether it’s deliberate or accidental.<\/p>\n \t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRecent incidents, such as the breach at MGM Resorts, serve as stark reminders of the potential consequences of inadequate security measures.\t\t\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/p>\n In this particular instance, the threat actor reported that they monitored LinkedIn profiles to identify potential targets and then infiltrated the organization by vishing or \u201cvoice phishing\u201d the IT help desk. They have been known to employ social engineering tactics targeting individuals with answers to validation questions commonly used by the help desk.<\/p>\n Relying solely on text or email, or even voice calls, is no longer sufficient. ALPHV\/BlackCat and other threat actor groups have even resorted to employing voice impersonators, making it challenging to discern their true identity based on accent or voice characteristics.<\/p>\n Organizations should update help desk procedures to include measures like video chats and photo identification for verifying the identity of individuals seeking assistance.<\/p>\nChoose multifactor authentication features wisely<\/h2>\n Multifactor authentication should be enabled whenever possible, but be sure that your organization is choosing its policies and procedures wisely.<\/p>\n In particular, ALPHV has been known to leverage SIM-swapping techniques by investing as much as $1,500 to $2,500 per targeted employee to swap their phone number to a device they could control. SIM swapping occurs when the device tied to a customer\u2019s phone number is fraudulently manipulated. With this technique, a bad actor can successfully authenticate as the employee if the organization still allows text messaging for multifactor authentication.<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Recent incidents, such as the breach at MGM Resorts, serve as stark reminders of the potential consequences of inadequate security measures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574551,"featured_media":2609649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"49926410-5562-3fde-98d6-6db4d134bde9","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[21587494],"tags":[449557039,965824,576846312,576849089,577195822,192933],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[576796357],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nMake these 5 changes to avoid becoming the next cybersecurity headline | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
While insufficient information has been disclosed to understand the full extent of the MGM Resorts breach, in recent years we have directly witnessed a significant shift in the tactics employed by highly coordinated threat actor groups, such as ALPHV\/BlackCat. These groups are increasingly prioritizing targeting infrastructure over endpoints during our incident response engagements.<\/p>\n
What can organizations do to prevent becoming the next headline? Here are five areas to watch out for.<\/p>\nEnhance help desk procedures to include video chats and photo IDs to verify the authenticity of requests<\/h2>\n The 2023 Data Breach Investigations Report by Verizon unveiled that in 74% of the reported breaches, a human factor played a role, whether partially or entirely, in causing the breach. The term “human element” encompasses various situations, ultimately pointing to human involvement in creating a vulnerability, whether it’s deliberate or accidental.<\/p>\n \t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRecent incidents, such as the breach at MGM Resorts, serve as stark reminders of the potential consequences of inadequate security measures.\t\t\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/p>\n In this particular instance, the threat actor reported that they monitored LinkedIn profiles to identify potential targets and then infiltrated the organization by vishing or \u201cvoice phishing\u201d the IT help desk. They have been known to employ social engineering tactics targeting individuals with answers to validation questions commonly used by the help desk.<\/p>\n Relying solely on text or email, or even voice calls, is no longer sufficient. ALPHV\/BlackCat and other threat actor groups have even resorted to employing voice impersonators, making it challenging to discern their true identity based on accent or voice characteristics.<\/p>\n Organizations should update help desk procedures to include measures like video chats and photo identification for verifying the identity of individuals seeking assistance.<\/p>\nChoose multifactor authentication features wisely<\/h2>\n Multifactor authentication should be enabled whenever possible, but be sure that your organization is choosing its policies and procedures wisely.<\/p>\n In particular, ALPHV has been known to leverage SIM-swapping techniques by investing as much as $1,500 to $2,500 per targeted employee to swap their phone number to a device they could control. SIM swapping occurs when the device tied to a customer\u2019s phone number is fraudulently manipulated. With this technique, a bad actor can successfully authenticate as the employee if the organization still allows text messaging for multifactor authentication.<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Recent incidents, such as the breach at MGM Resorts, serve as stark reminders of the potential consequences of inadequate security measures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574551,"featured_media":2609649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"49926410-5562-3fde-98d6-6db4d134bde9","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[21587494],"tags":[449557039,965824,576846312,576849089,577195822,192933],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[576796357],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nMake these 5 changes to avoid becoming the next cybersecurity headline | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
The 2023 Data Breach Investigations Report by Verizon unveiled that in 74% of the reported breaches, a human factor played a role, whether partially or entirely, in causing the breach. The term “human element” encompasses various situations, ultimately pointing to human involvement in creating a vulnerability, whether it’s deliberate or accidental.<\/p>\n
\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRecent incidents, such as the breach at MGM Resorts, serve as stark reminders of the potential consequences of inadequate security measures.\t\t\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/p>\n In this particular instance, the threat actor reported that they monitored LinkedIn profiles to identify potential targets and then infiltrated the organization by vishing or \u201cvoice phishing\u201d the IT help desk. They have been known to employ social engineering tactics targeting individuals with answers to validation questions commonly used by the help desk.<\/p>\n Relying solely on text or email, or even voice calls, is no longer sufficient. ALPHV\/BlackCat and other threat actor groups have even resorted to employing voice impersonators, making it challenging to discern their true identity based on accent or voice characteristics.<\/p>\n Organizations should update help desk procedures to include measures like video chats and photo identification for verifying the identity of individuals seeking assistance.<\/p>\nChoose multifactor authentication features wisely<\/h2>\n Multifactor authentication should be enabled whenever possible, but be sure that your organization is choosing its policies and procedures wisely.<\/p>\n In particular, ALPHV has been known to leverage SIM-swapping techniques by investing as much as $1,500 to $2,500 per targeted employee to swap their phone number to a device they could control. SIM swapping occurs when the device tied to a customer\u2019s phone number is fraudulently manipulated. With this technique, a bad actor can successfully authenticate as the employee if the organization still allows text messaging for multifactor authentication.<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Recent incidents, such as the breach at MGM Resorts, serve as stark reminders of the potential consequences of inadequate security measures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574551,"featured_media":2609649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"49926410-5562-3fde-98d6-6db4d134bde9","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[21587494],"tags":[449557039,965824,576846312,576849089,577195822,192933],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[576796357],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nMake these 5 changes to avoid becoming the next cybersecurity headline | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
In this particular instance, the threat actor reported that they monitored LinkedIn profiles to identify potential targets and then infiltrated the organization by vishing or \u201cvoice phishing\u201d the IT help desk. They have been known to employ social engineering tactics targeting individuals with answers to validation questions commonly used by the help desk.<\/p>\n
Relying solely on text or email, or even voice calls, is no longer sufficient. ALPHV\/BlackCat and other threat actor groups have even resorted to employing voice impersonators, making it challenging to discern their true identity based on accent or voice characteristics.<\/p>\n
Organizations should update help desk procedures to include measures like video chats and photo identification for verifying the identity of individuals seeking assistance.<\/p>\nChoose multifactor authentication features wisely<\/h2>\n Multifactor authentication should be enabled whenever possible, but be sure that your organization is choosing its policies and procedures wisely.<\/p>\n In particular, ALPHV has been known to leverage SIM-swapping techniques by investing as much as $1,500 to $2,500 per targeted employee to swap their phone number to a device they could control. SIM swapping occurs when the device tied to a customer\u2019s phone number is fraudulently manipulated. With this technique, a bad actor can successfully authenticate as the employee if the organization still allows text messaging for multifactor authentication.<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Recent incidents, such as the breach at MGM Resorts, serve as stark reminders of the potential consequences of inadequate security measures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574551,"featured_media":2609649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"49926410-5562-3fde-98d6-6db4d134bde9","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[21587494],"tags":[449557039,965824,576846312,576849089,577195822,192933],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[576796357],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nMake these 5 changes to avoid becoming the next cybersecurity headline | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Multifactor authentication should be enabled whenever possible, but be sure that your organization is choosing its policies and procedures wisely.<\/p>\n
In particular, ALPHV has been known to leverage SIM-swapping techniques by investing as much as $1,500 to $2,500 per targeted employee to swap their phone number to a device they could control. SIM swapping occurs when the device tied to a customer\u2019s phone number is fraudulently manipulated. With this technique, a bad actor can successfully authenticate as the employee if the organization still allows text messaging for multifactor authentication.<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Recent incidents, such as the breach at MGM Resorts, serve as stark reminders of the potential consequences of inadequate security measures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574551,"featured_media":2609649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"49926410-5562-3fde-98d6-6db4d134bde9","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[21587494],"tags":[449557039,965824,576846312,576849089,577195822,192933],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[576796357],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nMake these 5 changes to avoid becoming the next cybersecurity headline | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Recent incidents, such as the breach at MGM Resorts, serve as stark reminders of the potential consequences of inadequate security measures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574551,"featured_media":2609649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"49926410-5562-3fde-98d6-6db4d134bde9","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[21587494],"tags":[449557039,965824,576846312,576849089,577195822,192933],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[576796357],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nMake these 5 changes to avoid becoming the next cybersecurity headline | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Spotify today unveiled what’s next for the future of its audiobooks service. At an event hosted in its New York offices on Tuesday afternoon, the company announced a new business model where it will now provide Spotify Premium subscribers with access to a subset of its audiobooks catalog — a total of 150,000 titles — without an additional charge.<\/p>\n
The service will initially launch in the U.K. and Australia starting today and will launch in the U.S. later this year, with more markets to follow.<\/p>\n
“Audiobooks today have\u00a0one big dominating player. And just like in music and podcasting, we believe that many more consumers want to consume audiobooks and want to listen to audiobooks,” said Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek, speaking at the event. “And just like in music and podcasting, we’re really excited to be able to bring all the amazing tools that we built for creators and consumers alike to enable more discovery of these amazing audiobooks to the entire world,” he added.<\/p>\n
Powered by its acquisition of the digital audiobook distributor Findaway<\/a>, Spotify first launched audiobooks in the U.S.<\/a> in September 2022, with a catalog of 300,000 titles to start before expanding to other English-speaking markets<\/a> later in the year and Canada in early 2023<\/a>. At the service’s debut last year, Spotify touted the company’s potential to tap into a growing market, noting that audiobooks were just a 6% to 7% share of the wider book market, but the category was growing by 20% year-over-year.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Spotify<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n However, using Spotify’s service has not been as seamless as it could be for consumers because the company attempted to work around the app stores’ rules regarding in-app purchases by requiring users to buy audiobooks from the Spotify website in order to play them in its app. Plus, Spotify couldn’t direct customers to the website because of the app stores’ “anti-steering” rules, which prevent app developers from pointing to alternative means of paying outside of the app stores’ own payment mechanisms.<\/p>\n With access to audiobooks as part of the Premium service, listening to the books will become easier for end users.<\/p><\/div>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Spotify<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n Ek noted that this change will help the company by increasing user engagement with Spotify as well as reducing churn. In addition, he said it gives “great flexibility to our business which will then ultimately help our revenue and profit.”<\/p>\n The company also suggested that the audiobooks market today has a distribution and discovery problem, which Spotify aims to solve the way it’s done for music and podcasts.<\/p>\n “Tens of millions of Premium subscribers are already interested in listening to audiobooks,” said Spotify co-president and chief business officer Alex Norstr\u00f6m. “They just need the opportunity.”<\/p>\n He also noted that estimates indicate that 2 billion people will read a book this year, but the audiobook slice of that pie remains small.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Spotify<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n Though Spotify’s broader audiobooks catalog launched with 300,000 titles, only half of those are available through the Premium subscription. While subscribers can read as many books as they want, the service will be time-limited to 15 hours per month. But users will be able to buy more time by purchasing an additional 10 hours as a “top-off.”<\/p>\n Alongside the launch, Spotify will provide editorial recommendations of books to users as well as personalized suggestions based on users’ tastes.<\/p>\n “We’re going to feature editorial recommendations, curated by a diverse team of experts. And these will appear in the audiobooks hub,” explained Spotify VP, Head of Audiobooks<\/span> Business, David Kaefer. This hub will include feature shelves that highlight popular genres as well.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Spotify<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n “We’re also going to make recommendations guided by a streamlined taste onboarding,” he continued. “This is something that every listener is going to get as soon as they access their application. And it’s going to prompt users to choose some of their favorite titles and some of their favorite genres. That’s how we’re going to begin to learn how we’re going to begin to suggest the right titles to each listener,” Kaefer added.<\/p>\n He said tests to personalize audiobook recommendations were already underway and those will also appear in the app’s Home feed, which will put them in front of tens of millions of people daily.<\/p>\n Authors, meanwhile, will gain access to new tools, like promo cards they can customize with visuals, that they can use to capture users’ attention. Later, Spotify will be working on more advanced tools that will allow authors to understand how their titles are performing.<\/p>\n As the feature rolls out to supported markets, the available audiobooks that are included with the Premium offering will have a flag next to them so subscribers will know they can stream the book without a charge.<\/p>\n Users will also be able to share their favorite audiobooks on social media with built-in sharing tools and will be able to curate audiobook playlists.<\/p>\n “We’ve got instant access. We’ve got discovery. We’ve got front-and-center placement, easy social amplification, and dedicated tools,” Kaefer concluded. “And all of these things are going to help increase the number of people listening to audiobooks and help listeners engage with the format with less friction,” he said.<\/p>\n\n Spotify expands into audiobooks with acquisition of Findaway<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Spotify brings audiobooks to US users with a catalog of 300,000 titles to start<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spotify today unveiled what’s next for the future of its audiobooks service. At an event hosted in its New York offices on Tuesday afternoon, the company announced a new business model where it will now provide Spotify Premium subscribers with access to a subset of its audiobooks catalog — a total of 150,000 titles — […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2609557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"489e033c-6dfe-336e-bea7-d856b3451385","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T20:36:51Z","apple_news_api_id":"739d1850-7dc0-4efd-a7ab-6806f63c7600","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T21:07:24Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Ac50YUH3ATv2nq2gG9jx2AA","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,577030456],"tags":[64174,2074982,45141],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nSpotify to include a selection of 150K audiobooks with its Premium subscription | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Image Credits:<\/strong> Spotify<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n However, using Spotify’s service has not been as seamless as it could be for consumers because the company attempted to work around the app stores’ rules regarding in-app purchases by requiring users to buy audiobooks from the Spotify website in order to play them in its app. Plus, Spotify couldn’t direct customers to the website because of the app stores’ “anti-steering” rules, which prevent app developers from pointing to alternative means of paying outside of the app stores’ own payment mechanisms.<\/p>\n With access to audiobooks as part of the Premium service, listening to the books will become easier for end users.<\/p><\/div>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Spotify<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n Ek noted that this change will help the company by increasing user engagement with Spotify as well as reducing churn. In addition, he said it gives “great flexibility to our business which will then ultimately help our revenue and profit.”<\/p>\n The company also suggested that the audiobooks market today has a distribution and discovery problem, which Spotify aims to solve the way it’s done for music and podcasts.<\/p>\n “Tens of millions of Premium subscribers are already interested in listening to audiobooks,” said Spotify co-president and chief business officer Alex Norstr\u00f6m. “They just need the opportunity.”<\/p>\n He also noted that estimates indicate that 2 billion people will read a book this year, but the audiobook slice of that pie remains small.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Spotify<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n Though Spotify’s broader audiobooks catalog launched with 300,000 titles, only half of those are available through the Premium subscription. While subscribers can read as many books as they want, the service will be time-limited to 15 hours per month. But users will be able to buy more time by purchasing an additional 10 hours as a “top-off.”<\/p>\n Alongside the launch, Spotify will provide editorial recommendations of books to users as well as personalized suggestions based on users’ tastes.<\/p>\n “We’re going to feature editorial recommendations, curated by a diverse team of experts. And these will appear in the audiobooks hub,” explained Spotify VP, Head of Audiobooks<\/span> Business, David Kaefer. This hub will include feature shelves that highlight popular genres as well.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Spotify<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n “We’re also going to make recommendations guided by a streamlined taste onboarding,” he continued. “This is something that every listener is going to get as soon as they access their application. And it’s going to prompt users to choose some of their favorite titles and some of their favorite genres. That’s how we’re going to begin to learn how we’re going to begin to suggest the right titles to each listener,” Kaefer added.<\/p>\n He said tests to personalize audiobook recommendations were already underway and those will also appear in the app’s Home feed, which will put them in front of tens of millions of people daily.<\/p>\n Authors, meanwhile, will gain access to new tools, like promo cards they can customize with visuals, that they can use to capture users’ attention. Later, Spotify will be working on more advanced tools that will allow authors to understand how their titles are performing.<\/p>\n As the feature rolls out to supported markets, the available audiobooks that are included with the Premium offering will have a flag next to them so subscribers will know they can stream the book without a charge.<\/p>\n Users will also be able to share their favorite audiobooks on social media with built-in sharing tools and will be able to curate audiobook playlists.<\/p>\n “We’ve got instant access. We’ve got discovery. We’ve got front-and-center placement, easy social amplification, and dedicated tools,” Kaefer concluded. “And all of these things are going to help increase the number of people listening to audiobooks and help listeners engage with the format with less friction,” he said.<\/p>\n\n Spotify expands into audiobooks with acquisition of Findaway<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Spotify brings audiobooks to US users with a catalog of 300,000 titles to start<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spotify today unveiled what’s next for the future of its audiobooks service. At an event hosted in its New York offices on Tuesday afternoon, the company announced a new business model where it will now provide Spotify Premium subscribers with access to a subset of its audiobooks catalog — a total of 150,000 titles — […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2609557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"489e033c-6dfe-336e-bea7-d856b3451385","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T20:36:51Z","apple_news_api_id":"739d1850-7dc0-4efd-a7ab-6806f63c7600","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T21:07:24Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Ac50YUH3ATv2nq2gG9jx2AA","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,577030456],"tags":[64174,2074982,45141],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nSpotify to include a selection of 150K audiobooks with its Premium subscription | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Image Credits:<\/strong> Spotify<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n However, using Spotify’s service has not been as seamless as it could be for consumers because the company attempted to work around the app stores’ rules regarding in-app purchases by requiring users to buy audiobooks from the Spotify website in order to play them in its app. Plus, Spotify couldn’t direct customers to the website because of the app stores’ “anti-steering” rules, which prevent app developers from pointing to alternative means of paying outside of the app stores’ own payment mechanisms.<\/p>\n With access to audiobooks as part of the Premium service, listening to the books will become easier for end users.<\/p><\/div>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Spotify<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n Ek noted that this change will help the company by increasing user engagement with Spotify as well as reducing churn. In addition, he said it gives “great flexibility to our business which will then ultimately help our revenue and profit.”<\/p>\n The company also suggested that the audiobooks market today has a distribution and discovery problem, which Spotify aims to solve the way it’s done for music and podcasts.<\/p>\n “Tens of millions of Premium subscribers are already interested in listening to audiobooks,” said Spotify co-president and chief business officer Alex Norstr\u00f6m. “They just need the opportunity.”<\/p>\n He also noted that estimates indicate that 2 billion people will read a book this year, but the audiobook slice of that pie remains small.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Spotify<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n Though Spotify’s broader audiobooks catalog launched with 300,000 titles, only half of those are available through the Premium subscription. While subscribers can read as many books as they want, the service will be time-limited to 15 hours per month. But users will be able to buy more time by purchasing an additional 10 hours as a “top-off.”<\/p>\n Alongside the launch, Spotify will provide editorial recommendations of books to users as well as personalized suggestions based on users’ tastes.<\/p>\n “We’re going to feature editorial recommendations, curated by a diverse team of experts. And these will appear in the audiobooks hub,” explained Spotify VP, Head of Audiobooks<\/span> Business, David Kaefer. This hub will include feature shelves that highlight popular genres as well.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Spotify<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n “We’re also going to make recommendations guided by a streamlined taste onboarding,” he continued. “This is something that every listener is going to get as soon as they access their application. And it’s going to prompt users to choose some of their favorite titles and some of their favorite genres. That’s how we’re going to begin to learn how we’re going to begin to suggest the right titles to each listener,” Kaefer added.<\/p>\n He said tests to personalize audiobook recommendations were already underway and those will also appear in the app’s Home feed, which will put them in front of tens of millions of people daily.<\/p>\n Authors, meanwhile, will gain access to new tools, like promo cards they can customize with visuals, that they can use to capture users’ attention. Later, Spotify will be working on more advanced tools that will allow authors to understand how their titles are performing.<\/p>\n As the feature rolls out to supported markets, the available audiobooks that are included with the Premium offering will have a flag next to them so subscribers will know they can stream the book without a charge.<\/p>\n Users will also be able to share their favorite audiobooks on social media with built-in sharing tools and will be able to curate audiobook playlists.<\/p>\n “We’ve got instant access. We’ve got discovery. We’ve got front-and-center placement, easy social amplification, and dedicated tools,” Kaefer concluded. “And all of these things are going to help increase the number of people listening to audiobooks and help listeners engage with the format with less friction,” he said.<\/p>\n\n Spotify expands into audiobooks with acquisition of Findaway<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Spotify brings audiobooks to US users with a catalog of 300,000 titles to start<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spotify today unveiled what’s next for the future of its audiobooks service. At an event hosted in its New York offices on Tuesday afternoon, the company announced a new business model where it will now provide Spotify Premium subscribers with access to a subset of its audiobooks catalog — a total of 150,000 titles — […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2609557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"489e033c-6dfe-336e-bea7-d856b3451385","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T20:36:51Z","apple_news_api_id":"739d1850-7dc0-4efd-a7ab-6806f63c7600","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T21:07:24Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Ac50YUH3ATv2nq2gG9jx2AA","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,577030456],"tags":[64174,2074982,45141],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nSpotify to include a selection of 150K audiobooks with its Premium subscription | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
However, using Spotify’s service has not been as seamless as it could be for consumers because the company attempted to work around the app stores’ rules regarding in-app purchases by requiring users to buy audiobooks from the Spotify website in order to play them in its app. Plus, Spotify couldn’t direct customers to the website because of the app stores’ “anti-steering” rules, which prevent app developers from pointing to alternative means of paying outside of the app stores’ own payment mechanisms.<\/p>\n
With access to audiobooks as part of the Premium service, listening to the books will become easier for end users.<\/p><\/div>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Spotify<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n Ek noted that this change will help the company by increasing user engagement with Spotify as well as reducing churn. In addition, he said it gives “great flexibility to our business which will then ultimately help our revenue and profit.”<\/p>\n The company also suggested that the audiobooks market today has a distribution and discovery problem, which Spotify aims to solve the way it’s done for music and podcasts.<\/p>\n “Tens of millions of Premium subscribers are already interested in listening to audiobooks,” said Spotify co-president and chief business officer Alex Norstr\u00f6m. “They just need the opportunity.”<\/p>\n He also noted that estimates indicate that 2 billion people will read a book this year, but the audiobook slice of that pie remains small.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Spotify<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n Though Spotify’s broader audiobooks catalog launched with 300,000 titles, only half of those are available through the Premium subscription. While subscribers can read as many books as they want, the service will be time-limited to 15 hours per month. But users will be able to buy more time by purchasing an additional 10 hours as a “top-off.”<\/p>\n Alongside the launch, Spotify will provide editorial recommendations of books to users as well as personalized suggestions based on users’ tastes.<\/p>\n “We’re going to feature editorial recommendations, curated by a diverse team of experts. And these will appear in the audiobooks hub,” explained Spotify VP, Head of Audiobooks<\/span> Business, David Kaefer. This hub will include feature shelves that highlight popular genres as well.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Spotify<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n “We’re also going to make recommendations guided by a streamlined taste onboarding,” he continued. “This is something that every listener is going to get as soon as they access their application. And it’s going to prompt users to choose some of their favorite titles and some of their favorite genres. That’s how we’re going to begin to learn how we’re going to begin to suggest the right titles to each listener,” Kaefer added.<\/p>\n He said tests to personalize audiobook recommendations were already underway and those will also appear in the app’s Home feed, which will put them in front of tens of millions of people daily.<\/p>\n Authors, meanwhile, will gain access to new tools, like promo cards they can customize with visuals, that they can use to capture users’ attention. Later, Spotify will be working on more advanced tools that will allow authors to understand how their titles are performing.<\/p>\n As the feature rolls out to supported markets, the available audiobooks that are included with the Premium offering will have a flag next to them so subscribers will know they can stream the book without a charge.<\/p>\n Users will also be able to share their favorite audiobooks on social media with built-in sharing tools and will be able to curate audiobook playlists.<\/p>\n “We’ve got instant access. We’ve got discovery. We’ve got front-and-center placement, easy social amplification, and dedicated tools,” Kaefer concluded. “And all of these things are going to help increase the number of people listening to audiobooks and help listeners engage with the format with less friction,” he said.<\/p>\n\n Spotify expands into audiobooks with acquisition of Findaway<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Spotify brings audiobooks to US users with a catalog of 300,000 titles to start<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spotify today unveiled what’s next for the future of its audiobooks service. At an event hosted in its New York offices on Tuesday afternoon, the company announced a new business model where it will now provide Spotify Premium subscribers with access to a subset of its audiobooks catalog — a total of 150,000 titles — […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2609557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"489e033c-6dfe-336e-bea7-d856b3451385","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T20:36:51Z","apple_news_api_id":"739d1850-7dc0-4efd-a7ab-6806f63c7600","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T21:07:24Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Ac50YUH3ATv2nq2gG9jx2AA","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,577030456],"tags":[64174,2074982,45141],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nSpotify to include a selection of 150K audiobooks with its Premium subscription | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Image Credits:<\/strong> Spotify<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n Ek noted that this change will help the company by increasing user engagement with Spotify as well as reducing churn. In addition, he said it gives “great flexibility to our business which will then ultimately help our revenue and profit.”<\/p>\n The company also suggested that the audiobooks market today has a distribution and discovery problem, which Spotify aims to solve the way it’s done for music and podcasts.<\/p>\n “Tens of millions of Premium subscribers are already interested in listening to audiobooks,” said Spotify co-president and chief business officer Alex Norstr\u00f6m. “They just need the opportunity.”<\/p>\n He also noted that estimates indicate that 2 billion people will read a book this year, but the audiobook slice of that pie remains small.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Spotify<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n Though Spotify’s broader audiobooks catalog launched with 300,000 titles, only half of those are available through the Premium subscription. While subscribers can read as many books as they want, the service will be time-limited to 15 hours per month. But users will be able to buy more time by purchasing an additional 10 hours as a “top-off.”<\/p>\n Alongside the launch, Spotify will provide editorial recommendations of books to users as well as personalized suggestions based on users’ tastes.<\/p>\n “We’re going to feature editorial recommendations, curated by a diverse team of experts. And these will appear in the audiobooks hub,” explained Spotify VP, Head of Audiobooks<\/span> Business, David Kaefer. This hub will include feature shelves that highlight popular genres as well.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Spotify<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n “We’re also going to make recommendations guided by a streamlined taste onboarding,” he continued. “This is something that every listener is going to get as soon as they access their application. And it’s going to prompt users to choose some of their favorite titles and some of their favorite genres. That’s how we’re going to begin to learn how we’re going to begin to suggest the right titles to each listener,” Kaefer added.<\/p>\n He said tests to personalize audiobook recommendations were already underway and those will also appear in the app’s Home feed, which will put them in front of tens of millions of people daily.<\/p>\n Authors, meanwhile, will gain access to new tools, like promo cards they can customize with visuals, that they can use to capture users’ attention. Later, Spotify will be working on more advanced tools that will allow authors to understand how their titles are performing.<\/p>\n As the feature rolls out to supported markets, the available audiobooks that are included with the Premium offering will have a flag next to them so subscribers will know they can stream the book without a charge.<\/p>\n Users will also be able to share their favorite audiobooks on social media with built-in sharing tools and will be able to curate audiobook playlists.<\/p>\n “We’ve got instant access. We’ve got discovery. We’ve got front-and-center placement, easy social amplification, and dedicated tools,” Kaefer concluded. “And all of these things are going to help increase the number of people listening to audiobooks and help listeners engage with the format with less friction,” he said.<\/p>\n\n Spotify expands into audiobooks with acquisition of Findaway<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Spotify brings audiobooks to US users with a catalog of 300,000 titles to start<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spotify today unveiled what’s next for the future of its audiobooks service. At an event hosted in its New York offices on Tuesday afternoon, the company announced a new business model where it will now provide Spotify Premium subscribers with access to a subset of its audiobooks catalog — a total of 150,000 titles — […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2609557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"489e033c-6dfe-336e-bea7-d856b3451385","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T20:36:51Z","apple_news_api_id":"739d1850-7dc0-4efd-a7ab-6806f63c7600","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T21:07:24Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Ac50YUH3ATv2nq2gG9jx2AA","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,577030456],"tags":[64174,2074982,45141],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nSpotify to include a selection of 150K audiobooks with its Premium subscription | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Image Credits:<\/strong> Spotify<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n Ek noted that this change will help the company by increasing user engagement with Spotify as well as reducing churn. In addition, he said it gives “great flexibility to our business which will then ultimately help our revenue and profit.”<\/p>\n The company also suggested that the audiobooks market today has a distribution and discovery problem, which Spotify aims to solve the way it’s done for music and podcasts.<\/p>\n “Tens of millions of Premium subscribers are already interested in listening to audiobooks,” said Spotify co-president and chief business officer Alex Norstr\u00f6m. “They just need the opportunity.”<\/p>\n He also noted that estimates indicate that 2 billion people will read a book this year, but the audiobook slice of that pie remains small.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Spotify<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n Though Spotify’s broader audiobooks catalog launched with 300,000 titles, only half of those are available through the Premium subscription. While subscribers can read as many books as they want, the service will be time-limited to 15 hours per month. But users will be able to buy more time by purchasing an additional 10 hours as a “top-off.”<\/p>\n Alongside the launch, Spotify will provide editorial recommendations of books to users as well as personalized suggestions based on users’ tastes.<\/p>\n “We’re going to feature editorial recommendations, curated by a diverse team of experts. And these will appear in the audiobooks hub,” explained Spotify VP, Head of Audiobooks<\/span> Business, David Kaefer. This hub will include feature shelves that highlight popular genres as well.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Spotify<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n “We’re also going to make recommendations guided by a streamlined taste onboarding,” he continued. “This is something that every listener is going to get as soon as they access their application. And it’s going to prompt users to choose some of their favorite titles and some of their favorite genres. That’s how we’re going to begin to learn how we’re going to begin to suggest the right titles to each listener,” Kaefer added.<\/p>\n He said tests to personalize audiobook recommendations were already underway and those will also appear in the app’s Home feed, which will put them in front of tens of millions of people daily.<\/p>\n Authors, meanwhile, will gain access to new tools, like promo cards they can customize with visuals, that they can use to capture users’ attention. Later, Spotify will be working on more advanced tools that will allow authors to understand how their titles are performing.<\/p>\n As the feature rolls out to supported markets, the available audiobooks that are included with the Premium offering will have a flag next to them so subscribers will know they can stream the book without a charge.<\/p>\n Users will also be able to share their favorite audiobooks on social media with built-in sharing tools and will be able to curate audiobook playlists.<\/p>\n “We’ve got instant access. We’ve got discovery. We’ve got front-and-center placement, easy social amplification, and dedicated tools,” Kaefer concluded. “And all of these things are going to help increase the number of people listening to audiobooks and help listeners engage with the format with less friction,” he said.<\/p>\n\n Spotify expands into audiobooks with acquisition of Findaway<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Spotify brings audiobooks to US users with a catalog of 300,000 titles to start<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spotify today unveiled what’s next for the future of its audiobooks service. At an event hosted in its New York offices on Tuesday afternoon, the company announced a new business model where it will now provide Spotify Premium subscribers with access to a subset of its audiobooks catalog — a total of 150,000 titles — […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2609557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"489e033c-6dfe-336e-bea7-d856b3451385","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T20:36:51Z","apple_news_api_id":"739d1850-7dc0-4efd-a7ab-6806f63c7600","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T21:07:24Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Ac50YUH3ATv2nq2gG9jx2AA","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,577030456],"tags":[64174,2074982,45141],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nSpotify to include a selection of 150K audiobooks with its Premium subscription | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Ek noted that this change will help the company by increasing user engagement with Spotify as well as reducing churn. In addition, he said it gives “great flexibility to our business which will then ultimately help our revenue and profit.”<\/p>\n
The company also suggested that the audiobooks market today has a distribution and discovery problem, which Spotify aims to solve the way it’s done for music and podcasts.<\/p>\n
“Tens of millions of Premium subscribers are already interested in listening to audiobooks,” said Spotify co-president and chief business officer Alex Norstr\u00f6m. “They just need the opportunity.”<\/p>\n
He also noted that estimates indicate that 2 billion people will read a book this year, but the audiobook slice of that pie remains small.<\/p>\n
Image Credits:<\/strong> Spotify<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n Though Spotify’s broader audiobooks catalog launched with 300,000 titles, only half of those are available through the Premium subscription. While subscribers can read as many books as they want, the service will be time-limited to 15 hours per month. But users will be able to buy more time by purchasing an additional 10 hours as a “top-off.”<\/p>\n Alongside the launch, Spotify will provide editorial recommendations of books to users as well as personalized suggestions based on users’ tastes.<\/p>\n “We’re going to feature editorial recommendations, curated by a diverse team of experts. And these will appear in the audiobooks hub,” explained Spotify VP, Head of Audiobooks<\/span> Business, David Kaefer. This hub will include feature shelves that highlight popular genres as well.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Spotify<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n “We’re also going to make recommendations guided by a streamlined taste onboarding,” he continued. “This is something that every listener is going to get as soon as they access their application. And it’s going to prompt users to choose some of their favorite titles and some of their favorite genres. That’s how we’re going to begin to learn how we’re going to begin to suggest the right titles to each listener,” Kaefer added.<\/p>\n He said tests to personalize audiobook recommendations were already underway and those will also appear in the app’s Home feed, which will put them in front of tens of millions of people daily.<\/p>\n Authors, meanwhile, will gain access to new tools, like promo cards they can customize with visuals, that they can use to capture users’ attention. Later, Spotify will be working on more advanced tools that will allow authors to understand how their titles are performing.<\/p>\n As the feature rolls out to supported markets, the available audiobooks that are included with the Premium offering will have a flag next to them so subscribers will know they can stream the book without a charge.<\/p>\n Users will also be able to share their favorite audiobooks on social media with built-in sharing tools and will be able to curate audiobook playlists.<\/p>\n “We’ve got instant access. We’ve got discovery. We’ve got front-and-center placement, easy social amplification, and dedicated tools,” Kaefer concluded. “And all of these things are going to help increase the number of people listening to audiobooks and help listeners engage with the format with less friction,” he said.<\/p>\n\n Spotify expands into audiobooks with acquisition of Findaway<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Spotify brings audiobooks to US users with a catalog of 300,000 titles to start<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spotify today unveiled what’s next for the future of its audiobooks service. At an event hosted in its New York offices on Tuesday afternoon, the company announced a new business model where it will now provide Spotify Premium subscribers with access to a subset of its audiobooks catalog — a total of 150,000 titles — […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2609557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"489e033c-6dfe-336e-bea7-d856b3451385","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T20:36:51Z","apple_news_api_id":"739d1850-7dc0-4efd-a7ab-6806f63c7600","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T21:07:24Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Ac50YUH3ATv2nq2gG9jx2AA","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,577030456],"tags":[64174,2074982,45141],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nSpotify to include a selection of 150K audiobooks with its Premium subscription | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Image Credits:<\/strong> Spotify<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n Though Spotify’s broader audiobooks catalog launched with 300,000 titles, only half of those are available through the Premium subscription. While subscribers can read as many books as they want, the service will be time-limited to 15 hours per month. But users will be able to buy more time by purchasing an additional 10 hours as a “top-off.”<\/p>\n Alongside the launch, Spotify will provide editorial recommendations of books to users as well as personalized suggestions based on users’ tastes.<\/p>\n “We’re going to feature editorial recommendations, curated by a diverse team of experts. And these will appear in the audiobooks hub,” explained Spotify VP, Head of Audiobooks<\/span> Business, David Kaefer. This hub will include feature shelves that highlight popular genres as well.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Spotify<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n “We’re also going to make recommendations guided by a streamlined taste onboarding,” he continued. “This is something that every listener is going to get as soon as they access their application. And it’s going to prompt users to choose some of their favorite titles and some of their favorite genres. That’s how we’re going to begin to learn how we’re going to begin to suggest the right titles to each listener,” Kaefer added.<\/p>\n He said tests to personalize audiobook recommendations were already underway and those will also appear in the app’s Home feed, which will put them in front of tens of millions of people daily.<\/p>\n Authors, meanwhile, will gain access to new tools, like promo cards they can customize with visuals, that they can use to capture users’ attention. Later, Spotify will be working on more advanced tools that will allow authors to understand how their titles are performing.<\/p>\n As the feature rolls out to supported markets, the available audiobooks that are included with the Premium offering will have a flag next to them so subscribers will know they can stream the book without a charge.<\/p>\n Users will also be able to share their favorite audiobooks on social media with built-in sharing tools and will be able to curate audiobook playlists.<\/p>\n “We’ve got instant access. We’ve got discovery. We’ve got front-and-center placement, easy social amplification, and dedicated tools,” Kaefer concluded. “And all of these things are going to help increase the number of people listening to audiobooks and help listeners engage with the format with less friction,” he said.<\/p>\n\n Spotify expands into audiobooks with acquisition of Findaway<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Spotify brings audiobooks to US users with a catalog of 300,000 titles to start<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spotify today unveiled what’s next for the future of its audiobooks service. At an event hosted in its New York offices on Tuesday afternoon, the company announced a new business model where it will now provide Spotify Premium subscribers with access to a subset of its audiobooks catalog — a total of 150,000 titles — […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2609557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"489e033c-6dfe-336e-bea7-d856b3451385","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T20:36:51Z","apple_news_api_id":"739d1850-7dc0-4efd-a7ab-6806f63c7600","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T21:07:24Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Ac50YUH3ATv2nq2gG9jx2AA","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,577030456],"tags":[64174,2074982,45141],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nSpotify to include a selection of 150K audiobooks with its Premium subscription | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Though Spotify’s broader audiobooks catalog launched with 300,000 titles, only half of those are available through the Premium subscription. While subscribers can read as many books as they want, the service will be time-limited to 15 hours per month. But users will be able to buy more time by purchasing an additional 10 hours as a “top-off.”<\/p>\n
Alongside the launch, Spotify will provide editorial recommendations of books to users as well as personalized suggestions based on users’ tastes.<\/p>\n
“We’re going to feature editorial recommendations, curated by a diverse team of experts. And these will appear in the audiobooks hub,” explained Spotify VP, Head of Audiobooks<\/span> Business, David Kaefer. This hub will include feature shelves that highlight popular genres as well.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Spotify<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n “We’re also going to make recommendations guided by a streamlined taste onboarding,” he continued. “This is something that every listener is going to get as soon as they access their application. And it’s going to prompt users to choose some of their favorite titles and some of their favorite genres. That’s how we’re going to begin to learn how we’re going to begin to suggest the right titles to each listener,” Kaefer added.<\/p>\n He said tests to personalize audiobook recommendations were already underway and those will also appear in the app’s Home feed, which will put them in front of tens of millions of people daily.<\/p>\n Authors, meanwhile, will gain access to new tools, like promo cards they can customize with visuals, that they can use to capture users’ attention. Later, Spotify will be working on more advanced tools that will allow authors to understand how their titles are performing.<\/p>\n As the feature rolls out to supported markets, the available audiobooks that are included with the Premium offering will have a flag next to them so subscribers will know they can stream the book without a charge.<\/p>\n Users will also be able to share their favorite audiobooks on social media with built-in sharing tools and will be able to curate audiobook playlists.<\/p>\n “We’ve got instant access. We’ve got discovery. We’ve got front-and-center placement, easy social amplification, and dedicated tools,” Kaefer concluded. “And all of these things are going to help increase the number of people listening to audiobooks and help listeners engage with the format with less friction,” he said.<\/p>\n\n Spotify expands into audiobooks with acquisition of Findaway<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Spotify brings audiobooks to US users with a catalog of 300,000 titles to start<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spotify today unveiled what’s next for the future of its audiobooks service. At an event hosted in its New York offices on Tuesday afternoon, the company announced a new business model where it will now provide Spotify Premium subscribers with access to a subset of its audiobooks catalog — a total of 150,000 titles — […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2609557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"489e033c-6dfe-336e-bea7-d856b3451385","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T20:36:51Z","apple_news_api_id":"739d1850-7dc0-4efd-a7ab-6806f63c7600","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T21:07:24Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Ac50YUH3ATv2nq2gG9jx2AA","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,577030456],"tags":[64174,2074982,45141],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nSpotify to include a selection of 150K audiobooks with its Premium subscription | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Image Credits:<\/strong> Spotify<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n “We’re also going to make recommendations guided by a streamlined taste onboarding,” he continued. “This is something that every listener is going to get as soon as they access their application. And it’s going to prompt users to choose some of their favorite titles and some of their favorite genres. That’s how we’re going to begin to learn how we’re going to begin to suggest the right titles to each listener,” Kaefer added.<\/p>\n He said tests to personalize audiobook recommendations were already underway and those will also appear in the app’s Home feed, which will put them in front of tens of millions of people daily.<\/p>\n Authors, meanwhile, will gain access to new tools, like promo cards they can customize with visuals, that they can use to capture users’ attention. Later, Spotify will be working on more advanced tools that will allow authors to understand how their titles are performing.<\/p>\n As the feature rolls out to supported markets, the available audiobooks that are included with the Premium offering will have a flag next to them so subscribers will know they can stream the book without a charge.<\/p>\n Users will also be able to share their favorite audiobooks on social media with built-in sharing tools and will be able to curate audiobook playlists.<\/p>\n “We’ve got instant access. We’ve got discovery. We’ve got front-and-center placement, easy social amplification, and dedicated tools,” Kaefer concluded. “And all of these things are going to help increase the number of people listening to audiobooks and help listeners engage with the format with less friction,” he said.<\/p>\n\n Spotify expands into audiobooks with acquisition of Findaway<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Spotify brings audiobooks to US users with a catalog of 300,000 titles to start<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spotify today unveiled what’s next for the future of its audiobooks service. At an event hosted in its New York offices on Tuesday afternoon, the company announced a new business model where it will now provide Spotify Premium subscribers with access to a subset of its audiobooks catalog — a total of 150,000 titles — […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2609557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"489e033c-6dfe-336e-bea7-d856b3451385","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T20:36:51Z","apple_news_api_id":"739d1850-7dc0-4efd-a7ab-6806f63c7600","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T21:07:24Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Ac50YUH3ATv2nq2gG9jx2AA","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,577030456],"tags":[64174,2074982,45141],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nSpotify to include a selection of 150K audiobooks with its Premium subscription | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Image Credits:<\/strong> Spotify<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n “We’re also going to make recommendations guided by a streamlined taste onboarding,” he continued. “This is something that every listener is going to get as soon as they access their application. And it’s going to prompt users to choose some of their favorite titles and some of their favorite genres. That’s how we’re going to begin to learn how we’re going to begin to suggest the right titles to each listener,” Kaefer added.<\/p>\n He said tests to personalize audiobook recommendations were already underway and those will also appear in the app’s Home feed, which will put them in front of tens of millions of people daily.<\/p>\n Authors, meanwhile, will gain access to new tools, like promo cards they can customize with visuals, that they can use to capture users’ attention. Later, Spotify will be working on more advanced tools that will allow authors to understand how their titles are performing.<\/p>\n As the feature rolls out to supported markets, the available audiobooks that are included with the Premium offering will have a flag next to them so subscribers will know they can stream the book without a charge.<\/p>\n Users will also be able to share their favorite audiobooks on social media with built-in sharing tools and will be able to curate audiobook playlists.<\/p>\n “We’ve got instant access. We’ve got discovery. We’ve got front-and-center placement, easy social amplification, and dedicated tools,” Kaefer concluded. “And all of these things are going to help increase the number of people listening to audiobooks and help listeners engage with the format with less friction,” he said.<\/p>\n\n Spotify expands into audiobooks with acquisition of Findaway<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Spotify brings audiobooks to US users with a catalog of 300,000 titles to start<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spotify today unveiled what’s next for the future of its audiobooks service. At an event hosted in its New York offices on Tuesday afternoon, the company announced a new business model where it will now provide Spotify Premium subscribers with access to a subset of its audiobooks catalog — a total of 150,000 titles — […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2609557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"489e033c-6dfe-336e-bea7-d856b3451385","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T20:36:51Z","apple_news_api_id":"739d1850-7dc0-4efd-a7ab-6806f63c7600","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T21:07:24Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Ac50YUH3ATv2nq2gG9jx2AA","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,577030456],"tags":[64174,2074982,45141],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nSpotify to include a selection of 150K audiobooks with its Premium subscription | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
“We’re also going to make recommendations guided by a streamlined taste onboarding,” he continued. “This is something that every listener is going to get as soon as they access their application. And it’s going to prompt users to choose some of their favorite titles and some of their favorite genres. That’s how we’re going to begin to learn how we’re going to begin to suggest the right titles to each listener,” Kaefer added.<\/p>\n
He said tests to personalize audiobook recommendations were already underway and those will also appear in the app’s Home feed, which will put them in front of tens of millions of people daily.<\/p>\n
Authors, meanwhile, will gain access to new tools, like promo cards they can customize with visuals, that they can use to capture users’ attention. Later, Spotify will be working on more advanced tools that will allow authors to understand how their titles are performing.<\/p>\n
As the feature rolls out to supported markets, the available audiobooks that are included with the Premium offering will have a flag next to them so subscribers will know they can stream the book without a charge.<\/p>\n
Users will also be able to share their favorite audiobooks on social media with built-in sharing tools and will be able to curate audiobook playlists.<\/p>\n
“We’ve got instant access. We’ve got discovery. We’ve got front-and-center placement, easy social amplification, and dedicated tools,” Kaefer concluded. “And all of these things are going to help increase the number of people listening to audiobooks and help listeners engage with the format with less friction,” he said.<\/p>\n\n Spotify expands into audiobooks with acquisition of Findaway<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Spotify brings audiobooks to US users with a catalog of 300,000 titles to start<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spotify today unveiled what’s next for the future of its audiobooks service. At an event hosted in its New York offices on Tuesday afternoon, the company announced a new business model where it will now provide Spotify Premium subscribers with access to a subset of its audiobooks catalog — a total of 150,000 titles — […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2609557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"489e033c-6dfe-336e-bea7-d856b3451385","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T20:36:51Z","apple_news_api_id":"739d1850-7dc0-4efd-a7ab-6806f63c7600","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T21:07:24Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Ac50YUH3ATv2nq2gG9jx2AA","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,577030456],"tags":[64174,2074982,45141],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nSpotify to include a selection of 150K audiobooks with its Premium subscription | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Spotify expands into audiobooks with acquisition of Findaway<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Spotify brings audiobooks to US users with a catalog of 300,000 titles to start<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spotify today unveiled what’s next for the future of its audiobooks service. At an event hosted in its New York offices on Tuesday afternoon, the company announced a new business model where it will now provide Spotify Premium subscribers with access to a subset of its audiobooks catalog — a total of 150,000 titles — […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2609557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"489e033c-6dfe-336e-bea7-d856b3451385","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T20:36:51Z","apple_news_api_id":"739d1850-7dc0-4efd-a7ab-6806f63c7600","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T21:07:24Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Ac50YUH3ATv2nq2gG9jx2AA","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,577030456],"tags":[64174,2074982,45141],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nSpotify to include a selection of 150K audiobooks with its Premium subscription | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
<\/iframe><\/div>\n\n Spotify brings audiobooks to US users with a catalog of 300,000 titles to start<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spotify today unveiled what’s next for the future of its audiobooks service. At an event hosted in its New York offices on Tuesday afternoon, the company announced a new business model where it will now provide Spotify Premium subscribers with access to a subset of its audiobooks catalog — a total of 150,000 titles — […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2609557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"489e033c-6dfe-336e-bea7-d856b3451385","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T20:36:51Z","apple_news_api_id":"739d1850-7dc0-4efd-a7ab-6806f63c7600","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T21:07:24Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Ac50YUH3ATv2nq2gG9jx2AA","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,577030456],"tags":[64174,2074982,45141],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nSpotify to include a selection of 150K audiobooks with its Premium subscription | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Spotify brings audiobooks to US users with a catalog of 300,000 titles to start<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spotify today unveiled what’s next for the future of its audiobooks service. At an event hosted in its New York offices on Tuesday afternoon, the company announced a new business model where it will now provide Spotify Premium subscribers with access to a subset of its audiobooks catalog — a total of 150,000 titles — […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2609557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"489e033c-6dfe-336e-bea7-d856b3451385","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T20:36:51Z","apple_news_api_id":"739d1850-7dc0-4efd-a7ab-6806f63c7600","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T21:07:24Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Ac50YUH3ATv2nq2gG9jx2AA","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,577030456],"tags":[64174,2074982,45141],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nSpotify to include a selection of 150K audiobooks with its Premium subscription | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
<\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spotify today unveiled what’s next for the future of its audiobooks service. At an event hosted in its New York offices on Tuesday afternoon, the company announced a new business model where it will now provide Spotify Premium subscribers with access to a subset of its audiobooks catalog — a total of 150,000 titles — […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2609557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"489e033c-6dfe-336e-bea7-d856b3451385","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T20:36:51Z","apple_news_api_id":"739d1850-7dc0-4efd-a7ab-6806f63c7600","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T21:07:24Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Ac50YUH3ATv2nq2gG9jx2AA","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,577030456],"tags":[64174,2074982,45141],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nSpotify to include a selection of 150K audiobooks with its Premium subscription | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Spotify today unveiled what’s next for the future of its audiobooks service. At an event hosted in its New York offices on Tuesday afternoon, the company announced a new business model where it will now provide Spotify Premium subscribers with access to a subset of its audiobooks catalog — a total of 150,000 titles — […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":2609557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"489e033c-6dfe-336e-bea7-d856b3451385","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T20:36:51Z","apple_news_api_id":"739d1850-7dc0-4efd-a7ab-6806f63c7600","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T21:07:24Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Ac50YUH3ATv2nq2gG9jx2AA","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,577030456],"tags":[64174,2074982,45141],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nSpotify to include a selection of 150K audiobooks with its Premium subscription | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Sarah has worked as a reporter for TechCrunch since August 2011. She joined the company after having previously spent over three years at ReadWriteWeb. Prior to her work as a reporter, Sarah worked in I.T. across a number of industries, including banking, retail and software.<\/p>","cbAvatar":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/lwzxxnshgj71bonwbik3.jpg.jpg","twitter":"sarahintampa","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/2414667"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users"}]}}],"author":[{"id":2414667,"name":"Sarah Perez","url":"","description":"","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/author\/sarah-perez\/","slug":"sarah-perez","avatar_urls":{"24":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5225bb627e112543aa03bf3b2958be3f?s=24&d=identicon&r=g","48":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5225bb627e112543aa03bf3b2958be3f?s=48&d=identicon&r=g","96":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5225bb627e112543aa03bf3b2958be3f?s=96&d=identicon&r=g"},"yoast_head":"\nSarah Perez, Author at TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Sarah has worked as a reporter for TechCrunch since August 2011. She joined the company after having previously spent over three years at ReadWriteWeb. Prior to her work as a reporter, Sarah worked in I.T. across a number of industries, including banking, retail and software.<\/p>","cbAvatar":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/lwzxxnshgj71bonwbik3.jpg.jpg","twitter":"sarahintampa","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/2414667"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users"}]}}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"id":2609557,"date":"2023-10-03T13:07:20","slug":"spotify-daniel-ek","type":"attachment","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/10\/03\/spotify-to-include-a-selection-of-audiobooks-with-its-premium-subscription\/spotify-daniel-ek\/","title":{"rendered":"spotify daniel ek"},"author":2414667,"license":{"person":"Photo from Spotify live event"},"authors":[2414667],"caption":{"rendered":""},"alt_text":"","media_type":"image","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","media_details":{"width":2824,"height":1618,"file":"2023\/10\/spotify-daniel-ek.jpg","filesize":293545,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"file":"spotify-daniel-ek.jpg?resize=150,86","width":150,"height":86,"filesize":293545,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/spotify-daniel-ek.jpg?w=150"},"medium":{"file":"spotify-daniel-ek.jpg?resize=300,172","width":300,"height":172,"filesize":293545,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/spotify-daniel-ek.jpg?w=300"},"medium_large":{"file":"spotify-daniel-ek.jpg?resize=768,440","width":768,"height":440,"filesize":293545,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/spotify-daniel-ek.jpg?w=1024"},"large":{"file":"spotify-daniel-ek.jpg?resize=680,390","width":680,"height":390,"filesize":293545,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/spotify-daniel-ek.jpg?w=680"},"1536x1536":{"file":"spotify-daniel-ek.jpg?resize=1536,880","width":1536,"height":880,"filesize":293545,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/spotify-daniel-ek.jpg?w=1536"},"2048x2048":{"file":"spotify-daniel-ek.jpg?resize=2048,1173","width":2048,"height":1173,"filesize":293545,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/spotify-daniel-ek.jpg?w=2048"},"tc-social-image":{"file":"spotify-daniel-ek.jpg?resize=1200,688","width":1200,"height":688,"filesize":293545,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/spotify-daniel-ek.jpg?w=1200"},"guest-author-32":{"file":"spotify-daniel-ek.jpg?resize=32,32","width":32,"height":32,"filesize":293545,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/spotify-daniel-ek.jpg?w=32&h=32&crop=1"},"guest-author-50":{"file":"spotify-daniel-ek.jpg?resize=50,50","width":50,"height":50,"filesize":293545,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/spotify-daniel-ek.jpg?w=50&h=50&crop=1"},"guest-author-64":{"file":"spotify-daniel-ek.jpg?resize=64,64","width":64,"height":64,"filesize":293545,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/spotify-daniel-ek.jpg?w=64&h=64&crop=1"},"guest-author-96":{"file":"spotify-daniel-ek.jpg?resize=96,96","width":96,"height":96,"filesize":293545,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/spotify-daniel-ek.jpg?w=96&h=96&crop=1"},"guest-author-128":{"file":"spotify-daniel-ek.jpg?resize=128,128","width":128,"height":128,"filesize":293545,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/spotify-daniel-ek.jpg?w=128&h=128&crop=1"},"concierge-thumb":{"file":"spotify-daniel-ek.jpg?resize=50,29","width":50,"height":29,"filesize":293545,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/spotify-daniel-ek.jpg?w=50"},"full":{"file":"spotify-daniel-ek.jpg","width":1024,"height":587,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/spotify-daniel-ek.jpg"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0","keywords":[]}},"source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/spotify-daniel-ek.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2609557"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/attachment"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2609557"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/2414667"}]}}],"wp:term":[[{"id":577051039,"description":"The app economy continues to grow, having produced a record number of downloads and consumer spending across both the iOS and Google Play stores. Keep up with this fast-moving industry in one place, with the latest from the world of apps, including news, updates, startup fundings, mergers and acquisitions, and much more.","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/category\/apps\/","name":"Apps","slug":"apps","taxonomy":"category","parent":0,"yoast_head":"\nApps | Read the latest app news on TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n
Sam Altman, Peak XV, and Daniel Gross and Nat Friedman’s AI grant are among backers of an AI startup, founded by two teenagers, that’s aiming to assist businesses in automating numerous workflows in previously unexplored ways.<\/p>\n
Induced AI<\/a>, founded this year, enables businesses to input their workflows in plain English, subsequently converting the instructions into pseudo-code in real time for numerous repetitive tasks typically managed by back offices.<\/p>\n The eponymous platform spins up Chromium-based browser instances, and uses its tech to read on-screen content and control the browser similarly to a human in order to complete various steps of a workflow. This allows the browser instances to interact with websites even if they don’t have an API, Aryan Sharma, Induced AI co-founder and chief executive, showed in a demo.<\/p>\n Zapier is among the firms that pioneered the API integration economy, connecting disparate applications, offering businesses a route toward automated and efficient workflows. The platform’s use of automated workflows provided companies with a mechanism to streamline operations and innovate, all without necessitating an in-depth understanding of technical processes. Eighteen-year-old Sharma (at right in the lead picture), who co-founded the startup with 19-year-old Ayush Pathak (left), is betting that Induced AI can build an integration economy for the browser-native workflows.<\/p>\n The workflows can be complex and logic-driven processes, including two-factor authentication dialogues. Induced AI applies a bi-directional interaction system, enabling human involvement in certain steps as needed, while autonomously managing the remainder, said Sharma.<\/p>\n “We’ve purpose-built a browser environment on top of Chromium that’s designed for autonomous workflow runs. It has its own memory, file system, and authentication credentials (email, phone number) to do complex flows. As far as I know, we’re the first to take this approach of redesigning the browser for native AI agent use. So complex logins, 2FA (we auto fill in auth codes\/SMSs), file downloads, storing and re-using data is possible that other autonomous agents can’t do,” said Sharma.<\/p>\n In contrast to existing models, where an individual trying to program such instructions might spend hours on tasks like tagging all HTML elements, Induced AI eliminates the need for manual tagging. Its system can discern the necessary information from English instructions and dynamically adjust them as needed for tweaks.<\/p>\n Induced AI is certainly not alone. Chances are you have seen several similar modern Robotic Process Automation concepts floating around on X and Hacker News in recent months. But Sharma pointed out several factors that set Induced AI apart from others. Induced AI can run multiple tasks simultaneously and it’s fully remote, for instance, he said.<\/p>\n The startup, which currently has just five members, has signed up a few small to mid-sized customers in recent weeks, including a sales firm that uses Induced AI for employee onboarding, and is working on many new use cases, said Sharma.<\/p>\n Induced AI said Tuesday it has raised $2.3 million in its seed funding round, and its investors include SignalFire, Untitled Ventures, SV Angel, Superscrypt, Balaji Srinivasan, Julian Weisser, IDEO Colab, and OnDeck.<\/p>\n \u201cInduced is the definition of RPA 3.0. Not only are they taking a huge leap forward in providing true human-like interaction and efficiency, they democratize access by allowing users to describe their workflows in natural language and execute parallel agents any back-office workflow,” said SignalFire’s Elaine Zelby in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sam Altman, Peak XV, and Daniel Gross and Nat Friedman’s AI grant are among backers of an AI startup, founded by two teenagers, that’s aiming to assist businesses in automating numerous workflows in previously unexplored ways. Induced AI, founded this year, enables businesses to input their workflows in plain English, subsequently converting the instructions into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574269,"featured_media":2609293,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"838cabcd-2e42-3749-9658-c77959dac2cb","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T18:32:02Z","apple_news_api_id":"1c6f0b02-6c03-4a51-9340-6bc61d7387e0","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T19:29:45Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AHG8LAmwDSlGTQGvGHXOH4A","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577047203,20429],"tags":[449557729,114540,577195807,577105299,1473202,578044],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nSam Altman backs teens' AI startup automating browser-native workflows | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
The eponymous platform spins up Chromium-based browser instances, and uses its tech to read on-screen content and control the browser similarly to a human in order to complete various steps of a workflow. This allows the browser instances to interact with websites even if they don’t have an API, Aryan Sharma, Induced AI co-founder and chief executive, showed in a demo.<\/p>\n
Zapier is among the firms that pioneered the API integration economy, connecting disparate applications, offering businesses a route toward automated and efficient workflows. The platform’s use of automated workflows provided companies with a mechanism to streamline operations and innovate, all without necessitating an in-depth understanding of technical processes. Eighteen-year-old Sharma (at right in the lead picture), who co-founded the startup with 19-year-old Ayush Pathak (left), is betting that Induced AI can build an integration economy for the browser-native workflows.<\/p>\n
The workflows can be complex and logic-driven processes, including two-factor authentication dialogues. Induced AI applies a bi-directional interaction system, enabling human involvement in certain steps as needed, while autonomously managing the remainder, said Sharma.<\/p>\n
“We’ve purpose-built a browser environment on top of Chromium that’s designed for autonomous workflow runs. It has its own memory, file system, and authentication credentials (email, phone number) to do complex flows. As far as I know, we’re the first to take this approach of redesigning the browser for native AI agent use. So complex logins, 2FA (we auto fill in auth codes\/SMSs), file downloads, storing and re-using data is possible that other autonomous agents can’t do,” said Sharma.<\/p>\n
In contrast to existing models, where an individual trying to program such instructions might spend hours on tasks like tagging all HTML elements, Induced AI eliminates the need for manual tagging. Its system can discern the necessary information from English instructions and dynamically adjust them as needed for tweaks.<\/p>\n
Induced AI is certainly not alone. Chances are you have seen several similar modern Robotic Process Automation concepts floating around on X and Hacker News in recent months. But Sharma pointed out several factors that set Induced AI apart from others. Induced AI can run multiple tasks simultaneously and it’s fully remote, for instance, he said.<\/p>\n
The startup, which currently has just five members, has signed up a few small to mid-sized customers in recent weeks, including a sales firm that uses Induced AI for employee onboarding, and is working on many new use cases, said Sharma.<\/p>\n
Induced AI said Tuesday it has raised $2.3 million in its seed funding round, and its investors include SignalFire, Untitled Ventures, SV Angel, Superscrypt, Balaji Srinivasan, Julian Weisser, IDEO Colab, and OnDeck.<\/p>\n
\u201cInduced is the definition of RPA 3.0. Not only are they taking a huge leap forward in providing true human-like interaction and efficiency, they democratize access by allowing users to describe their workflows in natural language and execute parallel agents any back-office workflow,” said SignalFire’s Elaine Zelby in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sam Altman, Peak XV, and Daniel Gross and Nat Friedman’s AI grant are among backers of an AI startup, founded by two teenagers, that’s aiming to assist businesses in automating numerous workflows in previously unexplored ways. Induced AI, founded this year, enables businesses to input their workflows in plain English, subsequently converting the instructions into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574269,"featured_media":2609293,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"838cabcd-2e42-3749-9658-c77959dac2cb","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T18:32:02Z","apple_news_api_id":"1c6f0b02-6c03-4a51-9340-6bc61d7387e0","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T19:29:45Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AHG8LAmwDSlGTQGvGHXOH4A","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577047203,20429],"tags":[449557729,114540,577195807,577105299,1473202,578044],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nSam Altman backs teens' AI startup automating browser-native workflows | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Induced AI<\/p>\n"},"alt_text":"Induced AI founders","media_type":"image","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","media_details":{"width":2400,"height":1800,"file":"2023\/10\/induced-ai.jpg","filesize":937489,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"file":"induced-ai.jpg?resize=150,113","width":150,"height":113,"filesize":937489,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/induced-ai.jpg?w=150"},"medium":{"file":"induced-ai.jpg?resize=300,225","width":300,"height":225,"filesize":937489,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/induced-ai.jpg?w=300"},"medium_large":{"file":"induced-ai.jpg?resize=768,576","width":768,"height":576,"filesize":937489,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/induced-ai.jpg?w=1024"},"large":{"file":"induced-ai.jpg?resize=680,510","width":680,"height":510,"filesize":937489,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/induced-ai.jpg?w=680"},"1536x1536":{"file":"induced-ai.jpg?resize=1536,1152","width":1536,"height":1152,"filesize":937489,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/induced-ai.jpg?w=1536"},"2048x2048":{"file":"induced-ai.jpg?resize=2048,1536","width":2048,"height":1536,"filesize":937489,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/induced-ai.jpg?w=2048"},"tc-social-image":{"file":"induced-ai.jpg?resize=1200,900","width":1200,"height":900,"filesize":937489,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/induced-ai.jpg?w=1200"},"guest-author-32":{"file":"induced-ai.jpg?resize=32,32","width":32,"height":32,"filesize":937489,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/induced-ai.jpg?w=32&h=32&crop=1"},"guest-author-50":{"file":"induced-ai.jpg?resize=50,50","width":50,"height":50,"filesize":937489,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/induced-ai.jpg?w=50&h=50&crop=1"},"guest-author-64":{"file":"induced-ai.jpg?resize=64,64","width":64,"height":64,"filesize":937489,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/induced-ai.jpg?w=64&h=64&crop=1"},"guest-author-96":{"file":"induced-ai.jpg?resize=96,96","width":96,"height":96,"filesize":937489,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/induced-ai.jpg?w=96&h=96&crop=1"},"guest-author-128":{"file":"induced-ai.jpg?resize=128,128","width":128,"height":128,"filesize":937489,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/induced-ai.jpg?w=128&h=128&crop=1"},"concierge-thumb":{"file":"induced-ai.jpg?resize=50,38","width":50,"height":38,"filesize":937489,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/induced-ai.jpg?w=50"},"full":{"file":"induced-ai.jpg","width":1024,"height":768,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/induced-ai.jpg"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 14 Pro","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1","keywords":[]}},"source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/induced-ai.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2609293"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/attachment"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2609293"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/133574269"}]}}],"wp:term":[[{"id":577047203,"description":"News coverage on artificial intelligence and machine learning tech, the companies building them, and the ethical issues AI raises today. This encompasses generative AI, including large language models, text-to-image and text-to-video models; speech recognition and generation; and predictive analytics.","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/category\/artificial-intelligence\/","name":"AI","slug":"artificial-intelligence","taxonomy":"category","parent":0,"yoast_head":"\nAI News & Artificial Intelligence | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n
Uber is expanding its peer-to-peer package delivery service, Uber Connect. Now, customers who don’t want to schlep a package to the post office can request an Uber courier to do it for them with the new ‘Return a Package’ feature.<\/p>\n
Uber couriers can pick up five packages at a time to be delivered at your local post office, UPS or FedEx, according to Uber. The packages have to be prepaid and sealed, an important caveat that makes me wonder if Uber is introducing this feature in part to pivot away from its peer-to-peer service, introduced in 2020<\/a> during the pandemic lockdowns.<\/p>\n As the service stands today, there really isn’t a mechanism to ensure that Uber couriers aren’t being used as drug mules, something others have reported on<\/a> and is a regular source of amusement\/concern on Reddit<\/a>.<\/p>\n Despite these concerns, an Uber spokesperson told TechCrunch the Return a Package feature is not meant to replace Uber Connect’s peer-to-peer service, but rather build on it.<\/p>\n Regardless, Uber’s not the first company to think of package drop offs. DoorDash introduced its brandedPackage Pickup<\/a> product in January. The services from Uber and DoorDash cost the same — either a $5 flat fee or $3 if you’re an Uber One or DashPass member.<\/p>\n And of course, the carriers themselves offer package pickup services. With the United States Postal Service<\/a>, pickup is free — your letter carrier will pick it up when regular mail is delivered — but needs to be scheduled<\/a>. UPS charges<\/a> $13 for same-day pickup and $8 for future pickups. FedEx<\/a> charges $4 per one-time express package pickup, but that hikes up to $16 on Saturdays. For One-time ground pickups, it’s $3 for each next-day or future package and $4 for same-day or return packages.<\/p>\n Uber said packages to be delivered should be under $100 in value and weigh less than 30 pounds. Customers can track their packages in real time in the Uber or Uber Eats app. A courier will send visual confirmation or a photo of the receipt when the package drop-off is complete, according to Uber.<\/p><\/div>\n This service will be available immediately in almost 5,000 cities and towns in US, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas and San Francisco, with more to come.<\/p>\n Uber’s package delivery service is in line with the company’s Amazonification strategy<\/a> — the company’s desire to create stickiness<\/a> in the app by cross-selling products and services and generally touching on every aspect of transporting people and goods.<\/p>\n “At Uber, we\u2019re investing in making more use cases as effortless as tapping a button to get a ride or ordering dinner to your doorstep,\u201d said Wendy Lee, director of delivery product management, in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Uber is expanding its peer-to-peer package delivery service, Uber Connect. Now, customers who don’t want to schlep a package to the post office can request an Uber courier to do it for them with the new ‘Return a Package’ feature. Uber couriers can pick up five packages at a time to be delivered at your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574434,"featured_media":2609720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"391b48b5-e204-3cf1-93df-5e4e02d0b845","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-04T11:01:01Z","apple_news_api_id":"633c5c3b-aa5f-40a7-97ba-a5c1a3e06ccf","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-04T11:01:01Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AYzxcO6pfQKeXuqXBo-Bszw","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577052802,2401],"tags":[217609],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nUber couriers will now drop your package off at the post office | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
As the service stands today, there really isn’t a mechanism to ensure that Uber couriers aren’t being used as drug mules, something others have reported on<\/a> and is a regular source of amusement\/concern on Reddit<\/a>.<\/p>\n Despite these concerns, an Uber spokesperson told TechCrunch the Return a Package feature is not meant to replace Uber Connect’s peer-to-peer service, but rather build on it.<\/p>\n Regardless, Uber’s not the first company to think of package drop offs. DoorDash introduced its brandedPackage Pickup<\/a> product in January. The services from Uber and DoorDash cost the same — either a $5 flat fee or $3 if you’re an Uber One or DashPass member.<\/p>\n And of course, the carriers themselves offer package pickup services. With the United States Postal Service<\/a>, pickup is free — your letter carrier will pick it up when regular mail is delivered — but needs to be scheduled<\/a>. UPS charges<\/a> $13 for same-day pickup and $8 for future pickups. FedEx<\/a> charges $4 per one-time express package pickup, but that hikes up to $16 on Saturdays. For One-time ground pickups, it’s $3 for each next-day or future package and $4 for same-day or return packages.<\/p>\n Uber said packages to be delivered should be under $100 in value and weigh less than 30 pounds. Customers can track their packages in real time in the Uber or Uber Eats app. A courier will send visual confirmation or a photo of the receipt when the package drop-off is complete, according to Uber.<\/p><\/div>\n This service will be available immediately in almost 5,000 cities and towns in US, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas and San Francisco, with more to come.<\/p>\n Uber’s package delivery service is in line with the company’s Amazonification strategy<\/a> — the company’s desire to create stickiness<\/a> in the app by cross-selling products and services and generally touching on every aspect of transporting people and goods.<\/p>\n “At Uber, we\u2019re investing in making more use cases as effortless as tapping a button to get a ride or ordering dinner to your doorstep,\u201d said Wendy Lee, director of delivery product management, in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Uber is expanding its peer-to-peer package delivery service, Uber Connect. Now, customers who don’t want to schlep a package to the post office can request an Uber courier to do it for them with the new ‘Return a Package’ feature. Uber couriers can pick up five packages at a time to be delivered at your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574434,"featured_media":2609720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"391b48b5-e204-3cf1-93df-5e4e02d0b845","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-04T11:01:01Z","apple_news_api_id":"633c5c3b-aa5f-40a7-97ba-a5c1a3e06ccf","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-04T11:01:01Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AYzxcO6pfQKeXuqXBo-Bszw","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577052802,2401],"tags":[217609],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nUber couriers will now drop your package off at the post office | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Despite these concerns, an Uber spokesperson told TechCrunch the Return a Package feature is not meant to replace Uber Connect’s peer-to-peer service, but rather build on it.<\/p>\n
Regardless, Uber’s not the first company to think of package drop offs. DoorDash introduced its brandedPackage Pickup<\/a> product in January. The services from Uber and DoorDash cost the same — either a $5 flat fee or $3 if you’re an Uber One or DashPass member.<\/p>\n And of course, the carriers themselves offer package pickup services. With the United States Postal Service<\/a>, pickup is free — your letter carrier will pick it up when regular mail is delivered — but needs to be scheduled<\/a>. UPS charges<\/a> $13 for same-day pickup and $8 for future pickups. FedEx<\/a> charges $4 per one-time express package pickup, but that hikes up to $16 on Saturdays. For One-time ground pickups, it’s $3 for each next-day or future package and $4 for same-day or return packages.<\/p>\n Uber said packages to be delivered should be under $100 in value and weigh less than 30 pounds. Customers can track their packages in real time in the Uber or Uber Eats app. A courier will send visual confirmation or a photo of the receipt when the package drop-off is complete, according to Uber.<\/p><\/div>\n This service will be available immediately in almost 5,000 cities and towns in US, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas and San Francisco, with more to come.<\/p>\n Uber’s package delivery service is in line with the company’s Amazonification strategy<\/a> — the company’s desire to create stickiness<\/a> in the app by cross-selling products and services and generally touching on every aspect of transporting people and goods.<\/p>\n “At Uber, we\u2019re investing in making more use cases as effortless as tapping a button to get a ride or ordering dinner to your doorstep,\u201d said Wendy Lee, director of delivery product management, in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Uber is expanding its peer-to-peer package delivery service, Uber Connect. Now, customers who don’t want to schlep a package to the post office can request an Uber courier to do it for them with the new ‘Return a Package’ feature. Uber couriers can pick up five packages at a time to be delivered at your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574434,"featured_media":2609720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"391b48b5-e204-3cf1-93df-5e4e02d0b845","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-04T11:01:01Z","apple_news_api_id":"633c5c3b-aa5f-40a7-97ba-a5c1a3e06ccf","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-04T11:01:01Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AYzxcO6pfQKeXuqXBo-Bszw","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577052802,2401],"tags":[217609],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nUber couriers will now drop your package off at the post office | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
And of course, the carriers themselves offer package pickup services. With the United States Postal Service<\/a>, pickup is free — your letter carrier will pick it up when regular mail is delivered — but needs to be scheduled<\/a>. UPS charges<\/a> $13 for same-day pickup and $8 for future pickups. FedEx<\/a> charges $4 per one-time express package pickup, but that hikes up to $16 on Saturdays. For One-time ground pickups, it’s $3 for each next-day or future package and $4 for same-day or return packages.<\/p>\n Uber said packages to be delivered should be under $100 in value and weigh less than 30 pounds. Customers can track their packages in real time in the Uber or Uber Eats app. A courier will send visual confirmation or a photo of the receipt when the package drop-off is complete, according to Uber.<\/p><\/div>\n This service will be available immediately in almost 5,000 cities and towns in US, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas and San Francisco, with more to come.<\/p>\n Uber’s package delivery service is in line with the company’s Amazonification strategy<\/a> — the company’s desire to create stickiness<\/a> in the app by cross-selling products and services and generally touching on every aspect of transporting people and goods.<\/p>\n “At Uber, we\u2019re investing in making more use cases as effortless as tapping a button to get a ride or ordering dinner to your doorstep,\u201d said Wendy Lee, director of delivery product management, in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Uber is expanding its peer-to-peer package delivery service, Uber Connect. Now, customers who don’t want to schlep a package to the post office can request an Uber courier to do it for them with the new ‘Return a Package’ feature. Uber couriers can pick up five packages at a time to be delivered at your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574434,"featured_media":2609720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"391b48b5-e204-3cf1-93df-5e4e02d0b845","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-04T11:01:01Z","apple_news_api_id":"633c5c3b-aa5f-40a7-97ba-a5c1a3e06ccf","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-04T11:01:01Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AYzxcO6pfQKeXuqXBo-Bszw","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577052802,2401],"tags":[217609],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nUber couriers will now drop your package off at the post office | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Uber said packages to be delivered should be under $100 in value and weigh less than 30 pounds. Customers can track their packages in real time in the Uber or Uber Eats app. A courier will send visual confirmation or a photo of the receipt when the package drop-off is complete, according to Uber.<\/p><\/div>\n This service will be available immediately in almost 5,000 cities and towns in US, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas and San Francisco, with more to come.<\/p>\n Uber’s package delivery service is in line with the company’s Amazonification strategy<\/a> — the company’s desire to create stickiness<\/a> in the app by cross-selling products and services and generally touching on every aspect of transporting people and goods.<\/p>\n “At Uber, we\u2019re investing in making more use cases as effortless as tapping a button to get a ride or ordering dinner to your doorstep,\u201d said Wendy Lee, director of delivery product management, in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Uber is expanding its peer-to-peer package delivery service, Uber Connect. Now, customers who don’t want to schlep a package to the post office can request an Uber courier to do it for them with the new ‘Return a Package’ feature. Uber couriers can pick up five packages at a time to be delivered at your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574434,"featured_media":2609720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"391b48b5-e204-3cf1-93df-5e4e02d0b845","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-04T11:01:01Z","apple_news_api_id":"633c5c3b-aa5f-40a7-97ba-a5c1a3e06ccf","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-04T11:01:01Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AYzxcO6pfQKeXuqXBo-Bszw","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577052802,2401],"tags":[217609],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nUber couriers will now drop your package off at the post office | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
This service will be available immediately in almost 5,000 cities and towns in US, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas and San Francisco, with more to come.<\/p>\n
Uber’s package delivery service is in line with the company’s Amazonification strategy<\/a> — the company’s desire to create stickiness<\/a> in the app by cross-selling products and services and generally touching on every aspect of transporting people and goods.<\/p>\n “At Uber, we\u2019re investing in making more use cases as effortless as tapping a button to get a ride or ordering dinner to your doorstep,\u201d said Wendy Lee, director of delivery product management, in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Uber is expanding its peer-to-peer package delivery service, Uber Connect. Now, customers who don’t want to schlep a package to the post office can request an Uber courier to do it for them with the new ‘Return a Package’ feature. Uber couriers can pick up five packages at a time to be delivered at your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574434,"featured_media":2609720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"391b48b5-e204-3cf1-93df-5e4e02d0b845","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-04T11:01:01Z","apple_news_api_id":"633c5c3b-aa5f-40a7-97ba-a5c1a3e06ccf","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-04T11:01:01Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AYzxcO6pfQKeXuqXBo-Bszw","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577052802,2401],"tags":[217609],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nUber couriers will now drop your package off at the post office | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
“At Uber, we\u2019re investing in making more use cases as effortless as tapping a button to get a ride or ordering dinner to your doorstep,\u201d said Wendy Lee, director of delivery product management, in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Uber is expanding its peer-to-peer package delivery service, Uber Connect. Now, customers who don’t want to schlep a package to the post office can request an Uber courier to do it for them with the new ‘Return a Package’ feature. Uber couriers can pick up five packages at a time to be delivered at your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133574434,"featured_media":2609720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"391b48b5-e204-3cf1-93df-5e4e02d0b845","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-04T11:01:01Z","apple_news_api_id":"633c5c3b-aa5f-40a7-97ba-a5c1a3e06ccf","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-04T11:01:01Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AYzxcO6pfQKeXuqXBo-Bszw","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577052802,2401],"tags":[217609],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nUber couriers will now drop your package off at the post office | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
screenshots of the Uber app’s new feature to return a package<\/p>\n"},"alt_text":"screenshots of the Uber app's new feature to return a package","media_type":"image","mime_type":"image\/png","media_details":{"width":1920,"height":1080,"file":"2023\/10\/uber-package-delivery-2.png","filesize":573571,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"file":"uber-package-delivery-2.png?resize=150,84","width":150,"height":84,"filesize":573571,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/uber-package-delivery-2.png?w=150"},"medium":{"file":"uber-package-delivery-2.png?resize=300,169","width":300,"height":169,"filesize":573571,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/uber-package-delivery-2.png?w=300"},"medium_large":{"file":"uber-package-delivery-2.png?resize=768,432","width":768,"height":432,"filesize":573571,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/uber-package-delivery-2.png?w=1024"},"large":{"file":"uber-package-delivery-2.png?resize=680,383","width":680,"height":383,"filesize":573571,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/uber-package-delivery-2.png?w=680"},"1536x1536":{"file":"uber-package-delivery-2.png?resize=1536,864","width":1536,"height":864,"filesize":573571,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/uber-package-delivery-2.png?w=1536"},"tc-social-image":{"file":"uber-package-delivery-2.png?resize=1200,675","width":1200,"height":675,"filesize":573571,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/uber-package-delivery-2.png?w=1200"},"guest-author-32":{"file":"uber-package-delivery-2.png?resize=32,32","width":32,"height":32,"filesize":573571,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/uber-package-delivery-2.png?w=32&h=32&crop=1"},"guest-author-50":{"file":"uber-package-delivery-2.png?resize=50,50","width":50,"height":50,"filesize":573571,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/uber-package-delivery-2.png?w=50&h=50&crop=1"},"guest-author-64":{"file":"uber-package-delivery-2.png?resize=64,64","width":64,"height":64,"filesize":573571,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/uber-package-delivery-2.png?w=64&h=64&crop=1"},"guest-author-96":{"file":"uber-package-delivery-2.png?resize=96,96","width":96,"height":96,"filesize":573571,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/uber-package-delivery-2.png?w=96&h=96&crop=1"},"guest-author-128":{"file":"uber-package-delivery-2.png?resize=128,128","width":128,"height":128,"filesize":573571,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/uber-package-delivery-2.png?w=128&h=128&crop=1"},"concierge-thumb":{"file":"uber-package-delivery-2.png?resize=50,28","width":50,"height":28,"filesize":573571,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/uber-package-delivery-2.png?w=50"},"full":{"file":"uber-package-delivery-2.png","width":1024,"height":576,"mime_type":"image\/png","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/uber-package-delivery-2.png"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0","keywords":[]}},"source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/uber-package-delivery-2.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2609720"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/attachment"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2609720"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/133574434"}]}}],"wp:term":[[{"id":577052802,"description":"Retail, online shopping, e-commerce, and social commerce are a huge and ever-changing industry. Our commerce news covers everyone from Amazon, Shopify and Walmart to all the newest and hottest DTC brands, as well as influencers making the shift into selling products online.","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/category\/commerce\/","name":"Commerce","slug":"commerce","taxonomy":"category","parent":0,"yoast_head":"\nCommerce News | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n
U.S. lawmakers have written a letter to TikTok questioning its independence from its Chinese parent company ByteDance, in the wake of a recent report from The Wall St. Journal<\/a> that noted that several high-level executives had been transferred from ByteDance to TikTok, where they took on top roles across the organization. The report noted the former ByteDance execs now held key positions in advertising, HR, monetization, business marketing and others related to TikTok’s e-commerce initiatives.<\/p>\n The letter, penned by senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), asks TikTok to explain why it has hired several executives from ByteDance, “further calling into question the independence of TikTok’s operations and the security of its U.S. users’ information,” they wrote.<\/p>\n The WSJ’s report on the transfers suggested that the employee movement between the two organizations indicates that TikTok still maintains close ties to its Beijing-based parent, despite the video social network’s attempt to distance itself from its Chinese roots — and the applicable laws that could apply if the Chinese government were to pressure TikTok for its data or use the app in the spread of CCP propaganda.<\/p>\n TikTok, however, has consistently maintained its independence from China, even moving U.S. user data to Oracle servers in the U.S.<\/a>, in hopes of staving off a U.S.-wide TikTok ban.<\/p>\n Still, concerns about TikTok’s ties to China have led to the app being banned across a number of U.S. government-issued devices, including those in use by the U.S. House of Representatives<\/a> and various U.S. states<\/a>. Montana also became the first U.S. state to ban TikTok<\/a> on personal devices, while New York City this summer became the latest government to ban TikTok from city-owned devices this summer<\/a>, following a state-wide ban in 2020.<\/a><\/p>\n In the new letter, the senators noted that even TikTok employees had found the transfers “alarming” and reportedly joked that “TikTok is solving its ByteDance problem by moving ByteDance to the U.S.” It also stated that the relationship between the two entities “poses a unique risk to the security and privacy” of U.S. user data, and referenced earlier reports where TikTok had been found to be spying on U.S. journalists<\/a>, for example.<\/p>\n TikTok, meanwhile, had promised U.S. officials there was a firewall between it and its parent company with the storage of U.S. user data on U.S. soil overseen by a U.S. company, the letter continued. But the transfers suggested that TikTok is “attempting to preserve ByteDance\u2019s influence over TikTok while avoiding suspicion,” it read.<\/p><\/div>\n TikTok has been given until October 13 to respond to the various questions about the employee transfers the lawmakers posed. The full text of the letter can be read here<\/a>, which includes questions about the employee transfers, the roles the employees now hold and if any of the changes were disclosed to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) prior to The WSJ’s reporting, among other things.<\/p>\n CFIUS’ review<\/a> of TikTok began back in 2019 when the Trump administration was weighing a national ban. The agency holds the power to force TikTok to spin off its U.S. operations in lieu of ban if it didn’t believe the mitigation measures TikTok has enacted — like the move to Oracle servers — offered enough protection.<\/p>\n “In a large, global organization, it is not uncommon for employees to work on different products or geographies over the course of their career,” TikTok said in a statement. “This is neither a recent development, nor is it unique to TikTok. We welcome the opportunity to provide the Senators facts and context the Journal chose to ignore in their initial story.”<\/p>\n Updated, 10\/3\/23, 3:46 PM ET with TikTok comment.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" U.S. lawmakers have written a letter to TikTok questioning its independence from its Chinese parent company ByteDance, in the wake of a recent report from The Wall St. Journal that noted that several high-level executives had been transferred from ByteDance to TikTok, where they took on top roles across the organization. The report noted the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":1912413,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"63fd5a95-64f9-3258-9828-5ee08bb1011f","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T18:57:02Z","apple_news_api_id":"1b487a15-e7e6-420f-9e09-0340ad12a495","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T19:46:30Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AG0h6FefmQg-eCQNArRKklQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,577065682],"tags":[449557101,576600401,449557076,5938293],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nUS lawmakers ask TikTok about its ByteDance ties after recent exec transfers between the companies | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
The letter, penned by senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), asks TikTok to explain why it has hired several executives from ByteDance, “further calling into question the independence of TikTok’s operations and the security of its U.S. users’ information,” they wrote.<\/p>\n
The WSJ’s report on the transfers suggested that the employee movement between the two organizations indicates that TikTok still maintains close ties to its Beijing-based parent, despite the video social network’s attempt to distance itself from its Chinese roots — and the applicable laws that could apply if the Chinese government were to pressure TikTok for its data or use the app in the spread of CCP propaganda.<\/p>\n
TikTok, however, has consistently maintained its independence from China, even moving U.S. user data to Oracle servers in the U.S.<\/a>, in hopes of staving off a U.S.-wide TikTok ban.<\/p>\n Still, concerns about TikTok’s ties to China have led to the app being banned across a number of U.S. government-issued devices, including those in use by the U.S. House of Representatives<\/a> and various U.S. states<\/a>. Montana also became the first U.S. state to ban TikTok<\/a> on personal devices, while New York City this summer became the latest government to ban TikTok from city-owned devices this summer<\/a>, following a state-wide ban in 2020.<\/a><\/p>\n In the new letter, the senators noted that even TikTok employees had found the transfers “alarming” and reportedly joked that “TikTok is solving its ByteDance problem by moving ByteDance to the U.S.” It also stated that the relationship between the two entities “poses a unique risk to the security and privacy” of U.S. user data, and referenced earlier reports where TikTok had been found to be spying on U.S. journalists<\/a>, for example.<\/p>\n TikTok, meanwhile, had promised U.S. officials there was a firewall between it and its parent company with the storage of U.S. user data on U.S. soil overseen by a U.S. company, the letter continued. But the transfers suggested that TikTok is “attempting to preserve ByteDance\u2019s influence over TikTok while avoiding suspicion,” it read.<\/p><\/div>\n TikTok has been given until October 13 to respond to the various questions about the employee transfers the lawmakers posed. The full text of the letter can be read here<\/a>, which includes questions about the employee transfers, the roles the employees now hold and if any of the changes were disclosed to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) prior to The WSJ’s reporting, among other things.<\/p>\n CFIUS’ review<\/a> of TikTok began back in 2019 when the Trump administration was weighing a national ban. The agency holds the power to force TikTok to spin off its U.S. operations in lieu of ban if it didn’t believe the mitigation measures TikTok has enacted — like the move to Oracle servers — offered enough protection.<\/p>\n “In a large, global organization, it is not uncommon for employees to work on different products or geographies over the course of their career,” TikTok said in a statement. “This is neither a recent development, nor is it unique to TikTok. We welcome the opportunity to provide the Senators facts and context the Journal chose to ignore in their initial story.”<\/p>\n Updated, 10\/3\/23, 3:46 PM ET with TikTok comment.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" U.S. lawmakers have written a letter to TikTok questioning its independence from its Chinese parent company ByteDance, in the wake of a recent report from The Wall St. Journal that noted that several high-level executives had been transferred from ByteDance to TikTok, where they took on top roles across the organization. The report noted the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":1912413,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"63fd5a95-64f9-3258-9828-5ee08bb1011f","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T18:57:02Z","apple_news_api_id":"1b487a15-e7e6-420f-9e09-0340ad12a495","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T19:46:30Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AG0h6FefmQg-eCQNArRKklQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,577065682],"tags":[449557101,576600401,449557076,5938293],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nUS lawmakers ask TikTok about its ByteDance ties after recent exec transfers between the companies | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Still, concerns about TikTok’s ties to China have led to the app being banned across a number of U.S. government-issued devices, including those in use by the U.S. House of Representatives<\/a> and various U.S. states<\/a>. Montana also became the first U.S. state to ban TikTok<\/a> on personal devices, while New York City this summer became the latest government to ban TikTok from city-owned devices this summer<\/a>, following a state-wide ban in 2020.<\/a><\/p>\n In the new letter, the senators noted that even TikTok employees had found the transfers “alarming” and reportedly joked that “TikTok is solving its ByteDance problem by moving ByteDance to the U.S.” It also stated that the relationship between the two entities “poses a unique risk to the security and privacy” of U.S. user data, and referenced earlier reports where TikTok had been found to be spying on U.S. journalists<\/a>, for example.<\/p>\n TikTok, meanwhile, had promised U.S. officials there was a firewall between it and its parent company with the storage of U.S. user data on U.S. soil overseen by a U.S. company, the letter continued. But the transfers suggested that TikTok is “attempting to preserve ByteDance\u2019s influence over TikTok while avoiding suspicion,” it read.<\/p><\/div>\n TikTok has been given until October 13 to respond to the various questions about the employee transfers the lawmakers posed. The full text of the letter can be read here<\/a>, which includes questions about the employee transfers, the roles the employees now hold and if any of the changes were disclosed to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) prior to The WSJ’s reporting, among other things.<\/p>\n CFIUS’ review<\/a> of TikTok began back in 2019 when the Trump administration was weighing a national ban. The agency holds the power to force TikTok to spin off its U.S. operations in lieu of ban if it didn’t believe the mitigation measures TikTok has enacted — like the move to Oracle servers — offered enough protection.<\/p>\n “In a large, global organization, it is not uncommon for employees to work on different products or geographies over the course of their career,” TikTok said in a statement. “This is neither a recent development, nor is it unique to TikTok. We welcome the opportunity to provide the Senators facts and context the Journal chose to ignore in their initial story.”<\/p>\n Updated, 10\/3\/23, 3:46 PM ET with TikTok comment.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" U.S. lawmakers have written a letter to TikTok questioning its independence from its Chinese parent company ByteDance, in the wake of a recent report from The Wall St. Journal that noted that several high-level executives had been transferred from ByteDance to TikTok, where they took on top roles across the organization. The report noted the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":1912413,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"63fd5a95-64f9-3258-9828-5ee08bb1011f","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T18:57:02Z","apple_news_api_id":"1b487a15-e7e6-420f-9e09-0340ad12a495","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T19:46:30Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AG0h6FefmQg-eCQNArRKklQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,577065682],"tags":[449557101,576600401,449557076,5938293],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nUS lawmakers ask TikTok about its ByteDance ties after recent exec transfers between the companies | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
In the new letter, the senators noted that even TikTok employees had found the transfers “alarming” and reportedly joked that “TikTok is solving its ByteDance problem by moving ByteDance to the U.S.” It also stated that the relationship between the two entities “poses a unique risk to the security and privacy” of U.S. user data, and referenced earlier reports where TikTok had been found to be spying on U.S. journalists<\/a>, for example.<\/p>\n TikTok, meanwhile, had promised U.S. officials there was a firewall between it and its parent company with the storage of U.S. user data on U.S. soil overseen by a U.S. company, the letter continued. But the transfers suggested that TikTok is “attempting to preserve ByteDance\u2019s influence over TikTok while avoiding suspicion,” it read.<\/p><\/div>\n TikTok has been given until October 13 to respond to the various questions about the employee transfers the lawmakers posed. The full text of the letter can be read here<\/a>, which includes questions about the employee transfers, the roles the employees now hold and if any of the changes were disclosed to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) prior to The WSJ’s reporting, among other things.<\/p>\n CFIUS’ review<\/a> of TikTok began back in 2019 when the Trump administration was weighing a national ban. The agency holds the power to force TikTok to spin off its U.S. operations in lieu of ban if it didn’t believe the mitigation measures TikTok has enacted — like the move to Oracle servers — offered enough protection.<\/p>\n “In a large, global organization, it is not uncommon for employees to work on different products or geographies over the course of their career,” TikTok said in a statement. “This is neither a recent development, nor is it unique to TikTok. We welcome the opportunity to provide the Senators facts and context the Journal chose to ignore in their initial story.”<\/p>\n Updated, 10\/3\/23, 3:46 PM ET with TikTok comment.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" U.S. lawmakers have written a letter to TikTok questioning its independence from its Chinese parent company ByteDance, in the wake of a recent report from The Wall St. Journal that noted that several high-level executives had been transferred from ByteDance to TikTok, where they took on top roles across the organization. The report noted the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":1912413,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"63fd5a95-64f9-3258-9828-5ee08bb1011f","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T18:57:02Z","apple_news_api_id":"1b487a15-e7e6-420f-9e09-0340ad12a495","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T19:46:30Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AG0h6FefmQg-eCQNArRKklQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,577065682],"tags":[449557101,576600401,449557076,5938293],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nUS lawmakers ask TikTok about its ByteDance ties after recent exec transfers between the companies | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
TikTok, meanwhile, had promised U.S. officials there was a firewall between it and its parent company with the storage of U.S. user data on U.S. soil overseen by a U.S. company, the letter continued. But the transfers suggested that TikTok is “attempting to preserve ByteDance\u2019s influence over TikTok while avoiding suspicion,” it read.<\/p><\/div>\n TikTok has been given until October 13 to respond to the various questions about the employee transfers the lawmakers posed. The full text of the letter can be read here<\/a>, which includes questions about the employee transfers, the roles the employees now hold and if any of the changes were disclosed to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) prior to The WSJ’s reporting, among other things.<\/p>\n CFIUS’ review<\/a> of TikTok began back in 2019 when the Trump administration was weighing a national ban. The agency holds the power to force TikTok to spin off its U.S. operations in lieu of ban if it didn’t believe the mitigation measures TikTok has enacted — like the move to Oracle servers — offered enough protection.<\/p>\n “In a large, global organization, it is not uncommon for employees to work on different products or geographies over the course of their career,” TikTok said in a statement. “This is neither a recent development, nor is it unique to TikTok. We welcome the opportunity to provide the Senators facts and context the Journal chose to ignore in their initial story.”<\/p>\n Updated, 10\/3\/23, 3:46 PM ET with TikTok comment.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" U.S. lawmakers have written a letter to TikTok questioning its independence from its Chinese parent company ByteDance, in the wake of a recent report from The Wall St. Journal that noted that several high-level executives had been transferred from ByteDance to TikTok, where they took on top roles across the organization. The report noted the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":1912413,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"63fd5a95-64f9-3258-9828-5ee08bb1011f","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T18:57:02Z","apple_news_api_id":"1b487a15-e7e6-420f-9e09-0340ad12a495","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T19:46:30Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AG0h6FefmQg-eCQNArRKklQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,577065682],"tags":[449557101,576600401,449557076,5938293],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nUS lawmakers ask TikTok about its ByteDance ties after recent exec transfers between the companies | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
TikTok has been given until October 13 to respond to the various questions about the employee transfers the lawmakers posed. The full text of the letter can be read here<\/a>, which includes questions about the employee transfers, the roles the employees now hold and if any of the changes were disclosed to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) prior to The WSJ’s reporting, among other things.<\/p>\n CFIUS’ review<\/a> of TikTok began back in 2019 when the Trump administration was weighing a national ban. The agency holds the power to force TikTok to spin off its U.S. operations in lieu of ban if it didn’t believe the mitigation measures TikTok has enacted — like the move to Oracle servers — offered enough protection.<\/p>\n “In a large, global organization, it is not uncommon for employees to work on different products or geographies over the course of their career,” TikTok said in a statement. “This is neither a recent development, nor is it unique to TikTok. We welcome the opportunity to provide the Senators facts and context the Journal chose to ignore in their initial story.”<\/p>\n Updated, 10\/3\/23, 3:46 PM ET with TikTok comment.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" U.S. lawmakers have written a letter to TikTok questioning its independence from its Chinese parent company ByteDance, in the wake of a recent report from The Wall St. Journal that noted that several high-level executives had been transferred from ByteDance to TikTok, where they took on top roles across the organization. The report noted the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":1912413,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"63fd5a95-64f9-3258-9828-5ee08bb1011f","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T18:57:02Z","apple_news_api_id":"1b487a15-e7e6-420f-9e09-0340ad12a495","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T19:46:30Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AG0h6FefmQg-eCQNArRKklQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,577065682],"tags":[449557101,576600401,449557076,5938293],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nUS lawmakers ask TikTok about its ByteDance ties after recent exec transfers between the companies | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
CFIUS’ review<\/a> of TikTok began back in 2019 when the Trump administration was weighing a national ban. The agency holds the power to force TikTok to spin off its U.S. operations in lieu of ban if it didn’t believe the mitigation measures TikTok has enacted — like the move to Oracle servers — offered enough protection.<\/p>\n “In a large, global organization, it is not uncommon for employees to work on different products or geographies over the course of their career,” TikTok said in a statement. “This is neither a recent development, nor is it unique to TikTok. We welcome the opportunity to provide the Senators facts and context the Journal chose to ignore in their initial story.”<\/p>\n Updated, 10\/3\/23, 3:46 PM ET with TikTok comment.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" U.S. lawmakers have written a letter to TikTok questioning its independence from its Chinese parent company ByteDance, in the wake of a recent report from The Wall St. Journal that noted that several high-level executives had been transferred from ByteDance to TikTok, where they took on top roles across the organization. The report noted the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":1912413,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"63fd5a95-64f9-3258-9828-5ee08bb1011f","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T18:57:02Z","apple_news_api_id":"1b487a15-e7e6-420f-9e09-0340ad12a495","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T19:46:30Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AG0h6FefmQg-eCQNArRKklQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,577065682],"tags":[449557101,576600401,449557076,5938293],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nUS lawmakers ask TikTok about its ByteDance ties after recent exec transfers between the companies | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
“In a large, global organization, it is not uncommon for employees to work on different products or geographies over the course of their career,” TikTok said in a statement. “This is neither a recent development, nor is it unique to TikTok. We welcome the opportunity to provide the Senators facts and context the Journal chose to ignore in their initial story.”<\/p>\n
Updated, 10\/3\/23, 3:46 PM ET with TikTok comment.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" U.S. lawmakers have written a letter to TikTok questioning its independence from its Chinese parent company ByteDance, in the wake of a recent report from The Wall St. Journal that noted that several high-level executives had been transferred from ByteDance to TikTok, where they took on top roles across the organization. The report noted the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":1912413,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"63fd5a95-64f9-3258-9828-5ee08bb1011f","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T18:57:02Z","apple_news_api_id":"1b487a15-e7e6-420f-9e09-0340ad12a495","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T19:46:30Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AG0h6FefmQg-eCQNArRKklQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,577065682],"tags":[449557101,576600401,449557076,5938293],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nUS lawmakers ask TikTok about its ByteDance ties after recent exec transfers between the companies | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
U.S. lawmakers have written a letter to TikTok questioning its independence from its Chinese parent company ByteDance, in the wake of a recent report from The Wall St. Journal that noted that several high-level executives had been transferred from ByteDance to TikTok, where they took on top roles across the organization. The report noted the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2414667,"featured_media":1912413,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","relegenceEntities":[],"relegenceSubjects":[],"carmot_uuid":"63fd5a95-64f9-3258-9828-5ee08bb1011f","footnotes":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-10-03T18:57:02Z","apple_news_api_id":"1b487a15-e7e6-420f-9e09-0340ad12a495","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-10-03T19:46:30Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AG0h6FefmQg-eCQNArRKklQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[577051039,577065682],"tags":[449557101,576600401,449557076,5938293],"crunchbase_tag":[],"tc_stories_tax":[],"tc_ec_category":[],"tc_event":[],"tc_regions_tax":[],"yoast_head":"\nUS lawmakers ask TikTok about its ByteDance ties after recent exec transfers between the companies | TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n
Sarah has worked as a reporter for TechCrunch since August 2011. She joined the company after having previously spent over three years at ReadWriteWeb. Prior to her work as a reporter, Sarah worked in I.T. across a number of industries, including banking, retail and software.<\/p>","cbAvatar":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/lwzxxnshgj71bonwbik3.jpg.jpg","twitter":"sarahintampa","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/2414667"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users"}]}}],"author":[{"id":2414667,"name":"Sarah Perez","url":"","description":"","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/author\/sarah-perez\/","slug":"sarah-perez","avatar_urls":{"24":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5225bb627e112543aa03bf3b2958be3f?s=24&d=identicon&r=g","48":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5225bb627e112543aa03bf3b2958be3f?s=48&d=identicon&r=g","96":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5225bb627e112543aa03bf3b2958be3f?s=96&d=identicon&r=g"},"yoast_head":"\nSarah Perez, Author at TechCrunch<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Sarah has worked as a reporter for TechCrunch since August 2011. She joined the company after having previously spent over three years at ReadWriteWeb. Prior to her work as a reporter, Sarah worked in I.T. across a number of industries, including banking, retail and software.<\/p>","cbAvatar":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/lwzxxnshgj71bonwbik3.jpg.jpg","twitter":"sarahintampa","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/2414667"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users"}]}}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"id":1912413,"date":"2019-11-15T01:13:26","slug":"tiktok-in-us","type":"attachment","link":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2019\/11\/15\/tiktok-link-bio-social-commerce\/tiktok-in-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Tiktok in US"},"author":133574269,"license":{"source_key":"getty images","person":"Costfoto\/Barcroft Media"},"authors":[133574269],"caption":{"rendered":"
Traction Bars ZHEJIANG, CHINA – OCTOBER 18 2019 Two us senators have sent a letter to the us national intelligence agency saying TikTok could pose a threat to us national security and should be investigated. Visitors visit the booth of douyin(Tiktok) at the 2019 smart expo in hangzhou, east China’s zhejiang province, Oct. 18, 2019.- PHOTOGRAPH BY Costfoto \/ Barcroft Media (Photo credit should read Costfoto \/ Barcroft Media via Getty Images)<\/p>\n"},"alt_text":"Visitors visit the booth of douyin(Tiktok) at the 2019 smart expo in Hangzhou.","media_type":"image","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","media_details":{"width":3280,"height":2329,"file":"2019\/11\/GettyImages-1177990253.jpg","sizes":{"thumbnail":{"file":"GettyImages-1177990253.jpg?resize=150,107","width":150,"height":107,"filesize":1079669,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/GettyImages-1177990253.jpg?w=150"},"medium":{"file":"GettyImages-1177990253.jpg?resize=300,213","width":300,"height":213,"filesize":1079669,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/GettyImages-1177990253.jpg?w=300"},"medium_large":{"file":"GettyImages-1177990253.jpg?resize=768,545","width":768,"height":545,"filesize":1079669,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/GettyImages-1177990253.jpg?w=1024"},"large":{"file":"GettyImages-1177990253.jpg?resize=680,483","width":680,"height":483,"filesize":1079669,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/GettyImages-1177990253.jpg?w=680"},"1536x1536":{"file":"GettyImages-1177990253.jpg?resize=1536,1091","width":1536,"height":1091,"filesize":1079669,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/GettyImages-1177990253.jpg?w=1536"},"2048x2048":{"file":"GettyImages-1177990253.jpg?resize=2048,1454","width":2048,"height":1454,"filesize":1079669,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/GettyImages-1177990253.jpg?w=2048"},"tc-social-image":{"file":"GettyImages-1177990253.jpg?resize=1200,852","width":1200,"height":852,"filesize":1079669,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/GettyImages-1177990253.jpg?w=1200"},"guest-author-32":{"file":"GettyImages-1177990253.jpg?resize=32,32","width":32,"height":32,"filesize":1079669,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/GettyImages-1177990253.jpg?w=32&h=32&crop=1"},"guest-author-50":{"file":"GettyImages-1177990253.jpg?resize=50,50","width":50,"height":50,"filesize":1079669,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/GettyImages-1177990253.jpg?w=50&h=50&crop=1"},"guest-author-64":{"file":"GettyImages-1177990253.jpg?resize=64,64","width":64,"height":64,"filesize":1079669,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/GettyImages-1177990253.jpg?w=64&h=64&crop=1"},"guest-author-96":{"file":"GettyImages-1177990253.jpg?resize=96,96","width":96,"height":96,"filesize":1079669,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/GettyImages-1177990253.jpg?w=96&h=96&crop=1"},"guest-author-128":{"file":"GettyImages-1177990253.jpg?resize=128,128","width":128,"height":128,"filesize":1079669,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/GettyImages-1177990253.jpg?w=128&h=128&crop=1"},"concierge-thumb":{"file":"GettyImages-1177990253.jpg?resize=50,36","width":50,"height":36,"filesize":1079669,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/GettyImages-1177990253.jpg?w=50"},"full":{"file":"GettyImages-1177990253.jpg","width":1024,"height":727,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/GettyImages-1177990253.jpg"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"Barcroft Media via Getty Images","camera":"","caption":"ZHEJIANG, CHINA - OCTOBER 18 2019 Two us senators have sent a letter to the us national intelligence agency saying TikTok could pose a threat to us national security and should be investigated. Visitors visit the booth of douyin(Tiktok) at the 2019 smart expo in hangzhou, east China's zhejiang province, Oct. 18, 2019.- PHOTOGRAPH BY Costfoto \/ Barcroft Media (Photo credit should read Costfoto \/ Barcroft Media via Getty Images)","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"Costfoto \/ Barcroft Media","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"Tiktok in US","orientation":"0","keywords":[]},"filesize":1079669},"source_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/GettyImages-1177990253.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1912413"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/attachment"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1912413"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-json\/tc\/v1\/users\/133574269"}]}}],"wp:term":[[{"id":577051039,"description":"The app economy continues to grow, having produced a record number of downloads and consumer spending across both the iOS and Google Play stores. 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