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Elon Musk has persuaded Tesla shareholders to approve a $56 billion compensation package that would make him the highest-paid CEO in history, if he can avoid a Delaware judge's disapproval. Where better to stage this circus than Texas, home of everything giant, including egos? Shareholders at Tesla's Texas Gigafactory applauded as the vote results were announced. Meanwhile, Musk has steered his company beyond a clown with a chainsaw and is facing two new lawsuits (getting sued once a week is what wimps do). Oh, forget the fancy ESG initiatives; they were dismissed faster than you can say “corporate responsibility.” Who needs sustainability when Elon is dancing on stage with 0.7 times Twitter's worth of cash in his suitcase?
This week's most interesting startup stories
Henrik Fisker's knack for designing cars seems to be matched by his talent for driving companies into bankruptcy. Despite aiming to be the Apple of EVs (Magna takes on Foxconn), the highly-touted Ocean SUV sank faster than the Titanic due to a plethora of software glitches, recalls and defective product lawsuits. Now filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware, Fisker has gone from dreams of revolutionizing the automotive industry to simply trying to avoid saddled with $500 million in debt. This is the second time Fisker has driven a company of the same name into bankruptcy. Can he make it to the third? Stay tuned.
Ah, this was expected. Ever feel like subscription services are plotting against you? Adobe was just indicted by the Department of Justice for making it easier to escape Alcatraz than to cancel your subscription. YouTube is at it again, this time taking the anti-adblocker movement to new heights with server-side ad insertion, so those pesky ads appear before the video even appears on your device. Oh, and we've compiled this story in a TechCrunch Minute series, if you prefer watching to reading. Round and round: Loop, an insurance startup with a noble mission to disrupt biased pricing models, appears to be hitting a major funding wall. After 20 months of trying (and failing) to raise money, co-founder John Henry had the unenviable task of announcing layoffs on Instagram.
Adobe: They build amazing AI products, but their service is nearly impossible to unsubscribe from. Image credit: Adobe
Trending this week: Focus on AI
Apple has finally entered the AI icon circus, joining companies like Google and OpenAI desperately trying to represent AI in a meaningful logo. Spoiler alert: they're just as clueless as the rest of them. Apple's new “intelligence” visual is basically a psychedelic circle, or maybe a distorted infinity symbol? It's actually the new Siri. Or maybe it's when the edges of your phone light up like an alien spaceship has landed. The real lesson here? No one knows what AI should look like, but let's call it innovation with some friendly pastel colors.
Meanwhile, AI genius Ilya Sutskever decided last month that OpenAI just wasn't exciting enough for him, and along with a few other ex-OpenAI buddies, he started his own party called Safe Superintelligence Inc. (SSI). After his dramatic departure from OpenAI (presumably to avoid a Skynet takeover), Sutskever is now focused on making sure that super-smart AI doesn't become our masters anytime soon. SSI's mission? To balance amazing AI advances with safety measures to make sure we don't end up starring in our own “Black Mirror” episode.
It certainly looks AI-like. Image credit: Apple
Most interesting fundraising this week
Meet the dynamic duo who avoided the quarter-life crisis and quickly became millionaires. Edward Tian and Alex Cui, founders of GPTZero, are proof that a high school friendship can lead to a multi-million dollar venture. In just a year and a half, they turned their AI detection startup into a money-making machine that eclipses your favorite viral app. With $10 million fresh in funding from eager VCs who can't wait for official funding, the duo is building an internet that tells you whether your essay was written by you or your cousin Cheech, who is high and speechless on ChatGPT.
Tenderfood's plant-based shredded “pork” products. Image courtesy of Tenderfood
More TechCrunch articles you shouldn't miss…
Every week we want to share with you a story that doesn't fit into the categories above. We'd be sorry if you missed it, so here are some great stories chosen at random.
So what happened to Fisker?: Once again, Fisker proved that small engines don't cut it. Despite outsourcing manufacturing to auto giant Magna and aiming for a quick launch, the EV startup ignored one glaring problem: it wasn't ready to become an actual car company. Tough times for Apple developers: Get ready to toast to your favorite third-party apps, because iOS 18 is on the way and it's disruptive. Apple's infamous “Sherlock” habit of stealing ideas from third-party developers and putting them in the OS could impact app revenue by nearly $400 million. Vitamin Minus: Apparently, personalized vitamin subscription company Care/of is officially going out of business. The company announced that it would end all subscriptions by June 17. Despite $46 million in backing from investors and a massive acquisition by Bayer in 2020 worth $225 million, it couldn't stay in business. That's not how privacy works. EU lawmakers are once again displaying their cybersecurity ignorance by trying to pass the legislative equivalent of juggling sabre-toothed tigers blindfolded. Signal president and common sense person Meredith Whittaker blasted the EU's latest plan to scan private messages for CSAM as a surefire way to undermine web security.
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