Automattic is 'short-staffed' amid ongoing drama

Plus: Apple releases a new chip for MacBook Pro

View this email online in your browser By Rebecca Szkutak Wednesday, October 30, 2024 Welcome to TC PM! Today on the Disrupt Stage, we got some new info regarding the WordPress vs. WP Engine drama. We also learned about Zoox's upcoming AV rollout. And in some non-Disrupt news, Apple's Macweek isn't quite over yet. Let's get to it.  TechCrunch Top 3 Image Credits: Kimberly White / Getty Images 👋 Well, well well: Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg said onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt that the company is now understaffed amid its ongoing drama. This isn't surprising since WordPress told people who weren't in alignment to leave. Read more  🚘 Word on the street: Also on the Disrupt Stage, Zoox co-founder and CTO Jesse Levinson said that his company will start rolling out its autonomous robotaxis to the streets of Las Vegas and San Francisco in the coming weeks. Read more 💻 New chips time: The latest announcement out of Apple's Macweek is the release of its newest  M-series chips. Today it announced the M4 Max, a new chip that will power the company's MacBook Pro line. Read more Afternoon must-reads Image Credits: Hummingbirds 💵 Money for micro influencers: Hummingbirds is a startup that connects local businesses with hyperlocal content creators. The company raised a fresh $5.4 million round of funding to help it expand into 20 new cities by 2025. Read more 🤳 Speaking of content creators: Estonian-based Modash is also focused on helping brands connect with micro influencers. The company recently raised a $12 million Series A and told TechCrunch it remains bullish on the creator economy. Read more  ⚡ An electric partnership: Rivian chief software officer Wassym Bensaid confirmed on the Disrupt Stage that VW's new electric vehicle offshoot company, Scout, will be using Rivian's software and zonal architecture. Read more 🦾 AI BS: Battling AI-driven misinformation online is a growing problem for tech companies. During a panel on TechCrunch Disrupt's AI Stage on Wednesday, each panelist said that no matter how hard companies are trying to combat it, they aren't doing enough. Read more 🎙️ Equity live: The Equity crew dug into some large venture deals, including Sierra's $175 million round and Waymo's $5.6 billion round. Listen here Around the web 🚁 Are drones the answer? Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt thinks that the U.S. military should replace its "useless" fleet of tanks with drones. Schmidt might have personal motivation for saying this: He's rumored to be a founder of a drone startup. Read more 🎣 Fishing out fraud: Organized online return fraud has exploded over the last few years, creating an opportunity for a whole host of new startups looking to help companies solve this growing issue. Read more Featured jobs from Crunchboard Senior Data Warehouse SQL Developer, Washington Dept. of Natural Resources (Olympia, WA) Pharmacy Epic Application Analyst, OFFSITE (Toppenish, WA) Chief Technology Officer, Mary McDowell Friends School (Brooklyn, NY) Senior Software Engineer, Dyna Robotics (San Francisco, CA) IT Technology Analyst, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (Middletown, PA) See more jobs on CrunchBoard Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $349 per month.   Check out some of our other newsletters: Startups Weekly TechCrunch AI TechCrunch Mobility Got a tip? Get in touch securely. Want to advertise on TechCrunch? advertise@techcrunch.com Has this been forwarded to you? Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. Update your preferences here at any time Copyright © 2024 TechCrunch, All rights reserved.Yahoo Inc. 110 5th St,San Francisco,CA Privacy Policy

Dropbox lays off 20% of employees

Also: Ashton Kutcher is investing in Fei Fei Li's World Labs

View this email online in your browser By Rebecca Bellan Wednesday, October 30, 2024 Welcome to TechCrunch AM! This morning, we've got details on the layoffs at Dropbox, Ashton Kutcher's thoughts on AI, and Tony Fadell's opinion of Silicon Valley. We've also got notes on OpenAI's bid to build its own chips, a new "Shazam for clothes" app, a novel way to produce antibodies, a massive phishing campaign targeting government officials, and more. Also: Day 2 of TechCrunch Disrupt was full of great talks from investors and impressive pitches from startups like Salva Health, ForceField and Gecko. Check out the agenda for Day 3 here. Let's dive in! — Rebecca TechCrunch Top 3 Image Credits: TechCrunch 1. Dropbox is letting go 20% of its staff as it realizes it might have over-hired in certain areas and needs to design a "flatter, more efficient" team structure. The CEO says he takes "full responsibility." Read More 2. Everyone gets a gold star: Ashton Kutcher, actor, co-founder of Sound Ventures, and Kelso from "That 70s Show", thinks every company will be an AI company eventually. But he doesn't think there will be a winner in the space. That said, his firm is backing Fei-Fei Li's World Labs. Read More 3. Tony Fadell throws hands: We love a spicy interview, and Tony Fadell delivered at TC Disrupt. The iPod creator talked about the "mission-driven assholes" building deeptech, entitlement in Silicon Valley, why LLMs are "know-it-alls," and even took a shot at Sam Altman. Read More   A Message from Golub Capital How software companies can preserve valuation in a "down round" environment Golub Growth provides an array of flexible debt and equity solutions to fuel software companies' growth and M&A plans - without impairing their current valuation. Explore our growth capital solutions for SaaS companies. Learn More   Morning Must-Reads Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch 🐿️ Chip shop open for business: OpenAI is reportedly working with TSMC and Broadcom to build its first in-house AI chip, slated for 2026. The AI company is also apparently going to use AMD chips alongside Nvidia's for training its AI. Read More 👗 Fit check: Aesthetic has launched what it says is "Shazam for clothes," and never have I been so excited for an app. Pinterest has a similar feature for sourcing apparel and other items, but it never quite finds the exact brand. I'm curious how well Aesthetic's app works. Read More ⏸️ Hold up: Google says it's not planning to ship AI agents from its Project Astra effort until next year. These agents will purportedly be able to understand and answer questions about things — like apps that can recognize the world around them and answer questions. Read More 🥊 Fighting the good fight: Deepfakes aren't going away, but it's heartening to know there are people fighting the good fight. ForceField, one of the companies competing on TechCrunch's Startup Battlefield stage, is building a set of APIs designed to authenticate content. Read More 🪲 Cage the antibodies: Biotech startup Archon has come out of stealth with $20 million in seed funding and a new way to use AI to design novel biomolecules. The startup's goal? To supercharge antibody treatments by caging them to multiply their effects. Read More   A Message from TechCrunch Last chance to soak in the ultimate tech experience at Disrupt 2024! It's the final day of Disrupt 2024 at Moscone West! You still have the chance to gain insights from tech giants, explore startups from around the world, and witness the final fast-paced pitches from global startups and in Startup Battlefield 200. Don't miss enhanced networking opportunities and exclusive after-hour events. Immerse yourself in the ultimate tech event of the year before it ends! Register Now   Around the Web 📧 Don't get phished: Bloomberg has the details of a Microsoft report about Russian hackers targeting U.S. government officials and defense workers in a new email phishing campaign. Thousands of people in over 100 organizations have been targeted since last week. Read More 🔫 We live in a society: Meta appears to have given up on managing misinformation and potentially harmful content on its platform, according to Wired. The company is not only allowing anti-government militia groups to use Facebook to recruit, but the site is auto-generating pages. Read More 💥 AI goes nuclear: And I'm not talking about energy. The U.S. Air Force General said the government is developing AI tools to help leaders respond to "time-sensitive scenarios," 404 Media reports. The general said that AI brings "unique deterrence effects" to the table. Read More Before You Go Image Credits: Kimberly White / Getty Images 🏆 And the finalists are… The judges at TC Disrupt have come up with the five finalists for Startup Battlefield. The startups competing follow in the footsteps of a set of Startup Battlefield alumni (including Dropbox, Discord, and Mint) who have collectively raised over $29 billion. Read More Featured jobs from Crunchboard Senior Data Warehouse SQL Developer, Washington Dept. of Natural Resources (Olympia, WA) Pharmacy Epic Application Analyst, OFFSITE (Toppenish, WA) Chief Technology Officer, Mary McDowell Friends School (Brooklyn, NY) Senior Software Engineer, Dyna Robotics (San Francisco, CA) IT Technology Analyst, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (Middletown, PA) See more jobs on CrunchBoard Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $349 per month.   Check out some of our other newsletters: Startups Weekly TechCrunch AI TechCrunch Mobility Got a tip? Get in touch securely. Want to advertise on TechCrunch? advertise@techcrunch.com Has this been forwarded to you? Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. Update your preferences here at any time Copyright © 2024 TechCrunch, All rights reserved.Yahoo Inc. 110 5th St,San Francisco,CA Privacy Policy