Monday, April 15, 2024

Good morning and welcome to TechCrunch AM! We're off to a busy start this morning, with big news in the realms of AI and EVs, a cheeky startup business model that is annoying Reddit, and even an insurtech round. Into the breach! — Alex

TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: Didem Mente/Anadolu Agency / Getty Images

1. OpenAI expands to Japan: AI startup and Microsoft bestie OpenAI is opening an office in Japan, and plans to build a GPT-4 model optimized for Japanese, TechCrunch reports. OpenAI will face competition from SoftBank for dominance in the country, but the move makes clear just how important localization is for AI companies today… Read More

2. Tesla slashes headcount: Electric vehicle company Tesla is cutting its global headcount by 10% or more as it seeks to "cut costs and improve productivity." The EV giant has seen car sales slow down in recent quarters, so the layoffs are not entirely shocking… Read More

3. ShareChat's valuation plummets to less than $2B: Indian social network ShareChat has seen its valuation plunge from $5 billion to around $2 billion following a new funding round, TechCrunch has learned. ShareChat's valuation haircut underscores how difficult it is for some late-stage startups to raise capital in today's conservative environment… Read More

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Morning Must Reads

Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch

Use an adblocker, avoid spyware: Malware used by governments can be incredibly sophisticated and hard to detect. So, to help defend yourself against several spyware systems that can use advertisements to infect your devices, use an ad blocker. Google might hate you for it, but it'll make using the Internet more fun and much safer... Read More

Mrs. President, Bluesky will see you now: Twitter rival Bluesky will now allow heads of state to join its ranks, meaning that the X alternative is open for business for politicians during an election year. The service had previously declined to allow national premiers to join, presumably until it felt that it could handle the stakes... Read More

Vana's personal AI model and data biz irks Reddit: This is a fun one. Vana has raised $20 million to build a service that lets individuals use their personal data to create a digital version of themselves. But what is even more interesting is the company's work to create a user group (DAO) that pools opt-in user data and then licenses it to others. That is what Reddit is doing in a more centralized way, so in response, Reddit has banned Vana DAO… Read More

Pula snags $20M for its ag-insurtech business: As the global climate changes, farmers are struggling with droughts, floods and unseasonal weather. Farming is hard even in good conditions, so now that it's even harder and unpredictable, Pula has come up with an insurtech product aimed at small farmers. Pula provides coverage for "pests, diseases and/or extreme weather events like floods and droughts," TechCrunch reports. Very cool and much needed… Read More

AI is coming for the lawyers: Lawhive, a UK-based legaltech startup that has built an AI "lawyer" for small law firms, has raised $11.9 million in a seed round. The startup is notable for its focus on smaller legal firms, given that many AI products we've seen lately have focused on Big Law, where the dollars per deal can stack a little higher... Read More

Around the Web

What if streaming kinda sucks? The Guardian has a fascinating report on small video rental and sale stores that are working to stay alive in the age of Netflix and Hulu. It turns out that streaming services' limited inventories and penchant for deleting media randomly isn't popular with big movie buffs... Read More

Smartphone sales are rising again: Around the world, around 8% more smartphones were sold in Q1 2024 than a year earlier. Samsung and Apple led the market share charts, but they have a few quick-growing rivals to watch out for... Read More

Media economics: The Intercept, a punchy investigative outlet, is running low on cash, Semafor reports. Sadly, such struggles aren't rare these days as media properties around the Internet are struggling to find a profitable path forward… Read More

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Before You Go

Image Credits: TechCrunch

What if Twitter was an audio platform? That's the question Airchat is trying to answer. AngelList founder Naval Ravikant and former Tinder product exec Brian Norgard are working on the service, which is basically a feed of people talking. Given that I love to talk, I shall dig in and try this out for you... Read More