This week’s summary of the top stories and analysis from TechCrunch.
The Big Story: Disney Takes On Netflix
In a move that is sure to shake up the streaming industry, The Walt Disney Company announced this week that it will be launching a new bundle service that includes its Disney+, ESPN+, and ad-supported Hulu services for just $12.99 per month. This price point brings those three services together at the same cost as Netflix and is $5 cheaper than what you would spend on each of the services individually.
This announcement comes after Netflix’s recent earnings report, where it missed big on its subscriber add while actually losing subscribers in the U.S. It seems clear that Disney is positioning itself to take control of the streaming market by acquiring its way into consumers’ homes.
Disney has slowly amassed control of Hulu through buying out various stakeholders, and now that it shifts the platform’s weight, it’s pretty clear that it will use it as a selling point for its time-honored in-house content, which it is still expanding. The streaming wars have been raging for years, but as the services seem to become more like what they’ve replaced, Disney seems poised to take control.
Trends of the Week
Here are a few big news items from big companies, with green links to all the sweet, added context:
- Apple Card Rolls Out: Months after its public debut, Apple has begun rolling out its Apple Card credit card. We got our hands on the new Apple Card app, so check out more about what it’s like here.
- Samsung Introduces New Flagships: Amid a struggling smartphone market, Samsung announced the release of two new phones for its Note series, with new features including a time-of-flight 3D scanning camera, a larger size, and… no headphone jack. Read more here.
- FedEx Ties Up Ground Contract with Amazon: As Amazon rapidly attempts to build out its own air fleet to compete with FedEx’s planes, FedEx confirmed this week that it’s ending its ground-delivery contract with Amazon. Read more here.
GAFA Gaffes
How did the top tech companies screw up this week? This clearly needs its own section, in order of badness:
- Facebook’s Facial Recognition Fiasco: The social media giant has been accused of using facial recognition technology without users’ consent.
- Amazon’s Healthcare Woes: The e-commerce giant is struggling to make a dent in the healthcare industry.
The Station
We’re excited to introduce The Station, a new TechCrunch newsletter all about mobility. Each week, Kirsten Korosec will provide analysis, original reporting and insider tips on the latest transportation news. Sign up here to get The Station in your inbox beginning this month.
Top Stories
- Meta Execs Obsessed Over Beating OpenAI’s GPT-4 Internally: Court filings reveal that Meta executives were obsessed with beating OpenAI’s GPT-4, even if it meant sacrificing user safety.
- Google’s NotebookLM Had to Teach Its AI Podcast Hosts Not to Act Annoyed at Humans: The company had to retrain its AI podcast hosts after they began acting annoyed at humans during conversations.
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