Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Welcome to TechCrunch AM! This morning, we're delving yet again into DeepSeek and the industry's reaction to the Chinese AI firm. We also have notes on: Tesla's Q4 results today, a fast-growing African fintech, plans for humanoid robot safety, hyperlocal weather forecasts, a newly profitable e-scooter company, and more. Let's get to it! — Rebecca

TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg / Getty Images

1. Fame is a burden: Italy's Data Protection Authority has requested information from Chinese AI company DeepSeek on how it handles personal data in relation to GDPR. Just a few hours later, DeepSeek's app was no longer available on app stores in Italy. Read More

2. Tesla will report Q4 results today, and all eyes and ears will be on what CEO Elon Musk has to say about Trump's decision to halt funding for EVs and charging infrastructure, his robotaxi dreams, and the possibility of a dip in profits due to lower sales. Read More

3. Moove on the move: Uber-backed Moove, an African mobility fintech that offers financing to gig drivers, has acquired Brazilian mobility provider Kovi. The two companies didn't disclose the value of the all-share deal, but we've learned that it bumps Moove's annual revenue to $275 million, up from $115 million. Read More

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Morning must-reads

Image Credits: GREG BAKER/AFP / Getty Images

💸 The hype is real: The alarming popularity of Chinese AI lab DeepSeek has sent shares of some public companies in China soaring. There's no evidence that these companies ever worked with DeepSeek to begin with, but hey, you don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Read More

🤔 Meanwhile in the U.S, Microsoft is probing whether DeepSeek used OpenAI's API to train its own, and a new report from Bay Area startup PromptFoo has found that DeepSeek's R1 reasoning model refused to answer 85% of sensitive "prompts," instead offering answers with an "over-the-top nationalistic tone." Read More

🤖 Getting ahead of the problem: Robotics startup Figure is setting up a Center for the Advancement of Humanoid Safety to formalize a plan to ensure safety as robots enter factories to work alongside humans. This could pave the way for the safe introduction of humanoid robots into people's homes one day. Read More

🤖 Humanoid robot safety: Robotics startup Figure is setting up a division called Center for the Advancement of Humanoid Safety to formalize a plan and ensure safety as robots enter factories to work alongside humans. This could set the stage for the safe introduction of humanoid bots into homes one day. Read More

📖 Growing beyond ledgers: French startup Formance has raised $21 million in a round co-led by PayPal Ventures and Portage to advance its tech beyond an open-source, programmable financial ledger into a more ambitious infrastructure play. Read More

⛈️ Here's Tom with the weather: Meteomatics offers precise weather predictions for areas as small as 1 square kilometer, but it's not selling to the TV and news industry. Instead, Meteomatics serves enterprises, and the European startup is gearing up for to expand in the U.S. Read More

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Around the web

📱 What's hot on mobile: Sensor Tower has come out with its 2025 State of Mobile report, and it's full of interesting takeaways. AI is everywhere; consumer spending outside of games is soaring; and some of the fastest growing categories are those that connect users across devices to in-person experiences. Read More

🦅 Bureaucrat in Chief: The New York Times tells the story of Elon Musk's time in government so far as he races to cut federal headcount and find ways to turn off the flow of money to things Trump wants defunded. Apparently, his plane hasn't left DC since January 20. Read More

Before you go

🛴 E-scooters are still a thing: The hype days are over, which means the scooter companies that remain are likely here for the long haul. At least, if they can reach profitability. Swedish startup Voi has reported its first modestly profitable year as it explores an IPO in the coming years. Read More