Perplexity’s CEO doesn’t want to define plagiarism

Also: Colin Kaepernick's advice on how to disrupt industry

View this email online in your browser By Rebecca Bellan Thursday, October 31, 2024 Welcome to TechCrunch AM! This morning, we're looking at the EU stepping in the way of yet another acquisition, an open letter from Amazon employees who want to work remotely, Bezos' growing interests in Washington, layoffs at crypto exchange Kraken, and more.  We've also got tons of excellent coverage from the final day of TechCrunch Disrupt, including notes on the winner of Startup Battlefield, what Perplexity's CEO had to say about plagiarism, and what Zoox's co-founder thinks about Tesla's robotaxis. Let's go! — Rebecca TechCrunch Top 3 Image Credits: Romain Dillet / TechCrunch 1. And the winner of Startup Battlefield is… Salva Health! This is a company I was rooting for after hearing their pitch to sell portable devices that detect breast cancer early. Congrats to Salva, which is walking away with $100,000! Read More 2. The EU is reviewing Nvidia's proposed acquisition of Tel Aviv-based startup Run:ai. The deal has a price tag of around $700 million, but the bloc says the transaction doesn't meet its notification thresholds. Read More 3. Perplexity won't define plagiarism: TC's Devin Coldelwey put Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas on the spot on stage at Disrupt when he asked him how the AI company defines "plagiarism," something Perplexity has been accused of. Srinivas wouldn't say. Read More   A Message from Golub Capital How software companies can preserve valuation in a "down round" environment Golub Growth provides an array of flexible debt and equity solutions to fuel software companies' growth and M&A plans - without impairing their current valuation. Explore our growth capital solutions for SaaS companies. Learn More   Morning must-reads Image Credits: Barak Shrama/ Slava Blazer Photography 🚘 Rivian doesn't like buttons in cars: The EV maker's chief software officer Wassym Bensaid said using buttons in cars is a "bug," not a feature. "Ideally, you want to interact with your car through voice," he said, but most voice assistants are not there yet. Read More 🧨 How to disrupt: Colin Kaepernick – former NFL quarterback, civil rights activist, and founder of Lumi – closed out TechCrunch Disrupt with advice for founders who are trying to change an industry: Have people you can lean on when you're facing resistance. Read More  🚗 Not full self-driving: Zoox co-founder and CTO Jesse Levinson doesn't think Tesla is primed to actually launch a robotaxi ride-hailing service in California next year, despite Elon Musk's claims. He says the "fundamental issue is they don't have technology that works." Read More 🏠 WFH 4ever: More than 500 Amazon employees reportedly sent a letter to AWS CEO Matt Garman, urging him to reverse the company's full return-to-office policy. I'm not sure how that'll go since my guess is Amazon is using this as a way to make employees quit and avoid needed layoffs. Read More 🚚 The best laid plans… Aurora Innovation had planned to launch its self-driving trucks by the end of this year, but has now shelved that plan until April 2025 to validate its technology. Read More Around the web 🕶️ Meta gets a reality check: Meta's Reality Labs logged an operating loss of $4.4 billion in the third quarter, per CNBC. Revenue rose 29% to $270 million, but still came in below analysts' expectations of $310.4 million. To put it into context, the unit has recorded operating losses of over $58 billion since 2020. Read More 🐙 Trouble at Kraken: Crypto exchange Kraken has laid off 15% of workers, and is shaking up its corporate structure, including appointing a new co-chief executive, reports The New York Times. Long-time Silicon Valley exec Arjun Sethi will take up the co-CEO mantle. Read More 🤑 Big business: As Amazon's various businesses increasingly face stiff competition from Big Tech, Jeff Bezos' interests in Washington have expanded, especially as the federal government contracts billions to AWS and Blue Origin, reports The Washington Post. Read More Before you go Image Credits: JuSun / Getty Images ⛔ No puedo: Don't try to ask your AI models questions about the upcoming U.S. election in Spanish. Apparently they're struggling with that. Read More Featured jobs from Crunchboard Senior Data Warehouse SQL Developer, Washington Dept. of Natural Resources (Olympia, WA) Pharmacy Epic Application Analyst, OFFSITE (Toppenish, WA) Chief Technology Officer, Mary McDowell Friends School (Brooklyn, NY) Senior Software Engineer, Dyna Robotics (San Francisco, CA) IT Technology Analyst, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (Middletown, PA) 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. 110 5th St,San Francisco,CA Privacy Policy

Automattic is 'short-staffed' amid ongoing drama

Plus: Apple releases a new chip for MacBook Pro

View this email online in your browser By Rebecca Szkutak Wednesday, October 30, 2024 Welcome to TC PM! Today on the Disrupt Stage, we got some new info regarding the WordPress vs. WP Engine drama. We also learned about Zoox's upcoming AV rollout. And in some non-Disrupt news, Apple's Macweek isn't quite over yet. Let's get to it.  TechCrunch Top 3 Image Credits: Kimberly White / Getty Images 👋 Well, well well: Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg said onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt that the company is now understaffed amid its ongoing drama. This isn't surprising since WordPress told people who weren't in alignment to leave. Read more  🚘 Word on the street: Also on the Disrupt Stage, Zoox co-founder and CTO Jesse Levinson said that his company will start rolling out its autonomous robotaxis to the streets of Las Vegas and San Francisco in the coming weeks. Read more 💻 New chips time: The latest announcement out of Apple's Macweek is the release of its newest  M-series chips. Today it announced the M4 Max, a new chip that will power the company's MacBook Pro line. Read more Afternoon must-reads Image Credits: Hummingbirds 💵 Money for micro influencers: Hummingbirds is a startup that connects local businesses with hyperlocal content creators. The company raised a fresh $5.4 million round of funding to help it expand into 20 new cities by 2025. Read more 🤳 Speaking of content creators: Estonian-based Modash is also focused on helping brands connect with micro influencers. The company recently raised a $12 million Series A and told TechCrunch it remains bullish on the creator economy. Read more  ⚡ An electric partnership: Rivian chief software officer Wassym Bensaid confirmed on the Disrupt Stage that VW's new electric vehicle offshoot company, Scout, will be using Rivian's software and zonal architecture. Read more 🦾 AI BS: Battling AI-driven misinformation online is a growing problem for tech companies. During a panel on TechCrunch Disrupt's AI Stage on Wednesday, each panelist said that no matter how hard companies are trying to combat it, they aren't doing enough. Read more 🎙️ Equity live: The Equity crew dug into some large venture deals, including Sierra's $175 million round and Waymo's $5.6 billion round. Listen here Around the web 🚁 Are drones the answer? Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt thinks that the U.S. military should replace its "useless" fleet of tanks with drones. Schmidt might have personal motivation for saying this: He's rumored to be a founder of a drone startup. Read more 🎣 Fishing out fraud: Organized online return fraud has exploded over the last few years, creating an opportunity for a whole host of new startups looking to help companies solve this growing issue. Read more Featured jobs from Crunchboard Senior Data Warehouse SQL Developer, Washington Dept. of Natural Resources (Olympia, WA) Pharmacy Epic Application Analyst, OFFSITE (Toppenish, WA) Chief Technology Officer, Mary McDowell Friends School (Brooklyn, NY) Senior Software Engineer, Dyna Robotics (San Francisco, CA) IT Technology Analyst, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (Middletown, PA) 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. 110 5th St,San Francisco,CA Privacy Policy