Apple readies its next iPhone, Joe Rogan interviews Zuck, and Twitter purportedly pauses plans to compete with OnlyFans

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most read

What to expect from Apple’s iPhone event: Apple events tend to suck all the air out of the room in the days leading up to them because…well, no one wants to announce some big new thing just to have it immediately overshadowed by the iPhone 37. Our most read post this week, by far, was Brian’s roundup of what we’re maybe/likely/definitely going to see announced at Apple’s event on September 7.

Rogan interviews Zuck: If you’re on the internet in 2022, you probably know who both Joe Rogan and Mark Zuckerberg are. Does a three-hour conversation between them sound like your kind of thing? If so, check out Zuck’s appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience. If not but you still want the highlights, check out Devin’s on-the-fly recap of Zuck’s thoughts on art, the evolution of social media, and why waking up each day feels like getting “punched in the stomach.”

WhatsApp gets built-in grocery ordering in India: Half a billion people use WhatsApp in India each month, and those folks can now use the platform to order groceries thanks to a new venture between Meta, Jio Platforms, and India’s largest retailer, Reliance Retail.

Twitter halts its attempt to monetize porn: Twitter reportedly wanted to build something of an OnlyFans competitor into its platform but has slammed on the brakes for now. “Twitter apparently put this project on hold,” writes Amanda, “after an 84-employee ‘red team,’ designed to test the product for security flaws, found that Twitter cannot detect child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and non-consensual nudity at scale.”

Royal Caribbean + SpaceX: Just a few days after announcing a partnership to bring Starlink to T-Mobile phones, SpaceX’s satellite-based internet endeavor has another big new customer: Royal Caribbean. The cruise line announced this week that it’s adding Starlink connectivity to its entire fleet. It’ll only work near the coasts at first, but they expect it to work mid-ocean in the next few years.

Image Credits: Royal Caribbean

audio roundup

What’s up this week in TC podcast land? Darrell and Jordan sat down with the founder of Abridge on Found to hear about the company’s efforts to help patients better understand their often jargon-filled doctor appointments, the Chain Reaction crew spent some time digging into the maze that is Ethereum’s big “Merge” network upgrade, and Matt Burns learned all about how to pitch a Series A (and how the process differs from raising a seed round) on TechCrunch Live.

techcrunch+

While we publish a ton of stuff — news, reviews, interviews, and more — entirely for free on TechCrunch, our members-only section TechCrunch+ is where we get to go deep on the topics readers tell us they care about most. Want to check it out without paying full price? The marketing team tells me the promo code “WIR” will get you 15% off an annual membership. Oh! And while we’re talking promo codes, here’s a link that’ll get you 15% off passes (excluding Online/Expo passes) to our biggest show of the year, TechCrunch Disrupt.

Here’s what TC+ members were clicking on most this week:

Why most early-stage VC deals fall apart: What are investors looking for at the due diligence stage? Haje sat down with a few early-stage investors to get a better understanding of the process, and the main reasons deals tend to fall through.

Investors detail their red (and green) flags: Meanwhile, Rebecca caught up with another set of investors to find out the things that sent them running away from — or, hopefully, running toward — a potential investment.