Techcrunch blog!: Musk promises to make Grok open source

Monday, March 11, 2024

Welcome to TechCrunch AM! This morning we have big AI news, a hot new fintech round, the EU taking on its own data practices, and even a new RSS app that you might love. To work!

– Alex

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X to open source Grok: The debate over how to build future AI technology took a new twist with Tesla's Elon Musk promising to open-source Grok, the large language model (LLM) currently available to X subscribers. The move comes after Musk sued OpenAI for what he considers deviations from its founding mission, and the AI company is contesting that allegation. OpenAI was more focused on open research in its early days than it is now, though emails released by the company indicate that Musk backed the creation of its for-profit arm.
Meet OpenAI's new board: Sam Altman is back on the board of OpenAI, and others are joining up. Instacart CEO Fidji Simo, Sue Desmond-Hellmann previously of the Gates Foundation, and ex-Sony Entertainment president Nicole Seligman are also joining. Former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor will stay as board chair, while Quora CEO Adam D'Angelo and economist Larry Summers are also keeping their seats. OpenAI is valuable, growing quickly, and is facing a number of high-profile suits, including the above-noted Musk case and another from the New York Times.
How many startups shut down last year? TechCrunch's Mary Ann Azevedo sat down over the weekend with angel investor Roger Lee, also the creator of the Layoffs.FYI tracker, and co-founder of Human Interest to dig into the question. Lee is also backed by Sunset, which helps other startups close their doors.

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British startup Griffin lands banking license, $24M: Investors love progress, and banking-as-a-service (BaaS) startup Griffin is showing a lot of that. With a fresh banking license in its hands just a year after the company started the process, the company has raised a huge extension of its Series A round led by MassMutual Ventures, NordicNinja and Breega. The new money is a shot in the arm for the broader fintech space, which has seen its luster fade in the past couple of years.

Politics and tech, part 4,982: After Texas passed a restrictive abortion bill last year, about one-third of Bumble's staff in the state left for other locales. The data point matters given that Texas' capital, Austin, is a well-known tech hub. If staff are leaving over local reproductive regulations, then Texas itself could lose some of its tech luster.

Around the web: Axios was up early this morning with a look at Reddit's updated IPO filing. The company is targeting a valuation of up to $6.4 billion in its debut. And, the WSJ reports that former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick is floating plans to buy TikTok. Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports that Thomson Reuters has $8 billion ready for AI deals.

The EU finds the EU in breach of EU rules: We have found the enemy, and the enemy is ourselves, according to the EU's investigation into its use of Microsoft 365. TechCrunch reports the use of Microsoft's service "breached the bloc's data protection rules through its use of the cloud-based productivity software."

Women in AI: TechCrunch's continuing series of interviews with leading women in artificial intelligence has two new entries: Heidy Khlaaf, an engineering director at the cybersecurity firm Trail of Bits, and Claire Leibowicz, head of the AI and media integrity program at the Partnership on AI, which is backed by Amazon, Meta, Google, and Microsoft.

Fintech's payroll push: Last week, Deel dropped serious cash to buy PaySpace, bolstering its work to support remote hires. Remofirst raised $25 million recently, and our fintech expert Mary Ann Azevedo writes that the market for helping other companies handle payroll – both domestic and remote – is warming up.

SuperAGI raises $10M: SuperAGI wants to build artificial general intelligence using Large Agentic Models, or LAMs. Its work on the project has caught the eye of Newlands VC, the secretive firm backed by WhatsApp founder Jan Koum, which led its eight-figure Series A.

Submit your Side Event at TechCrunch Early Stage 2024: TechCrunch is bringing its Early Stage event to Boston again this year. I will see you there!

Image Credits: Griffin Founders, Allen Rohner and David Jarvis copy

Before you go

RSS will never die: Feeeed is keeping the RSS flame alight, but with a twist. The reader app lets you subscribe to RSS feeds, but takes the capability a step further by offering "an array of other options such as newsletters, YouTube channels, Hacker News, subreddits, Mastodon profiles, Tumblr blogs, and Twitter accounts."