Daily Crunch: Chinese giants fund ride-hailing challenger

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1. Alibaba, Tencent and other major names form $1.45B ride-hailing venture

For the last two years, Didi has been the dominant car-hailing force in China and its success has spawned a handful of competitors. Now another notable challenger has stepped up.

T3, which is short for “top 3,” officially launched after a dozen entities, including three major automakers and China’s largest internet companies, agreed to lay out a total of 9.76 billion yuan ($1.45 billion) for the joint venture.

2. Google has scaled back, moved forward with robotics

The company recently gave The New York Times a look at what it’s been working on in a new Mountain View lab. The results, it seems, are modest by design.

3. The danger of ‘I already pay for Apple News+’

Josh Constine lays out some big issues with Apple’s subscription news initiative.

4. Google makes emails more dynamic with AMP for Email

AMP for Email is Google’s effort to turn emails from static documents into dynamic, web page-like experiences. The hope is that basic messages can become a surface for actually getting things done.

5. Unicorns aren’t profitable, and Wall Street doesn’t care

Lyft, a ride-hailing company expected to go public this week, is not profitable. It posted losses of $911 million in 2018, a statistic that will make it the biggest loser amongst U.S. startups to have gone public.

6. FTC tells ISPs to disclose exactly what information they collect on users and what it’s for

The Federal Trade Commission, in what could be considered a prelude to new regulatory action, has issued an order to several major internet service providers requiring them to share every detail of their data collection practices.

7. Airbnb just checked in its 500 millionth guest

Airbnb says it has just recorded its 500 millionth guest arrival across one of its 6 million homes, yurts, tree houses, boats and more.