Techcrunch blog!: Apple wants everyone to know it’s working on AI, too, guys

Thursday, February 29, 2024

Good morning and welcome to TechCrunch AM! If you had ever wondered why Apple's been strangely silent about AI, well, it just started shouting from the rooftops that it's been doing just that.

And if you are a founder looking at accelerators, we have news for you this morning about how the venture downturn hasn't left anyone unscathed. We're gonna close with notes about the energy transition, and just how much money you can save if you are not into gas-powered or electric cars.

– Alex

TechCrunch Top 3

Apple will 'break new ground' in GenAI, Cook claims: After scuttling its Apple Car initiative, the iPhone maker is leaving no stone unturned to ensure everyone knows that it is working hard on new AI technologies. The company doesn't want to lose its reputation for innovation after all. Here's hoping Siri will finally be useful for more than a few basic tasks.
Techstars lost more money than expected last year, remains well-capitalized: The startup accelerator's decision to shutter some of its city-focused programs and trim staff came after it suffered bigger losses in 2023 than it had expected, per some internal documents. The good news for Techstars is that it seems to have ample cash reserves to fund its operations. Still, there’s no denying that the venture downturn is here and it's affecting everyone.
Reliance, Disney combine India media assets in $8.5B deal: Reliance-owned media company Viacom18 and Disney are planning to combine their media assets in India to create “the largest media entity in the world's most populous nation,” Manish Singh reports. Disney will own 36.84% of the new entity, and will take a charge of $1.8 billion-$2.4 billion. The new entity is expected to control some 85% of the domestic streaming market, and about half of India’s television audience.

Image Credits: Apple

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Meta's expensive opt-out policy under scrutiny: When Meta started offering EU users a choice between opting-in for its ads and paying for an ad-free experience, it was trying to thread the needle between local regulations and making money. Now, eight regional consumer rights groups are suing the company over this choice, alleging violations of GDPR principles.

Snowflake CEO to step down, stock melts: In a shocking move, Frank Slootman, the CEO of Snowflake, announced that he intends to step down. The company also forecast its Q1 product revenue below what analysts expected, and the double whammy has sent its shares down more than 20%. Wall Street, it turns out, were big fans of Slootman.

Elon, Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) head to court: Last year, Musk-owned X sued the CCDH for making "misleading claims" about the service. The Center had reported on X's moderation choices and the potential financial benefits they might bring to the social media company. Oral arguments will start today in San Francisco, and are set to be livestreamed.

Taiwanese startups hope for looser investing rules: When Lai Ching-te became Taiwan's president-elect, he inherited a contentious neighbor in China as well as the mandate to deal with the global rush to compete with the island-nation's semiconductor industry. Taiwan's entrepreneurs, though, are heartened by his upcoming tenure in office. TechCrunch's Catherine Shu reports that the country's startups are hopeful Lai's government will streamline and improve processes for fundraising and international expansion.

Speaking of chips, India has approved the allocation of $15.2 billion to build three semiconductor plants, which will include the nation's first semiconductor fab. The investment may help India better compete with both China and Taiwan in the chip race. Ever since the chip shortage a few years ago, every nation wants to produce their own silicon, so this move makes a lot of sense.

Money, money, money:

French cybersecurity startup Filigran, the company behind the open-source product OpenCTI, has raised $16 million in a round led by Accel.
Nigerian fintech debt-collection startup Bfree has raised $2.95 million to help lenders recover debt ethically.
Singaporean web3 security firm Silence Laboratories has put together a $4.1 million round.

Twodos is a fresh take on personal task management: There are a few tech projects that humans will work on until the end of time, and task management and note-taking appear to be two of them. In the case of the former, there's a new entrant in the market called Twodos. Built by Adam Whitcroft (he formerly worked with Rewind), this app is dead-simple in terms of features, and leans heavily on swiping gestures to sort upcoming tasks.

Don't forget: TechCrunch's Early Stage event is just around the corner!

Image Credits: Getty Images

Before you go

Want a free Toyota?

Between discounts and incentives, you can effectively get a 2023 Toyota Mirai for free. The catch? It runs on hydrogen fuel cells, and stations to refuel it are few and far between — even in California, the only market where it kinda makes sense to own a fuel cell car.

Why the massive discount? Because while fuel cell technology is neat, the shift to electric cars around the world is coming along well.