Technology

Hey everyone. Thank you for welcoming me into you inbox yet again.

Last week, I talked about Juulunraveling mission statement and the highly-valued startupnew Big Tobacco CEO. I got some great email responses and plenty of a pro-Juul DMs.

If you&re reading this on the TechCrunch site, you can get this in your inbox here, and follow my tweets here.

The big story

This section might slowly turn into my grievance of the week, but this week the tale isn&t a screed against Juul, ita prolonged eye roll after the merger of two adtech companies responsible for pumping the internet full of garbage.

Taboola and Outbrain have merged forming a $2 billion adtech giant. Those startup names likely don&t mean much to you, but they&re both responsible for a lot of the publishing worldjunkiest ad units.

You&ve seen them. You&ve tried not to see them.

These startups grew their networks by sending traffic from one partner to another and incentivizing the flow of more traffic through them.

By adding a bit of Javascript, publications were able to bring in traffic and more importantly effortless cash. Itbeen an irresistible sell to plenty of publishers, but italso been an eyesore for many of them and a race to the bottom in terms of selling the most salacious headlines. This has brought in revenues to publications that aren&t afraid to sell a bit of

Being an adtech &giant& is pretty relative these days. Taking on Google and Facebookoverwhelming ad duopoly is an incredibly noble goal — I would love for a true competitor to emerge — but I have very little faith that a frankensteined fusion of these two crap ad companies is going to do much to halt a war path, I hope someone else can find a path.

Send me feedbackon Twitter@lucasmtnyor emailThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

On to the rest of the weeknews.

Trends of the week

Here are a few big news items from big companies, with green links to all the sweet, sweet added context:

• Microsoftdual screen unveil Microsoft dove headfirst into dual-screen folding displays at its hardware event this week. Take a peek at the Neo and Duo. Read more here.
• Tesla buys a startup Tesla has been arranging its efforts around robo taxies and its now making some acquisitions to bolster its presence. See them all here.

GAFA Gaffes

How did the top tech companies screw up this week? This clearly needs its own section, in order of badness:

1. Facebook news can&t be trusted:[Facebook leads in news consumption among social feeds, but most don&t trust it]

Sign up for more newsletters in your inbox (including this one) here.

Did you miss the deadline to apply forStartup BattlefieldatDisrupt Berlin 2019? Well don&t despair, founders. Theremore than one way to place your early-stage startup in front of thousands of influential technologists, investors and global media. Apply to be considered for our TC Top Picks program and the opportunity to exhibit in Startup Alley for free.

Deadline alert: You must apply to be a TC Top Pick by 18 October at 12 p.m. (PT). Itsimple to do and itfree. Don&t let this opportunity slip through your time-strapped fingers.

TC Top Picks is a pre-conference competition. To be considered, your early-stage startup must fall within one of the following categories: AI/Machine Learning, Biotech/Healthtech, Blockchain, Fintech, Mobility, Privacy/Security, Retail/E-commerce, Robotics/IoT/Hardware, CRM/Enterprise and Education.

Our TechCrunch editors — always on the hunt for the best early-stage startups — will vet each application and select up to five startups in each category. If you&re named a TC Top Pick, you&ll receive a free Startup Alley Exhibitor Package and a VIP experience at Disrupt Berlin.

What sort of startup catches TechCrunchdiscerning editorial eyes? Great question. Take a look at the list of TC Top Picks from Disrupt Berlin 2018.

The exclusive TC Top Pick cadre will exhibit in a prime location within Startup Alley and — thanks to plenty of pre-conference marketing — be on the receiving end of intense investor and media interest. One of the best perks is the live Showcase Stage interview. TechCrunch editors interview each Top Pick to showcase their company and product. We record the interview and promote the video across our social media platforms.

If you&re still kicking yourself for missing the Startup Battlefield deadline, heremore good news. Therealways the possibility that you&ll compete as a Wild Card. Say what, now?

Out of all the startups exhibiting in Startup Alley, TechCrunch editors will choose one — the Wild Card — to compete in the Startup Battlefield. At Disrupt Berlin 2018, TC editors chose Legacy, and the feisty startup went on to win the Startup Battlefield and the $50,000 prize.

Disrupt Berlin 2019 takes place on 11-12 December, and TC Top Picks is your chance to place your extraordinary startup in front of the people who can move your business forward. If you want to exhibit in Startup Alley for free, do not miss this deadline. Apply to be a TC Top Pick before 18 October at 12 p.m. (PT). We&ll see you in Berlin!

Is your company interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at Disrupt Berlin 2019? Contact our sponsorship sales team byfilling out this form.

We might start seeing Intel’s Xe graphics cards in the summer of 2020. At least, that’s what Raja Koduri, Intel chief architect, was hinting at in his tweet on October 3.

The reigning processor (CPU) manufacturer is entering the discrete graphics cards market with its forthcoming Intel Xe cards, and for the first wave of these Xe graphics cards,