Welcome to Daily Crunch for Thursday, December 21! As the holidays near, we’re highlighting the top news of the day as well as stories that defined this wild year. There are also some helpful tech-focused gift guides for the last-minute shoppers among us. Happy holidays!

The TechCrunch Top 3

The new American dream? Getting MrBeast to pay off your debt. The most successful YouTuber in the world is known for his reality TV–like videos with big cash rewards. As Amanda notes, the trade-off of suffering for content to pay off debts has become a new normal on social media. Read more.

Massachusetts wants to take on “killer robots.” In mid-September, a pair of lawmakers proposed legislation aiming to bar the manufacture, sale and use of weaponized robots. Brian spoke to state Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, who co-sponsored the bill. Read more.

Worldcoin removes its Orb-verification service in India, Brazil and France. Tools for Humanity told TechCrunch that it had expanded the Orb to many markets this year for a “limited time access,” but Manish and Jagmeet note that the sudden retreat comes as a surprise. Read more.

More top reads

Hyperloop One shutdown: In the latest stumble in the tech industry’s attempt to bring life to an idea Elon Musk first put forth in a white paper in 2013, Hyperloop One, once backed by Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, will cease operations on December 31. Read more.

Apple Watch out: Apple has officially removed the Watch Series 9 from its online shop, with the company confirming an ongoing patent dispute forcing it to pause sales of the flagship smartwatch. The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is similarly unavailable. Read more.

Beeper’s done: The company is giving up on its mission to bring iMessage to Android after implementing a series of fixes that Apple has knocked down one by one over the past month. If the latest workaround is rejected, Beeper says it won’t roll out another one. Read more.

FTC rules: The FTC has proposed tightening up the rules protecting kids from the surveillance economy. The updated rules would require companies to get the okay from parents before sharing data with advertisers and prohibit holding on to data for nebulous “internal operations,” among other things. Read more.

Medallion millions: Medallion, which just raised $13.7 million, is a platform that allows artists to have a dedicated digital hub for promoting album releases, tour dates and merch drops, as well as selling digital collectibles and sharing exclusive content to foster deeper connections with fans. Read more.

Green aerial autonomy: South African aerospace startup Cloudline has secured $6 million in funding as it aims to lead the global frontier of carbon emissions-free autonomous flight. Read more.

8 predictions for AI in 2024

From ChatGPT’s first anniversary to competition from Microsoft and Google to the chaos at OpenAI, AI was inescapable in 2023. But what’s in AI’s future?

How will AI impact the U.S. primary elections? Will OpenAI become a product company? Will Apple finally jump into the AI race? Will companies be able to follow through on their own hype? Devin explores a few ways those questions might play out in 2024. He predicts it will be the year when the hype turns into reality as people reckon with the limitations of AI at large. Read more.

More TechCrunch 2023 retrospectives

What happened to small EVs?: In the midst of a supersized and high-priced EV trend, Harri says goodbye to the small and affordable alternatives we lost this year. Read more.

Climate tech is down, but not out — yet: Tim breaks down the drama-filled year for climate tech. Read more. (TC+)

Is crypto having a moment?: Jacquelyn explores how a recent spike of interest in crypto is rebuilding momentum —  and what that could mean for 2024. Read more. (TC+)

Last-minute gifts for everyone on your list

The holidays are quickly approaching. If you’re frantically looking for last-minute ideas, the TechCrunch team has you covered for everyone on your shopping list.

• For the remote worker: Gifts to help them perfect their at-home office. Read more.
• For the pet lover: Tech pet gifts to make pet owners’ lives easier and entertain their fur babies. Read more.
• For those on a budget: The best tech gifts under $50. Read more.
• For the aspiring podcaster or streamer: The best gear to help get them started. Read more.
• For the avid reader: Fun bookish gifts with a tech twist. Read more.
• For the AI curious: AI-powered gifts that are actually fun and useful. Read more.

Don't give these tech gifts to your loved ones

It’s the season to go a little overboard on gift giving. But this year, give the gift of good security (and privacy) by avoiding tech with major repercussions.

Genetic testing kits like 23andMe can have lasting and unforeseen consequences, Zack writes. This year, the profiles and genetic information on millions of 23andMe customers was scraped from the company’s systems, thought to be the biggest spill of genetic data in recent years. It’s not the first to have data spilled, nor will it be the last. From video doorbells that see and hear everything to risky location-tracking apps, invasive and even unsafe tech gifts are extremely popular during the holidays. The best gift you can give your loved ones is peace of mind. Take a look at all the tech gifts not to buy your loved ones.

• Senior Software Engineer at Zulu Airline Systems, Inc. (Atlanta, GA, USA)
• Systems Administrator I or II at City of Newport (Newport, OR, USA)
• QA Engineer, Data Validation at Murmuration (New York, NY, USA)
• Michigan Online, Software Engineer at University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI, USA)
• Senior Software Engineer at Opus (New York, NY, USA)

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