The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.
1. Apple suspends Siri response grading after privacy concerns
After The Guardian ran a story last week about how Siri recordings are used for quality control, Apple says it’s suspending the program worldwide while it reviews the process.
The practice, known as grading, involves sharing audio snippets with contractors, who determine whether Siri is hearing the requests accurately. Apple says that in the future, users will be able to choose whether or not they participate in the grading.
2. DoorDash is buying Caviar from Square in a deal worth $410 million
Square bought Caviar about five years ago in a deal worth about $90 million. Now, Caviar has found a new home with DoorDash.
3. President throws latest wrench in $10B JEDI cloud contract selection process
Throughout the months-long selection process, the Pentagon repeatedly denied accusations that the contract was somehow written to make Amazon a favored vendor, but The Washington Post reports President Trump has asked his newly appointed defense secretary to examine the process.
LAS VEGAS, NV – APRIL 21: Twitch streamer and professional gamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins streams during Ninja Vegas ’18 at Esports Arena Las Vegas at Luxor Hotel and Casino on April 21, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
4. Following Ninja’s news, Mixer pops to top of the App Store’s free charts
Yesterday, Tyler “Ninja” Blevins announced that he’s leaving Twitch, moving his streaming career over to Microsoft’s Mixer platform. This morning, Mixer shot to the top of the App Store’s free app charts.
5. Google ordered to halt human review of voice AI recordings over privacy risks
Apple isn’t the only company to face scrutiny over its handling of user audio recordings.
6. UrbanClap, India’s largest home services startup, raises $75M
Through its platform, UrbanClap matches service people such as cleaners, repair staff and beauticians with customers across 10 cities in India, as well as Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
7. Why AWS gains big storage efficiencies with E8 acquisition
The team at Amazon Web Services is always looking to find an edge and reduce the costs of operations in its data centers. (Extra Crunch membership required.)
