News Headline: Can AI teach us new languages?

Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Did you ever wish for more new AI models? Well, Google doesn't care if you did or not, because it recently released two (2) new models.

Today, we're also talking about a big edtech funding round, a startup called Qloo that wants to give you a clue, and a wearable designed to help tackle period pain. Heck, we even have cybersecurity lessons from the LockBit takedown. Let's get into it!

– Alex

TechCrunch Top 3

Byju's finds $200M: Indian edtech giant Byju's is currently scrapping with its existing investors over a $200 million round raised at a post-money valuation of $220 million to $225 million. For a company previously valued at $22 billion, the new capital is likely welcome, even though it comes at a pretty low price given its incredibly low price. Governance issues, debt and other matters have derailed the former high-flying unicorn's former ascent. And the fact that its founder Byju Raveendran claims to have found the capital sets the stage for the next internal argument at the company.
6 lessons from LockBit: The international operation to take down LockBit was more than a win for cybersecurity. TechCrunch's cybersecurity desk writes that apart from disrupting LockBit's operations, the effort taught us several lessons, including that the group did not delete data even after it successfully extorted someone, and that they had hacked more than 2,000 organizations.
AI regulation in the United States takes measured pace: While some governments around the world are moving quickly to regulate AI, the lower house of Congress in the United States has decided to put together an AI task force. That indicates little is going to get done, given that this is an election year and a period in which few new laws have passed the nation's legislative branch. The U.S. is likely going to have lightest-touch AI rules in the world for the foreseeable future, which may be good for having space to invent, but it will frustrate those outside – and within – the tech sector who believe that some regulation is needed.

Image Credits: Kabir Jhangiani / NurPhoto / Getty Images

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TechCrunch Early Stage 2024 Audience Choice winner is: Dana Louie, Hubspot's senior manager of corporate development, who will talk about M&A exits for startups at our upcoming event. I'll see you there!

New Google AI models: Days after dropping new AI models, Google is back with more. This time, it's offering Gemma, a new family of lightweight open-weight models. The new Gemma 2B and 7B models are open for commercial and academic use. If you feel unable to catch up with all this AI progress, don't worry, I'm having issues keeping it all straight, too. Still, it's super cool to see so much happening in AI so quickly.

Loora wants AI to teach us new languages: The market for learning new languages is massive, and its TAM will grow as long as there are people in the world. Loora wants to tap that market using AI to help power its learning service. Use of AI for helping people learn languages is not new, and could make more individualized instruction more affordable than actual human instructors. The startup recently closed a $12 million round.

Amazon targets Indian fast-fashion market: The market for fashionable, low-cost clothing is so large that Amazon is wading into the Indian market for such goods, going up against "Flipkart, owned by Walmart, Reliance's Ajio and SoftBank-backed upstart Meesho," TechCrunch reports. Amazon intends to launch a new store called Bazaar that will feature goods that do not cost more than 600 Indian rupees, or about $7.20.

How Zola is rethinking the wedding market: On a recent episode of TechCrunch's founder-focused podcast Found, Rebecca Szkutak and Dominic-Madori Davis spoke with Shan-Lyn Ma, the co-founder and CEO of wedding planning platform Zola, on how she built her business and how it handled the pandemic. Weddings, after all, are an in-person affair, so how Zola managed to stay afloat when its customer base was staying home makes for a fascinating listen.

Samphire Neuroscience is taking on period pain: Chronic period pain is a common issue that many women face, and if over the counter painkillers don't work, many women are stuck suffering a dozen times each year. Samphire wants to shake up period care with a "wearable that applies a non-invasive, low electrical current type of brain stimulation." It works by targeting brain regions that are associated with pain perception and mood regulation, effectively blocking pain and more.

Qloo wants to pick your next show: Qloo's name should give you a clue about what it is working on: "identifying the counterintuitive correlations humans miss" in entertainment, food and fashion. If AI models can understand hard-to-spot patterns in human taste, we might be able to better curate our own lives. The startup recently closed a $25 million Series C.

Before you go

More startup M&A: Online interior design startup Havenly intends to buy artisan home decor startup The Citizenry. With no financial terms of the deal disclosed, we can infer that the deal is modest in size. Still, seeing startups join up in a market that has seen a dearth of exits is notable. Havenly most recently raised $32 million back in 2019.