Thursday, February 20, 2025

Welcome to TechCrunch AM! This morning, we're looking at Mark Zuckerberg's continued commitment to dismantling DEI, the big money in AI recruiting, and the bias in TikTok and X's recommendation algorithms. We've also got moves in the world of fintech, Uber's subscription offering for Indian rickshaw drivers, an oversubscribed fund for women-related tech, the danger of Google's ad tech, and more. Let's go! — Rebecca

TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: Anita Bugge / Contributor / Getty Images

1. Whiplash: Weeks after assuring staff his charity would continue to support diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, Mark Zuckerberg is backtracking. An email from the COO of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative said the changes would help it "align with [its] focus as a science philanthropy." Read More

2. Replacing HR is hot right now: Mercor, the AI recruiting startup founded by three 21-year-old Thiel Fellows, has raised a $100 million round at a $2 billion valuation. That's eight times its previous valuation, and speaks to the investor appetite for tech that streamlines hiring. Read More

3. Algorithmically primed bias: Researchers in Germany say recommendation algorithms operated by TikTok and X show a substantial far-right political bias ahead of an election in the country. Not surprising, given Elon Musk's support of AfD's messaging. Read More

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Morning must-reads

Image Credits: Varo Bank

💰 Shaking things up: Fintech Varo has closed on $29 million in funding, bringing its total raised well over $1 billion. It's not a small amount of money, but not as much as Varo had been hoping to raise. Read More

🐞 Sticking together: Swizzle Ventures closed Fund I at $6.6 million, well bypassing its original target of $3 million. The fund will target women's health and wealth startups. Remember, folks, focusing on women is not "DEI" — we're half the population with half the spending power. Read More

🛺 A smaller cut: Uber is moving away from its commission-based model for three-wheel autorickshaw drivers in India and instead embracing a daily rate structure. That's the model Uber's local rivals Rapido and Namma Yatri use, and puts the power to set fares back into the drivers' hands. Read More

🧑‍💻 Valuation inflation: Codeium, an AI-powered coding startup, is raising a new round at a $2.85 billion valuation. That's about 70 times Codeium's ARR, which puts the startup's generous valuation ahead of competitors like Anysphere, which investors say is the leader in this space. Read More

🧫 Does it check for bird flu? Spore.Bio has secured a $23 million Series A round after seeing real customer interest for its microbiology testing product. The Paris-based startup is targeting the food and beverage industry by speeding up contamination testing. Perfect timing! Read More

🏭 Pocket-sized reactors: Valar Atomics is the latest small modular nuclear reactor company to hit the market. The startup came out of stealth with a whopping $19 million in seed funding to develop its first test reactor, and aims to build the nuclear plant equivalent of a gigafactory. Read More

Around the web

☁️ God Mode: A story from The Atlantic explores how Elon Musk's DOGE has achieved "God Mode," per an employee at USAID who said the team now has full, unrestricted access to the agency's digital infrastructure, including control over systems that Americans working in conflict zones rely on. Read More

😑 No rules for ads: A Wired investigation reveals that Google's advertising tech ecosystem serves up sensitive information on Americans that the world's largest brands are using. Data like who national security decision makers are and people who suffer from chronic illnesses. Read More

🔬 Not shady at all: As a grand jury investigates criminal misconduct at Synapse after the fintech's collapse, they have called to the stand an executive who sounded the alarm before its fall. Their goal is to learn more about $3 million of customer funds that's been reported as missing, reports The Wall Street Journal. Read More

Before you go

🤳 Not For You: Patreon's State of Create report explores how algorithmic feeds on TikTok and Instagram are making it more difficult for creators to reach their audiences because of the deluge of content those audiences might like. Even Kylie Jenner is having trouble! Read More