Tuesday, May 28, 2024

Welcome to TechCrunch AM! I hope you're all well rested from the long weekend. This morning, we have a long piece from yours truly on why it's important to have a succession plan; more funding for AI (of course); an illuminating conversation on the shifting VC landscape; a new crypto wallet you can touch and feel; Nubank jumping into telecoms, and more. Let's dive in! — Rebecca

TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: Bryce Durbin

1. What happens when you don't leave a succession plan: The owner of Onyx Motorbikes died suddenly in December, and all operations subsequently ground to a halt. Now, there's a battle raging between the company's creditors, former shareholders, a Chinese parts supplier, and customers over who gets to be made whole first. Read More

2. Iyo takes a swing at standalone genAI hardware: Humane and Rabbit didn't fare so well with their genAI devices. Can Iyo do better? The company is planning to launch its Iyo One Bluetooth earbud this winter, which promises to bake in much better versions of AI assistants like Alexa and Siri into headphones. The demo I saw on Iyo CEO Jason Rugolo's TED talk was impressive, but will the real thing deliver? Read More

3. Elon's xAI raises $6 billion: Elon Musk's AI startup has raised $6 billion as the billionaire seeks to aggressively compete with rivals like OpenAI, Microsoft and Alphabet. Backers include Valor, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia and Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal. Read More

A MESSAGE FROM TWILIO SEGMENT

What can good data do for you? - Twilio Segment CDP

Segment helps 25,000+ companies turn customer data into tailored experiences. With customer profiles that update real-time, and best in class privacy features - Segment's Customer Data Platform allows you to make good data available to every team.

Good Data - Segment

Morning Must Reads

Image Credits: Maira Erlich/Bloomberg via Getty

The neobank-to-telecoms pipeline is real: More digital-first banking companies are moving into telecommunications, and Nubank is no exception. The NYSE-traded Brazilian neobank has rolled out an eSIM for travelers in its first step into the popular ancillary service that other neobanks are tapping to attract more customers. Read More

Level up that presentation deck in 3D: French startup AniML's Doly is an app that helps you generate 3D models of products with your phone and turn them into professional-looking product videos. Like many AI products, this one democratizes something that's notoriously difficult — making videos for Instagram ads or online marketplaces. Read More

Cloover raises $114M to speed up solar installs: Europe-based Cloover just raised $108.5 million in debt + $5.5 million in equity to provide loans to small solar panel installers, who are spending more on marketing to attract customers. Clover's software assesses a customer's energy savings and ability to repay loans to enable financing in a niche that banks may not venture into. Read More

A conversation on the evolution of VC: When did it become acceptable for VCs to publicly invest their own cash into startups, especially ones that compete with their firm's portcos? Why aren't VCs taking board seats anymore? Are AI prices rational? We sat down with Uncork Capital to chat about the changing VC landscape. Read More

Families of Uvalde shooting victims sue Activision, Meta: They're also suing gun manufacturer Daniel Defense, arguing that the two tech giants have, over the last 15 years, collaborated with the firearms industry. The plaintiffs are blaming "Call of Duty," for marketing assault rifles to young people, and Instagram, for making it easy to advertise firearms. Read More

Ledger ships a new crypto wallet: Pre-orders of Ledger Stax, a new secure crypto hardware wallet, have already sold out. The wallet brings new features like a large E-Ink display with a secure touch screen, Bluetooth, and a curved screen so customers can display some info on the spine of the device. Read More

Get your early bird Disrupt passes!: You've got four more days to save $800 with discounted early bird tickets to TechCrunch Disrupt, which will be held from October 28 to October 30 in San Francisco. We're also shouting out to LatAm founders to sign up for Startup Battlefield 200. Come one, come all. Read More

Around the Web

Is AI tech's latest hoax?: Modern MBA breaks down how a decade ago, "big data" was the hot technology that promised big insights and birthed entire herds of SaaS startups, many of which are still bleeding. The video touches on the broader problem of innovation that's crowned, rather than earned, in Silicon Valley, where unprofitable companies are kept alive with capital injections, gamed valuations and fueled hype cycles. Watch More

OpenAI is creating a new safety committee: The AI giant says it's set up a new safety committee to address AI risks, after initially letting its Superalignment team wither and ousting its head, Ilya Sutskever. OpenAI also says it's begun training a new flagship model that will succeed the model behind ChatGPT, GPT-4, reports the New York Times. Read More

Where debunking failed, prebunking may prevail: Because we can't trust social media companies to monitor for misinformation, election officials and researchers around the world are trying a new strategy: prebunking. The idea, reports The Washington Post, is to expose people to weakened doses of misinformation paired with explanations to help the public develop "mental antibodies" to hoaxes in the run up to elections. Read More

Before You Go

Image Credits: Getty Images

The social serendipity network: Maven is a new social network that eschews likes, follows, RTs and upvotes in favor of a serendipity algorithm that aims to make the internet interesting again. I spoke with CEO Ken Stanley, a former AI researcher, about the open-ended AI algorithm that inspired and runs the platform. Plus, he told TC exclusively that he raised an initial $2M from Twitter co-founder Ev Williams and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and is raising more now. Read More