Thursday, September 19, 2024

Welcome to TechCrunch AM. I'm your guest writer today and excited to dive into some of today's top news stories. This morning, we have a look at how Fisker failed to get its customers to pay for labor on recall repairs; a big round for a cybersecurity startup; and more EU regulations woes for Apple. We've got lots more, so let's get started! — Dom

TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: Fisker

1. Fisker's gambit fails: EV startup Fisker has changed its mind — it's no longer asking owners of its Ocean SUV to pay for labor costs associated with the car's recall repairs. The news comes as bankruptcy proceedings continue at the embattled company. It's already sold off nearly all of its remaining vehicle inventory. Read More

2. More money for cybersecurity: Picus Security has raised $45 million to further expand its business of running continuous validation processes to detect inconsistencies in code and other network activity. Read More

3. Apple faces the music — again: The EU has opened two proceedings against Apple that will see it telling the tech giant how to better comply with market fairness regulations. Apple risks fines of up to 10% of annual revenue if it doesn't meet the Commission's requirements. Read More

A Message from Roku

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Morning Must-Reads

Image Credits: TechCrunch

Bluesky talks moderation: Social network Bluesky is developing initiatives to deal with fake accounts, harassment, and more. These include a tool to detect "rude" replies, one that can identify if multiple new accounts are being managed by one person, and some automation to help it detect fake or spam accounts. Read More

An AI notetaker stands out: Fathom, an AI notetaking startup, has raised a $17 million Series A. The company launched in 2020 and says — to no one's surprise — that its revenue has increased by more than 90x in the past two years. Read More

A CEO steps down: Karl Iagnemma, the CEO of the self-driving car company Motional, is stepping down as its president and CEO. He will transition into a senior strategy advisor role, while Laura Major, currently CTO, will become interim CEO. Read More

The robotics to advertising pipeline: Robotics company Kiwibot is acquiring advertising company Nickelytics for $25 million to start displaying ads on its robots that deliver food around the University of Utah and UCLA. Nickelytics' CEO will join Kiwibos as a co-founder. Read More

Another AI round: Developer platform Fal.ai has raised $23 million from a16z and others. The company hosts AI-generated audio, video, and images. Its Series A valued it at $80 million. Read More

India's UPI market share problem: India's UPI payment rail is very popular, but the problem is that it's dominated by 2-4 companies. The governing body overseeing UPI wants to change that but it can't find a good way to enforce its proposed 30% market share limit, so it is looking at easing the market share caps to 40%. Read More

Here's AI with the weather: Forecasting weather has long been an endeavor that has involved statistical and numerical modeling, and AI just happens to be great at that stuff. So, weather forecasting startup Brightband has designed its own weather model based on years of observation data, and it's just raised $10 million to further build it out. Read More

A Message from Lumin

The truth about building an enterprise-level eSignature API

Lumin's recent presence at MongoDB.local Sydney gained attention as founder and CEO Max Ferguson exposed the true challenges that come with building a compliant eSignature API. His take? It's better to buy than build when it comes to secure, legally binding signatures.

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Around the Web

Clean jet fuel takes off: The WSJ reports that a company called Twelve, which does "industrial photosynthesis," has raised $645 million from investors including TPG and Alaska Airlines. It is one of the sector's largest investments in clean jet fuel. Read More

More startup drama: The Financial Times has the rundown on a little bit of drama happening in the med-tech world: The billionaire founder of Masimo, Joe Kiani, faces a vote that could chuck him from the company's board. He's up against some activist investors and it seems like tensions have reached boiling point. Read More

Elon bites back — for now: The New York Times reports that Elon Musk and X have found a way to restore services for some in Brazil after the country's high court blocked the social media app in the country. Brazil's telecommunication regulator, however, is looking to restore the block again soon. Read More

Before You Go

Image Credits: Office of the UN Secretary

The UN chimes in on AI governance: The UN's high-level advisory board on AI released a report that reveals how hard governing AI will be as the sector continues to develop at lightning pace. What is known though, is that governance cannot fall into the hands of those with vested interests in the technology. Read More