Goodbye, GPT-4

Plus: OpenAI dominates mobile

View this email online in your browser By Rebecca Szkutak Friday, April 11, 2025 Welcome to TC PM! Today we dive into a model changeup at OpenAI's ChatGPT; we learn how Elon Musk likes his private jet-flying experience; and ex-OpenAI employees file an amicus brief. Have a great weekend! TechCrunch Top 3 Image Credits: Silas Stein / picture alliance / Getty Images 👋 Moving on: OpenAI will soon retire its GPT-4 model from ChatGPT. The model was released in March 2023 and will still be available through OpenAI's API. GPT-4 will be "fully replaced" with GPT-4o on April 30. Enjoy your retirement, GPT-4! 💅 This diva: Elon Musk likes his private jet-flying experiences a certain way, according to documents made public in a security breach of NetJet, a private jet company. For one, Musk isn't concerned about conserving fuel and wants to arrive everywhere as quickly as possible.  👀 Mobile AI: OpenAI's ChatGPT app became the most downloaded app in the world in March — if you don't include games. This is notable because that spot is usually taken by popular social media companies like TikTok and Instagram.    A Message from Persona As your company grows, so do your fraud risks. Company growth attracts fraudsters, who often strike after launches, promos, or funding announcements — basically when you're most distracted. Protect your business with identity checks that adjust friction in real time based on risk so you can onboard good users faster while keeping bad actors out. Learn More   Afternoon must-reads Image Credits: Parallel Systems 🚊 It's electric! Freight is a much more energy-efficient way to move cargo but goods in the U.S. are predominantly transported by trucks — especially over short distances. Parallel Systems wants to change that with its autonomous, battery-powered rail technology.  😬 Not everyone is happy: Elon Musk isn't the only person unhappy about OpenAI's plans to convert to a for-profit entity. A group of ex-OpenAI employees filed an amicus brief today that shows support for Musk's lawsuit.  🦙 Llamas, tariffs, and secret EVs: Today's episode of Equity dives into Meta's new AI models that were released last weekend — to little fanfare. The hosts also dive into the secretive EV startup Jeff Bezos backed, the tariff turbulence, and more.  🕵 Data drama: Ireland's data regulator, the Data Protection Commission, opened an investigation into whether Elon Musk's X used data collected from European users to train xAI's Grok. Remember, xAI just acquired X last month.  🇨🇦 EV layoffs: General Motors laid off 500 workers at one of its factories in Canada. These workers were involved with GM's electric BrightDrop vans. GM said the layoffs were caused by weak demand for that vehicle and were not related to the ongoing tariff skirmishes.   Around the web 🤐 Silence is deafening: Some of tech's biggest CEOs, like Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook, and Sundar Pichai, have been very quiet this past week as tariffs slammed tech company stocks. Wired reports that their silence was likely strategic.  🥊 The girls are fighting: There is drama brewing in Brazil over whether ride-hailing services can be used to call motorcycles. While a popular option in most Brazilian cities, it is banned in São Paulo. Companies like Uber and 99 are both fighting the decision — and defying it.  Featured jobs from CrunchBoard Head of Strategic Finance, GITAI USA (Torrance, CA) Senior Software Engineer, Source (Remote) Engineering & Support Senior Director, AAOS (Rosemont, IL) Research Systems Engineer - Computing Services, Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA) Machine Control Technician, Sinacola (Dallas, TX) See more jobs on CrunchBoard Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $349 per month.   Check out some of our other newsletters: Startups Weekly TechCrunch Events TechCrunch Mobility Got a tip? Get in touch securely. Want to advertise on TechCrunch? advertise@techcrunch.com Has this been forwarded to you? Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. Update your preferences here at any time Copyright © 2024 TechCrunch, All rights reserved.Yahoo Inc. 680 Folsom Street,San Francisco,CA Privacy Policy

How turning away customers helped Chef Robotics thrive

Also: Lucid Motors to buy Nikola's assets out of bankruptcy

View this email online in your browser By Rebecca Bellan Friday, April 11, 2025 Welcome to TechCrunch AM! This morning, we've got one more entry in the founder-to-fraud pipeline; a startup that risked everything to survive; and a twist in the Nikola bankruptcy case. We've also got an AI startup raising $2 billion; a company that helps women freeze their eggs for free; Stripe's customer feedback strategy, Bluesky updates, and more. Let's go!  TechCrunch Top 3 Image Credits: Andrew Harrer / Bloomberg / Getty Images 1. Mechanical Fintech: Albert Saniger, the founder of AI shopping app Nate that promised a "universal" checkout experience, has been charged with defrauding investors after the app was found to be powered by hundreds of human contractors in the Philippines. Read More 2. Get comfortable with discomfort: Chef Robotics was poised to be interred in the graveyard of failed food tech companies. But today, it's thriving and just raised $23 million. Founder Rajat Bhageria says he saved the company by risking millions of dollars in revenue and turning away signed customers. Read More 3. What a twist! EV startup Lucid Motors has come out as a surprise winner in the bankruptcy auction of Nikola's Arizona factory and other assets. Lucid committed around $30 million for the buy, and plans to make offers to around 300 former Nikola employees. Read More Morning Must-Reads Image Credits: NurPhoto / Getty Images 🤳 Let them eat ads: Social photo-sharing app BeReal will start rolling out ads, starting in the U.S., the land of advertising. As BeReal sniffs out potential brands, the company says it has about 40 million monthly active users, including 5 million in the U.S. Read More 🤑 The hype is neverending: Mira Murati's AI startup Thinking Machines Lab is reportedly aiming to raise a $2 billion seed round at a valuation of "at least" $10 billion. Nobody really knows what the company does, but it's got dozens of high-profile AI researchers in its ranks. Read More 🌲Throwing money at problems: Microsoft is buying 3.7 million metric tons of carbon removal credits from a pulp and paper mill project developer. Microsoft aims to be fully carbon-negative by 2030. Read More 📞 Stay humble: Stripe's CEO and co-founder Patrick Collison says he invites customers to join management team meetings every other week to gather "candid feedback." It's an interesting strategy, especially as the company grows at an impressive pace. Read More 🥚 The cheapest eggs in town: Cofertility has raised a $7.25 million Series A to offer women egg freezing services at no cost, in exchange for donating half the retrieved eggs to those unable to conceive. It's a boon at a time when the procedure costs up to $15,000. Read More Around the Web 🇺🇸 Made in the USA: 404Media has an interesting look at what it takes to manufacture high-tech devices in the U.S. Purism makes a smartphone, the Liberty Phone, in the U.S. and its founder goes into a good amount of detail on the entire process. Read More 👂A new lease on life: The Verge has a story about how an unused nuclear plant in Washington got repurposed into an advanced acoustics testing facility for NWAA Labs. The company makes its bread by helping other businesses verify how much sound their products make or how well their products dampen sound. Read More 😬 Cutting corners: OpenAI has slashed the time and resources it spends testing the safety of its AI models, reports The Financial Times. Staff and third-party groups get just days to conduct "evaluations" rather than weeks, leading to less thorough tests. Read More Before You Go Image Credits: NurPhoto / Getty Images 👍 Finally! I've been waiting for Bluesky to add chat reactions in its DMs feature, and the day has come at last. Bluesky is also revamping its search page, calling it "Explore" to direct users to trends, suggested accounts, Starter Packs, and more. Still no edit button, though. Read More Featured jobs from CrunchBoard Head of Strategic Finance, GITAI USA (Torrance, CA) Senior Software Engineer, Source (Remote) Engineering & Support Senior Director, AAOS (Rosemont, IL) Research Systems Engineer - Computing Services, Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA) Machine Control Technician, Sinacola (Dallas, TX) See more jobs on CrunchBoard Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $349 per month.   Check out some of our other newsletters: Startups Weekly TechCrunch AI TechCrunch Mobility Got a tip? Get in touch securely. Want to advertise on TechCrunch? advertise@techcrunch.com Has this been forwarded to you? Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. Update your preferences here at any time Copyright © 2024 TechCrunch, All rights reserved.Yahoo Inc. 680 Folsom Street,San Francisco,CA Privacy Policy