Daily Crunch - Twitter confronts image-cropping concerns

TechCrunch Newsletter [TechCrunch logo]( [The Daily Crunch logo]( Friday, October 02, 2020 • By [laura.safran]( Twitter addresses questions of bias in its image-cropping algorithms, we take a look at Mario Kart Live and the stock market takes a hit after President Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis. This is your Daily Crunch for October 2, 2020. [The big story: Twitter confronts image-cropping concerns]( Last month, (white) PhD student Colin Madland [highlighted potential algorithmic bias]( on Twitter and Zoom — in Twitter’s case, because its automatic image cropping seemed to consistently highlight Madland’s face over that of a Black colleague. Today, Twitter said [it has been looking into the issue](: “While our analyses to date haven’t shown racial or gender bias, we recognize that the way we automatically crop photos means there is a potential for harm.” Does that mean it will stop automatically cropping images? The company said it’s “exploring different options” and added, “We hope that giving people more choices for image cropping and previewing what they’ll look like in the tweet composer may help reduce the risk of harm.” [Read more]( [The big story: Twitter confronts image-cropping concerns image] Image Credits: Omar Marques/SOPA Images/LightRocket / Getty Images [Is your mobile app protected? It should be!]( Sponsored by [Irdeto]( [With people using mobile apps more and more every day, it’s essential that they are protected. We are pleased to be offering a FREE trial of our Trusted Software solution, an easy-to-use solution that hardens mobile apps against tampering and hacking and can be implemented in two easy steps. Start your FREE trial now!]( [Read more]( The tech giants [Nintendo’s new RC Mario Kart looks terrific]( — Mario Kart Live (with a real-world race car) makes for one hell of an impressive demo. [Tesla delivers 139,300 vehicles in Q3, beating expectations]( — Tesla’s numbers in the third quarter marked a 43% improvement from the same period last year. [Zynga completes its acquisition of hyper-casual game maker Rollic]( — CEO Frank Gibeau told me that this represents Zynga’s first move into the world of hyper-casual games. [The tech giants image] Image Credits: Nintendo Startups, funding and venture capital [Elon Musk says an update for SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft development program is coming in 3 weeks]( — Starship is a next-generation, fully reusable spacecraft that the company is developing with the aim of replacing all of its launch vehicles. [Paired picks up $1M funding and launches its relationship app for couples]( — Paired combines audio tips from experts with “fun daily questions and quizzes” that partners answer together. [With $2.7M in fresh funding, Sora hopes to bring virtual high school to the mainstream]( — Long before the coronavirus, Sora was toying with the idea of live, virtual high school. [Startups, funding and venture capital image] Image Credits: Darrell Etherington Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch [Spain’s startup ecosystem: 9 investors on remote work, green shoots and 2020 trends]( — While main hubs Madrid and Barcelona bump heads politically, tech ecosystems in each city have been developing with local support. [Which neobanks will rise or fall?]( — Neobanks have led the $3.6 billion in venture capital funding for consumer fintech startups this year. [Asana’s strong direct listing lights alternative path to public market for SaaS startups]( — Despite rising cash burn and losses, Wall Street welcomed the productivity company. [Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch image] Image Credits: Westend61 / Getty Images Everything else [American stocks drop in wake of president’s COVID-19 diagnosis]( — The news is weighing heavily on all major American indices, but heaviest on tech shares. [Digital vote-by-mail applications in most states are inaccessible to people with disabilities]( — According to an audit by Deque, most states don’t actually have an accessible digital application. [Everything else image] Image Credits: erhui1979 / Getty Images One more thing I’ve mentioned it a few times before, but here’s one last big reminder — TechCrunch is hosting [TC Sessions: Mobility 2020]( on October 6 & 7, a virtual event that will bring together the best and brightest minds working on automated vehicle technology, shared micromobility and electrification. We’ll be talking to former Tesla co-founder and CTO JB Straubel about his new venture Redwood Materials, the CEOs of EV newcomers Polestar and Lucid Motors, Formula E driver Lucas di Grassi about a new kind of racing event (hint, scooters!), venture capitalists from Trucks VC, Hemi Ventures and Maniv, as well as Bryan Salesky, the co-founder of autonomous vehicle startup Argo AI and Uber’s director of policy for cities, Shin-Pei Tsay. Plus there will be a dedicated networking time, a [pitch night]( on October 5 and a virtual expo. And I come bearing gifts! [Click here]( to get 50% off a full access ticket, or [click here]( to get a free ticket to the expo hall and breakout sessions. [One more thing image] [Read more stories on TechCrunch.com]( Newest Jobs from Crunchboard - [Senior Developer at IQVentures (Anywhere)]( - [Director of IT Infrastructure at Wabash Valley Power Alliance (Indianapolis, IN, USA)]( - [Senior Web Application Developer at University of Maryland (College Park, MD, USA)]( - [E-Commerce Specialist (AKA: E-Comm Guru) at Kuryakyn (Somerset, WI, USA)]( - [PR & Marketing Manager at airSlate (Boston, MA, USA)]( [See more jobs on CrunchBoard]( [Post your tech jobs]( and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $200 per month. [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Youtube]( [Instagram]( [Flipboard]( [View this email online in your browser]( [Privacy Policy]( | [Terms of Service]( | [Unsubscribe]( © 2020 Verizon Media. All rights reserved. 110 5th St, San Francisco, CA 94103