Kirsten Kolosek, Devin Caldway, and Margaux McCall veto Governor Newsom's SB 1047, a controversial AI bill aimed at stopping real-world disasters caused by AI systems before they occur. We're kicking things off with a kick-start, unraveling another busy week in tech. However, this may not be the last of this bill, as its authors plan to return next year with an improved version of SB 1047.
What else happened this week? Kirsten gave us a look at the sky with Joby Aviation's $500 million investment from Toyota. Toyota seems to believe its flying taxi dream is worth betting on, but stock managers are skeptical. Margaux maintained that aviation startup Saliant Motion is on track despite Palmer Lucky's attempts to shut it down. The startup is still active, but the founding team has taken a significant hit. If Anduril's founder's goal was to destroy friendships, that's a good job.
On the AI front, Devin is looking forward to discussing Poolside's big round as well as the latest drama surrounding Y Combinator-backed PearAI and why it's making waves in the open source community. I did. Speaking of community, Paris-based Motier Ventures has given its team a sense of optimism about the French tech scene with the announcement of its new startup hub La Maison.
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Equity is TechCrunch's flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo and posted every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, and all casts. You can also follow Equity. × and threads (@EquityPod). For full episode transcripts, if you prefer reading to listening, check out the full episode archive on Simplecast.