Monday, April 8, 2024

Welcome to TechCrunch AM! To start your week right, we have big product news from Spotify, leadership changes at Web Summit, a new Microsoft AI group, a fascinating Series B, Musk fighting with Brazil, and even new keyboard tech! To work! — Alex

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TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: Spotify

1. Spotify expands AI offerings: After the success of its AI DJ feature, Spotify is testing a new AI tool that lets users generate playlists based on written prompts. Of course, anything AI-related comes with extra hype these days, but this sounds like a neat idea that could help Spotify differentiate itself from its competitors… Read More

2. Fintech's fading founder fidelity: Analyzing historical trends in Y Combinator's demo day batches, TechCrunch's Mary Ann Azevedo found that only about 8% of the presenting companies this time were building a fintech product. That was down from 24% two years ago, which shows a dramatic and notable change in what founders are focusing on these days. I'd add that the current cohort also didn't seem to have many crypto startups… Read More

3. Paddy Cosgrave returns to Web Summit: After making controversial comments on the Israel-Hamas war, apologizing and resigning from the top job at the Web Summit series of events, Paddy Cosgrave is back at the company's helm. Now, he's sticking to talking about making smaller, more focused events instead of what led to his departure. Web Summit first hired former Wikimedia CEO Catherine Maher as Cosgrave's replacement, but she left to run NPR, "setting the stage for Cosgrave's return." Read More

Morning Must Reads

Image Credits: Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket / Getty Images

Microsoft plans UK AI group: After absorbing the staff from Inflection AI, Microsoft is putting one of the folks it snagged from the firm atop a new UK hub for its fresh consumer AI division. The move underscores just how fast Microsoft is moving today. The company seems hell-bent on making sure it hasn't left any ground uncovered as we see a massive shift spurred by AI — akin to the smartphone-driven wave of change that Microsoft famously failed to capitalize on… Read More

Remote work is going nowhere: That's what TechCrunch's Ron Miller concluded from his dig into where the remote work debate stands today. I am writing this to you from my backyard home office, so you can guess where my allegiances lie. Tech was supposed to grant us the ability to work from anywhere, so therefore, remote work is inherently tech-forward. Ergo, isn't it weird that some tech companies are opposed to it? Read More

Indian venture advisor wants to raise $300M PE fund: Avendus is looking to raise a nine-figure private equity fund, TechCrunch's Manish Singh reports. The company is best known for advising on deals instead of investing in companies, and this will be its third and largest fund to date. If it closes its fund on target, it will have around double its second PE fund to spend, which could mean larger checks for the Indian market. That would be good, since the startup market in India has seen investments slow down in recent years… Read More

EarliTec Diagnostics raises $21.5M to diagnose autism earlier: In this weekend's Deal Dive, Rebecca Szkutak dug into a startup that helps test and diagnose children with autism as early as possible. That's a great focus, because as "the earlier a child gets diagnosed, the better their developmental outcome." The new Series B was led by Nexus NeuroTech Ventures, and saw participation from Midwest-based Venture Investors, which surely must win an award yearly for putting the least effort of any venture fund into its name… Read More

What we've learned from the women behind the AI revolution: TechCrunch's running series of interviews with leading women in AI is proving to be a hit, so Equity brought on the authors of the series to talk about what they have learned thus far. Hit play! Read More

Got Grok? Musk's Grok AI chatbot is rolling out to more users, as X has made the bot available to all paying subscribers, not just those who pay for its most expensive tier. I will be among those with Grok access because I broke down and paid for a subscription to get Tweetdeck back. What will I use Grok for? No idea, but new tools are fun… Read More

Around the Web

Can the United States get serious about data privacy? A week ago, I would have said no. But, a new bill with bipartisan backing from Congresspeople from Washington state could change all of that, the Spokesman-Review reports. Of course, any such legislation must ensure that big tech doesn't get a free boon, but it's worth noting any progress on this front… Read more

Musk tells Brazil to get lost: X's CEO Elon Musk is picking a fight with Brazil. Musk said he would be reinstating accounts that the Brazilian government had ordered blocked on the platform, and the country's Supreme Court has now opened an inquiry into the billionaire. Musk can afford to annoy Brazil as it is less central to his business empire unlike, say, China or India, but it's still interesting to see the company saying no to governments… Read More

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Before You Go

Image Credits: Frederic Lardinois/TechCrunch

The latest in keyboard tech: If, like me, you also deign to call yourself a keyboard junkie, you probably care quite a lot about what you spend your time typing on. I have more mechanical keyboards than I have computers, and I don't want to admit how many of each I have. Regardless, TechCrunch has notes on how magnets are the next big thing in keyboard key switches. I must have one… Read More