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I've been drowning in AI news this week. His I/O at Google set the pace: In the keynote, the word “AI” came up once every minute throughout the two-hour keynote. Yausers! Here's the DL about Google's AI plans:
OpenAI has dropped GPT-4o, an AI model that powers ChatGPT. This new “omni” wonderchild can handle text, audio, and video like a multitasking genius sprung to his shot of espresso. His boyfriend Ilya Sutskever, co-founder and principal scientist at OpenAI, also decided to jump on board. The man who fundamentally helped build the brains of future AI champions is now chasing a rainbow that is “personally meaningful.”
Meanwhile, OpenAI is currently considering AI-generated pornography. Yes, you read that correctly. It looks like our future involves robots with an artistic flair for NSFW content. The company wants to produce explicit images and text “responsibly” without violating any laws or rights. On a side note, Skynet's involvement in adult entertainment seems in no way responsible, but we'll have to keep an eye out for more updates on this roller coaster situation. Dew. Because it looks like we're moving faster and faster toward a technological dystopia for X. Rather than say “Algorotica.”
Oh, and it's also worth noting that Anthropic allows kids to join AI parties, but only if developers follow the company's rules. Teens can opt-in to third-party apps that use Anthropic's AI, provided they have safety features like age verification and content filtering, and have “COPPA Compliant” signs posted on all surfaces. Yes (but not Anthropic's own apps).
Did anything happen outside of AI Land? Of course, let's take a look…
This week's most interesting startup stories
Are you ready to entrust your love life to a robot? Bumble's Whitney Wolfe Herd says the time has come for bots to date other bots in the name of fostering “healthy and fair relationships.” thinking. Imagine this. An AI “dating concierge” critiques your insecurities and sends your own bot for a test run against another bot. If sparks fly, there might be a match! It's basically the Tinder meets “Black Mirror” episode “Hang the DJ” minus the dystopian charm. While some scoff, others wonder if living vicariously through a digital avatar is worse than swiping right on someone because they have a cute dog in their profile picture. A true modern romance.
Ringling, who is that? Creaky bones: Are you ready to feel ancient? Oura's new smart ring feature promises to tell you how old your heart really is with cardiovascular age indicators. It's like a magic mirror, but for arteries. From cradle to cradle: Weary parents and environmental warriors, gather! Alola Baby is here to save you from the endless parade of baby products stuffed into landfills. This startup decided that your little angel's leftover crib shouldn't have a one-way ticket to Trashville. Instead, they are pioneering “remanufactured” products that are as good as new (or so they claim). Domo Arigato: Kyle Vogt, who along with Cruise gave us self-driving cars that can sometimes forget pedestrians, is back with a new venture: letting robots do the housework. Vogt's latest brainchild, Bot Company, has already earned him $150 million in funding. Let's hope these bots have better spatial awareness than his last project.
The man is wearing an Oura ring.Image credit: Oura
This week's most interesting fundraisers
Have you ever lost a bet and ended up starting a company? Nicholas Johnson did, and now he's here to save apartment-dwelling EV owners from the slow death of 120-volt outlets. is. Enter Orange Charger, who hawks his $750 smart outlet that enriches rides without homeowners having to break a sweat over installation costs.The company has raised $6.5 million in an oversubscribed seed round.
In a plot twist reminiscent of a Silicon Valley soap opera, Permira is taking Squarespace private in a $6.9 billion cash deal. A website builder that you probably used to start a now-abandoned blog is now being used by some very serious people with very deep pockets. After a roller coaster ride of public trading that saw stock yo-yos look like they were auditioning for Cirque du Soleil, Squarespace is once again away from the prying eyes of the market.
layer? I don't understand much. Well!: QuickBooks, meet your new nemesis, Layer. The San Francisco-based startup has cashed in on his $2.3 million bid to unseat accounting giants by building bookkeeping tools directly into platforms like Square and Toast. Spicy Name: In a world where Sysco and US Foods reign supreme, Pepper is the brave underdog shaking up his B2B food e-commerce scene. With his new $30 million cash infusion led by ICONIQ Growth, Pepper is giving small distributors some serious technical muscle to fight back against the big players. Would you like to be my neighbor?: Welcome to the world of PayHOA, where Kentucky charm meets SaaS brilliance. The startup, which he once founded, raised $27.5 million in Series A funding. These days, it seems like even his local HOA needs some cloud-based financial wizardry.
Image credit: Bloomberg / Contributor / Getty Images
Other must-see TechCrunch articles…
In the latest episode of “Elon Musk Can Do Whatever He Wants,” the social media platform formerly known as Twitter is now flagging the words “cis” and “cisgender” as slurs. Yes, it is. Actual hate speech targeting marginalized groups can get away unscathed, but using terminology approved by medical and government authorities will result in a full-screen warning. It's as if Elon is trying to make X a hostile environment for those who don't align with his new extremist fan base. Never mind that the majority of people on the platform are cisgender. If you use this word (or just enjoy basic human decency), consider this your cue to step off stage left.
Oh, I guess Musk is doing whatever he wants… What do you think happens when you put Elon Musk and a profitable division in the same room? Firing, of course! Tesla's Supercharger network – an EV owner's dream with more than 50,000 charging ports around the world – is now in complete disarray after Musk fired his entire team.
Are You Going My Way?: Uber's Latest Brains to Solve Concert Traffic Nightmares, Shuttle Buses. Inspired by its success in India and Egypt, Uber will launch shuttle service in U.S. cities this summer for concerts, sporting events, and airport travel. Because everyone loves being stuffed like sardines with strangers. Crushing disappointment: Everyone, brace yourself. Because Apple's latest attempt at marketing the new iPad Pro is a masterclass in how to alienate its creative fanbase. They thought it would be really cool to show the iPad destroying traditional art supplies into oblivion in their “Crush” ad. Spoiler: It wasn't. Join us tonight?: Have you ever wondered how to manage large numbers of front-line employees without losing your sanity? Sona invests $27.5 million to help us take over Netflix in one fell swoop The superhero workforce management platform that revolutionized shift schedules and timesheets for everyone who keeps society running while you watch. Zeekr and you'll notice: Zeekr, the Chinese luxury EV brand owned by Geely, has made a grand entrance onto the New York Stock Exchange, becoming the first major U.S. listing from China since 2021. Investors went wild, and Zeekr's stock price soared by 38%. Appraised in minutes, its value reaches a whopping $7 billion. A lightweight solution to a heavy problem: In a world where everyone is either on a fad diet or taking miracle weight loss pills, Sammy Fakery decided to do something that would actually help. did. It's about creating a startup that helps registered dietitians start their own activities and earn their nutritionist qualifications. insurance.
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