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Hello, startup geeks! I spent most of this week in San Jose wandering around his world of AI startups and tech giants at GTC. There are tons of fun stories from that, so stay tuned for all of them. In the meantime… take a look at the exciting good happenings in TechCrunch startup coverage from the past week!
This week's most interesting startup stories
Let’s talk about the microbiome… Image credit: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg via Getty Images
In a dramatic development, Microsoft has effectively absorbed Inflection, a once-promising AI startup that raised a staggering $1.3 billion in funding just nine months ago. The acquisition will see Inflection co-founder Mustafa Suleyman, his Karén Simonyan, and the majority of the team transition to Microsoft to spearhead the newly created Microsoft AI division. The move leaves Inflection in a precarious position as it attempts to salvage what remains of its co-founders' ambitious project under the leadership of Reid Hoffman and new CEO Shaun White. . Microsoft's role in this story is an eyebrow-raising one. Microsoft is positioning itself as both a savior and an opportunist, capitalizing on struggling investments to solidify its dominance in AI.
Meanwhile, in the land of biotech, the field's newest attraction, the microbiome, is being hailed as the frontier of personalized health solutions, with potential to tackle everything from digestive issues to skin conditions. is promised. But a recent report in Science magazine casts a shadow over the burgeoning industry, suggesting that many microbiome companies may be operating with enthusiasm rather than scientific rigor. I am. These startups are riding the wave of affordable genome sequencing and venture capital, offering services that profile the unique microbial communities within our bodies to identify health problems and solutions. But the report raises concerns about the lack of meaningful regulation and scientific consensus in this complex field, likening some practices to modern-day snake oil salesmanship. Despite the criticism, companies such as Parallel Health, Tiny Health, and Daye have defended their approaches and emphasized their commitment to achieving scientific validity.
Investors are hungry for AI. Astera Labs' IPO saw its stock price rise 72% on its first day, demonstrating strong investor demand for AI-powered technology. Apple Adds AI to Shopping Cart: The tech giant known for its sophisticated devices and tight-lipped announcements has quietly acquired DarwinAI, a Canadian startup aiming to make vision-driven manufacturing smarter. We have added a new jewel to our crown. AI technology. Trade up: TipTop is expanding its ecosystem. The startup's founder, Bastian Lehmann, who previously founded Postmates, said the company's new platform provides a seamless experience for purchasing new, opened, and refurbished devices through cash or trade-in.
This week's most interesting fundraisers
Sneak into the medical facility through the side door.Image credit: Getty Images
Telegram, the messaging app giant with a user base of over 900 million people, has raised a whopping $330 million through a bond sale, as announced by founder and CEO Pavel Durov. The company has just secured financial support and strengthened its financial strength. The bond was a huge hit, raising more cash than it could afford, with Durov boasting that he had secured “the highest level of global funding” on Telegram's sweetest terms ever. Durov declined to say exactly who put money into the ring, but it was clear that these investors were betting big on Telegram's growth trajectory. The company aims to be profitable next year and last raised the equivalent of $220 million through bonds about a year ago.
Want to add it to the healthcare side?: Insurtech has had some false starts, but new heroes have emerged. It is “embedded insurance”. This genius idea of sneaking insurance into his shopping cart, like the extra socks you didn't know you needed, brought about a much-needed revolution in the industry. Embedded medicine is also emerging, with The CareVoice leading the way from Shanghai, where he raised $10 million in Series B funding as venture capital starved. . I see a red door, so I want to paint it green. In a grand corporate effort to dye everything green, from their logos to their carbon footprints, major companies have been flaunting their net-zero emissions goals like the latest fashion trend. But what about the little guys? Enter Greenlee, a knight of Paris in shining armor equipped with carbon accounting software that can make sense of carbon chaos without the need for an army of analysts. The PC is over — long live the browser: Browser Company, developer of the Arc browser, rides the wave of a new $50 million investment led by Pace Capital, valuing the startup at $550 million. It's in dollars. With a total of $128 million in funding, the organization is on a mission to redefine digital life, starting with the browser.
This week's trend: The higher it goes, the harder it falls.
Fisker has been doing well, but has now suspended production.Image credit: Fisker
It was a week of good and bad. While some startups are dying, others are rising from the ashes, and others are refilling the void left by their fallen peers. Everything is so dramatic.
One example of this drama is between Google and the EU. The search giant is once again in a quagmire with France's Court of Justice over its misuse of content from news publishers to train its AI model Bard/Gemini. The law fined the tech giant 250 million euros (about $270 million) for misusing news publishers' content. without proper notice. The fine is part of a long-running feud over copyright protection, with Google previously seeking to circumvent EU digital rights reforms by restricting access to its news services in France. Autorité's investigation found that not only did Google not notify publishers that their content would be used for AI training, but it also did not affect publishers' visibility in Google's other services until late September 2023. It also became clear that there was no mechanism for opting out. A plan to defeat the copyright police.
They rise from the ashes: As Mint bids farewell to the world of finance apps, Copilot celebrates and heralds the end of Mint as a victory for its finance apps. With over 100,000 subscribers, Copilot believes that managing your personal finances isn't about nagging notifications of “big purchases” (looking at you, Mint), it's about knowing where your money is going. We're on a mission to prove that it's more important to actually understand what's going on.
Other must-see TechCrunch articles…
Every week, we have a few stories that just don't fit into the categories above, but we'd like to share with you. It would be a shame if you missed it, so I'd like to introduce you to a bag containing random goods.
Buy your stock for $0: SpaceX has devised a cunning plan to keep employees in check with eyebrow-raising stock award terms. After you leave the company, SpaceX can buy back your hard-earned stock at a bargain price, or worse, cash it out completely if it deems you to have been mischievous. Imagine what would happen if you found out that it would be banned. Pull up your pants: Gumroad, once an e-commerce haven for creators of all genres, decides to tighten regulations on NSFW content, leaving creators of more risqué content to compete for their digital lives. became. Who is the culprit behind this sudden cleanliness? Payment processors like Stripe and PayPal are constantly being monitored. Now let's talk about artificial general intelligence. When sensational news outlets ask for a deadline, they often tempt AI experts to set a deadline for the end of humanity, or at least the status quo. Needless to say, the AI CEO hasn't always been enthusiastic about the subject, but his fans at Nvidia and his CEO Jensen shared some thoughts this week. Robospam is taking on a new dimension. OpenAI's GPT store market, buzzing with custom chatbots designed to tackle a myriad of tasks, appears to be turning into the AI West, where moderation takes a backseat and copyright lines blur. Walk like this and talk like this. Pilot season has officially begun in the world of humanoid robotics. Last year, Amazon began testing Agility's Digit robots at some fulfillment centers, and in January, Figure announced a deal with BMW. Apptronik is currently working on that effort, courtesy of a partnership with Mercedes-Benz.
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