Wednesday, May 22, 2024

Welcome to TechCrunch AM! This morning, we've got notes on how some people are trying to ensure AI safety while others are saying, 'yeah, whatever, let's make some money.' We also have: a huge fundraise for blockchain-based social media; Humane reportedly looking for a buyer; how the Synapse implosion is still affecting other fintechs, and Windows apps in 3D. Let's dive in! — Rebecca

TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: DeepL

1. DeepL further deepens its deep pockets: In no surprise to anyone, yet another AI startup has raised buckets of money: AI translation startup DeepL is now a cool $300 million richer, and it's getting its valuation bumped to $2 billion. The company competes with the likes of Google Translate and Grammarly, and hopes to use the chunk of change to bring on more customers and boost R&D. Read More

2. Social media for crypto, by crypto: Farcaster, a decentralized protocol designed to build social networks, has raised $150 million. The protocol, founded by two Coinbase alumni, lets developers build other apps on top of it — like popular social network, Warpcast. Users pay in ethereum, and important stuff like user identities are stored on the blockchain. Read More

3. Humane is looking for a buyer: Humane had big hopes of replacing your smartphone with its magnetically-mounted Ai Pin. Now, following less-than-glowing reviews after the Ai Pin's launch last month, the company is reportedly on the hunt for a buyer, and it's willing to sell for between $750 million and $1 billion. Read More

A MESSAGE FROM DELINEA

Rising Challenges in Cyber Insurance: What Companies Must Know

A comprehensive survey sheds light on the critical aspects of cyber insurance, revealing more than just a 'check-the-box' necessity for organizations.

Learn More

Morning Must Reads

Image Credits: Wonder Dynamics

Autodesk acquires Wonder Dynamics: 3D tools behemoth Autodesk has acquired Wonder Dynamics, a startup that lets creators make complex characters and visual effects using AI. Wonder's product is no toy for the masses – it's a tool for professionals, the company insists, hoping to assuage striking actors and writers. It'll now be combined with Autodesk's Maya, which is used for 3D work and media production. Read More

A Windows to the metaverse: Some more news from Microsoft's annual Build conference: The tech giant is bringing "Windows Volumetric Apps" to Meta Quest headsets. While that product name sounds kinda boring, the outcome won't be. It'll bring Windows 365 and local PC connectivity to Quest headsets, letting developers bring their apps into a whole another dimension, literally. Read More

Uber, Lyft reach deal with Minnesota on driver pay: Uber and Lyft have reached a deal with Minnesota that would see drivers getting paid a minimum amount that's in line with state norms. The two companies have been threatening to leave Minneapolis, but eventually relented. All parties have finally come to a middle ground where everyone kind of wins a little bit. Everyone except the rider, of course. Read More

Synapse's downfall wrecks another fintech: Copper Banking, a digital banking service aimed at teens, has cut off bank deposit accounts and debit cards – the latest fintech to get hit by the shrapnel of Synapse's explosion. Some of its customers have been left in the lurch but the company says it is working to return their money. Copper is still operational. Read More

Andreesen Horowitz wants YOU to become a VC: A16z wants more engineers and technologists to become VCs. The firm's American Dynamism fund has launched a new fellowship program that takes three technologists on a year-long investment crash course to lure them into the world of venture capital. Yes, what the world needs is more venture capitalists. Read More

Leaders commit to AI safety at Seoul Summit: At Seoul's AI Summit, U.K. PM Rishi Sunak and South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol backed the Seoul Declaration, which seeks to increase international collaboration in building AI to address major global issues, uphold human rights and bridge digital gaps worldwide. Australia, Canada, the EU, Singapore and the U.S. also made similar affirmative noises. Now the question is, can governments keep up with the fast-moving field of AI? Read More

Everyone needs a big battery that can last days: Ore Energy has come out of stealth with €10 million in seed funding to make long-duration energy storage – AKA massive batteries – that can serve as backup for the electrical grid. But these batteries won't be based on expensive lithium-ion — they'll be made of cheap, abundant iron. Read More

From $10B valuation to delayed IPO: Indian budget hotel chain Oyo was once living it up with a valuation of $10 billion. Now it has pulled the plug once again on its plans to go public, bringing into question its readiness to face public scrutiny. Read More

Around the Web

Chat with Xi anytime you want: China has rolled out a chatbot trained on the thoughts of President Xi Jinping, in the latest attempt to control how AI informs the country's internet, reports The Financial Times. The LLM behind the chatbot has been trained on Xi's political philosophy, known as "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era." That'll make a neat acronym, no? Read More

Mo Money, Mo genAI music: Music AI startup Suno has raised $125 million to transform how music is created, consumed and monetized. Any ol' person can create "original songs" by simply entering text prompts or lyrics, and the company's AI will do all the rest – generating melodies, harmonies and fully-formed compositions, VentureBeat reports. Read More

The age of ignoring consent: It seems consent isn't even reserved for the powerful anymore. OpenAI's debacle with Scarlett Johansson presents a microcosm of the raw deal at the center of genAI, a tech that's built from scraped data from the internet without the consent of creators or copyright owners, The Atlantic writes. In other words, "This is happening, whether you like it or not." Read More

A MESSAGE FROM ESPER

Overcoming Challenges with Operationalizing AI
at the Edge

Bridging the gap from an AI pilot to real-world impact is challenging, but not if you have the right tools to optimize deployment, reduce costs, and update with fluidity. It's not impossible — it's reality. Let's break it down.

Image Credits: Praktika

El valle extraño: Language-learning app Praktika has raised $35.5 million to bring personalized AI-powered avatars that replicate having the experience of a private tutor to the platform. The app lets you build an avatar tutor that will learn from your interactions to make language learning feel more natural by using various tones of voice and emotions. Praktika says it is dabbling with different LLMs, from GPT-4 and GP Turbo to Gemini and Claude, to power its product. Read More