Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Welcome to TechCrunch AM! This morning, we're bringing you the top news from Microsoft's Ignite conference, notes on Oura's latest fundraise, and how the U.S. managed to extradite the hacker behind Phobos ransomware. We've also got the DOJ's push to make Google spin out Chrome, a startup taking advantage of Kubernetes' popularity, Trump's pick for energy secretary, and more. Let's go! — Rebecca

TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: Brian Heater

1. This ring keeps getting more powerful: Oura's chart is going up and to the right. It just snagged a $75 million investment from glucose device maker Dexcom, bringing its valuation to more than $5 billion. The partnership also paves the way for Oura rings to eventually incorporate blood sugar monitoring. Read More

2. Yet another way to look good in meetings: Microsoft plans to let Teams users clone their voices for meetings so they can let an AI translate what they're saying in different languages while still sounding like themselves. The feature will launch in 2025 in nine languages. Read More

3. The fight against cybercrime continues: The U.S. government has extradited a Russian hacker who allegedly served as a key administrator of the prolific Phobos ransomware operation. Phobos was apparently used for extorting $16 million from victims. Read More

A Message from Silicon Valley Bank

Series A: 4 Ways to Build a Strong Relationship with Your Lead Investor

Get practical advice on how to get the most out of your Series A investor and venture capital firm to drive your startup's success.

Image Credits: Sean Gallup / Getty Images

👍 Alphabet 🤝Anthropic: The U.K.'s antitrust regulator has given the green light to Alphabet's partnership with and investment in AI rival Anthropic. The agency said that despite the whopping $2.3 billion Alphabet invested in Anthropic, the tech giant doesn't appear to have acquired "material influence" over the AI company. Read More

🔍 Google's being asked to shed weight: The U.S. Justice Department is pushing to force Google to spin off its Chrome browser business as part of its antitrust case against the company. The DOJ also plans to recommend that Google face antitrust requirements related to AI and Android. Read More

⌨️ Kubernetes made easier: Kubernetes is more popular than ever, but the open-source container system remains hard to manage. That's led to the rise of vendors like Spectro Cloud, which just raised $75 million to help companies get a handle on their Kubernetes installations. Read More

🛢️ White House, Inc: Chris Wright, CEO of oilfield services company Liberty Energy, is Trump's pick to lead the country's energy department. Despite denying climate change, Wright also invested in geothermal and nuclear startups, so there's that. Read More

A Message from Asahi Group Holdings

Partner with Asahi ($20B FMCG) on its journey to Net Zero

Join "The Challenge" by Asahi Group Holdings and collaborate on seven sustainability themes, from sustainable packaging to renewable energy. Successful scaleups and startups will gain access to Asahi's network, insights, and tools, with potential to form long-term commercial relationships. Apply on F6S by Nov. 29 to help shape a sustainable future.

Apply Now

Around the web

🫣 Not a good look: Buzzfeed's new ad unit from Trendii – a startup that uses AI to identify objects in images, match them with products for sale, and link readers to those products – is inviting readers to shop for products it can identify in in-story images, reports 404 Media. It could be useful, yeah, but it's also recommending products from images and stories of people who committed suicide. Read More

🥤 Not always the real thing: AI ads can be great for small companies that can't afford to produce their own, but surely the big companies can afford to shell out for some human-level creativity? That's the criticism coming for Coca-Cola and its Christmas ad that some are calling "soulless," reports NBC News. Read More

🎮 Join the Serpent King, as family: Sony is in talks to acquire Kadokawa, a Japanese conglomerate that publishes and distributes manga, books, anime, and video games like "Elden Ring," reports Reuters. Sony already has a stake in the company, which has taken some hits in recent years after a cyberattack and executive shakeup. Read More

Before you go

Image Credits: Spines.com under a CC BY 2.0 license.

📚 Can AI replace book publishers? A startup called Spines thinks so. It's a self-publishing platform that claims its AI can edit a piece of writing, provide suggestions, give users feedback on who might read it, design a book cover, and even distribute the finished product. Read More