Monday, October 21, 2024

Welcome to TechCrunch AM! This morning, we've got a review of the new hearing aids feature on the Apple AirPods 2; notes on how AI can make the grid greener; and a startup out of Europe that wants to hyperscale AI compute while staying 100% green. We've also got rumors of a potential fundraise at Perplexity, a look at Pony AI's IPO filing, the downside of crypto mining, and more. Let's go! — Rebecca

TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: Darrell Etherington

1. Reviewing the AirPods Pro 2's hearing aid feature: TC's Brian Heater tested out the Apple AirPods Pro 2 hearing aid feature, and he finds the process is seamless. What seems to be the feature's biggest challenge is getting over the social niceties of removing your AirPods when talking to someone. Read More

2. Can AI make the grid greener? That's what Marissa Hummon, CTO at energy company Utilidata, is finding out. She says AI "will give utilities the tools they need to operate a clean, modern, and reliable grid." Read More

3. Hyperscaling comes to AI compute: DataCrunch is a cloud infra startup out of Europe that wants to become the continent's first AI compute hyperscaler. The startup just raised $13 million in seed funding, and it's aiming to use 100% renewable energy for its data centers. Read More

A Message from Criteo

Electrify your retail media competitive edge.

Criteo's latest report, "The State of Consumer Electronics," is fully charged with exclusive insights to wire your retail media campaigns for success. Based on a survey of 14,000+ shoppers around the world and commerce data from hundreds of brands and retailers, this report uncovers key drivers behind consumer behavior and purchasing decisions in the category, with actionable recommendations you can implement today.

Download Here

Morning Must-Reads

Image Credits: Andrii Yalanskyi / Getty Images

⏳ Sandbagging AI safety checks: Anthropic's Alignment Science team has a new report in which they find that AI advancements may lead to new models that can mislead their users, or subvert the systems put in place to oversee them. Oh, goody. Read More

💸 Investors pour more money into AI: Perplexity is reportedly looking to raise around $500 million at an $8 billion valuation. That would more than double the SoftBank-backed startup's previous valuation. Read More

🧑‍⚖️ DJI does not identify as Chinese: DJI has sued the U.S. Department of Defense after the agency put the drone-maker on a list of "Chinese military companies." DJI said it tried to engage with the DoD for more than 16 months, but to no avail. Read More

🇮🇳 Groww at home: Indian stock trading and mutual fund startup Groww had to pay $160 million in taxes when it shifted its HQ from the U.S. back to India. Groww is one of nearly a dozen Indian startups coming home to take advantage of the hot IPO market. Read More

🐴 Pony AI wants to list in the U.S.: The Chinese robotaxi firm has officially begun the process to list in the U.S., so we trawled through its filing and pulled several insights. There's 60 pages of risk factors, but hey, at least it's not another SPAC. Read More

Around the Web

🥊 Microsoft vs. Salesforce: Microsoft is releasing 10 new AI agents that can complete tasks autonomously across areas of sales, service, finance, and supply chain operations, reports GeekWire. This comes ahead of Salesforce's launch of its own AI agent for such tasks. Read More

🇺🇸 Harris tries to woo the tech sector: Many in the U.S. tech sector came away feeling burned by President Joe Biden, so VP Kamala Harris is pulling out all the stops to win them back, reports The Washington Post. Read More

😱 Crypto nightmare: Wired has a story about how things went south fast for the owners of small industrial facilities in Kentucky who decided to partner with Chinese companies to mine crypto. What started as a dream turned into the stuff of nightmares. Read More

Before You Go

Image Credits: OpenAI

💰 OpenAI creds have weight: Former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati is reportedly raising capital for a new AI startup that will build products based on proprietary models. The startup is expected to raise more than $100 million for the round. Read More