Here’s all the top news from today’s Google Pixel Event 2023

TechCrunch Newsletter

By Christine Hall Wednesday, October 04, 2023

Today, the TechCrunch team was live for the Google Pixel Event, and you all enjoyed every minute of it, making it today's top story. While I rounded up all of the Pixel and Android 14 goodness into one giant confection, here were some of your favorites: Google Pixel 8 Pro first impressions Google Assistant is getting AI capabilities with Bard Pixel 8 Pro's upgraded camera system offers dream specs for mobile photographers Meanwhile, over in India, Slice, one of the country's fintech unicorns, said it reached a milestone: an approval to merge with a bank. Find out why this is so rare. And it seems like open banking led to a fintech boom, particularly in the European Union, and some companies, including Brite Payments, are catching the tailwinds. The account-to-account company secured $60 million after a good 2022. Read more. Image Credits: Google

More top reads On their own: Yahoo spins out Vespa, its search tech, into an independent company. Here's how that came about. When I dip, you dip, VC dips: New third-quarter stats from PitchBook show that the global VC market continues to stumble. It wasn't bad everywhere, though. (TC+) More generative AI for your Meta: Meta advertisers now have their own generative AI features. Get the scoop. Tucked in: Flexible short-term housing options are everywhere now. For those who want longer stays but similar vibe, meet Habyt, an Airbnb-style platform aimed at longer stays and "flexible living." It just raised $42 million. No more standing in that post office line: Uber will do it for you. A new feature enables couriers to drop your package off at the post office. Learn about Return a Package. Identities, passwords and M&A, oh my!: We have a pair of Okta news stories for you. First up, the identity management giant scooped by Uno, a password manager, for the purpose of developing a personal tier. Read more. Next, Okta plans to weave AI across its entire identity platform using multiple models. Get the scoop. Embedded finance is indeed everywhere: Rainforest, a startup helping software companies embed financial services and payment features, raises $8.5 million. The prediction is coming true. Eat here: Resy and Eater co-founder has backed hospitality company Blackbird Labs, which raised $24 million to help restaurants create loyalty programs. Here's how. Fitness from afar: Sometimes you need a little push when it comes to exercise. CoPilot wants to get you the motivation you crave. The training app, which matches users with remote fitness coaches, raised $6.3 million. Now you have no excuse. More for your Wednesday: Recapitalization, $60M Series D support growth of e-commerce financier Clearco At One Ventures’ $375M new fund shows climate tech is still hot (TC+) Rabbit is building an AI model that understands how software works News app turned X competitor Artifact now lets users generate AI images for their posts Image Credits: SOPA Images / Contributor / Getty Images

Employee liquidity isn't a myth, but it isn't easy to provide either Offering equity to startup workers is a standard practice, but the cat is finally out of the bag: “Many employees are slowly realizing that the stock options they have been banking on are essentially worthless,” writes Rebecca Szkutak. At TechCrunch Disrupt, she interviewed three panelists to get their thoughts on how startups can retain and reward employees by offering them “early access” to liquidity as a motivator: Maria Dramalioti-Taylor, general partner, Beacon Capital Tyson Hendricksen, founder and CEO, Notice Amir Ashkenazi, founder and CEO, Switchboard TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack. You can sign up here. Use code "DC" for a 15% discount on an annual subscription. Read More Image Credits: Ri Fotoproducto / Getty Images

On the pods This week on Found, our old friend Darrell Etherington joins Becca Szkutak to talk with Professor Esther Rodriguez-Villegas from Acurable. Acurable is a medical device company that makes patient-friendly wearable devices that accurately diagnose and manage respiratory conditions at home. As a career-long academic, Rodriguez-Villegas never intended to be a founder until she learned about how the currently available medical devices made it extremely difficult to detect and treat diseases like sleep apnea and epilepsy. On this episode, they talk about balancing academic research and running a company, how to scale a medical device startup, and how Acurable has spread to hospitals throughout the U.K. by just word of mouth. Listen here. Read More Image Credits: Bryce Durbin

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Nokia is manufacturing its new 5G phone for enterprise customers in Hungary

TechCrunch Newsletter

By Christine Hall Tuesday, October 03, 2023

Ring, ring . . . hello? Today's top story is about Nokia's parent company, HMD Global, manufacturing its first smartphone in Europe. Meet the "Made in Hungary" Nokia XR21 5G phone. Next, open banking has been a hit in countries like Brazil. Meanwhile, over in South Africa, open banking is also finding its stride. Today, Stitch announced $25 million in a Series A extension, led by Ribbit Capital, to continue developing its end-to-end payments solutions for enterprises. Read more. Meanwhile, now that LinkedIn is of a certain age, it is making some changes under the hood. Namely going all in on some new AI tools for learning, recruitment, marketing and sales. Guess who it is working with on those? And finally we can't get away from Sam Bankman-Fried, so we are leaning in. First, learn more about the U.S. government's involvement. Then see why this trial promises to be just as riveting as the rest of the FTX drama. (TC+) Image Credits: Nokia

More top reads We didn't start the fire — he did: An FBI most-wanted Russian hacker reveals why he burned his passport. Get the scoop. Vroom: Ford is really accelerating all of this electric vehicle stuff. Check out the new Ford F-150 Lightning Flash, which puts the technology and battery range on center stage. No brake zone here. For when you want to stay hidden: Cloaked, a privacy and security startup, launched some new apps today that manage your logins with proxy emails, phone numbers and a built-in password manager. Learn more. If you like keyboard porn: Check out Dry Studio's Black Diamond 75 gaming keyboard. It actually looks good. Reverse logic: No more staying at home. DoorDash has deemed it necessary to eat out. The delivery giant is testing a feature that rewards users for dining out. Stretchy pants will have to wait. Can you pay my telephone bills?: Sparx wants to do for enterprise what Truebill did for consumer recurring bills. And they are doing it for free. Science labs need love: Automata raised $40 million and is giving science labs an automation and robotics treatment. Find out how. Such snoops: The European Union says Meta is running ads unlawfully. Here's how Meta plans to get around that. New fund alert: Get ready, startups, funding is coming your way. First, Greylock secures $1 billion for its 17th fund amid the launch of an early-stage founders program. Second, Visa earmarks $100 million to invest in generative AI companies. And HCVC is back with a new $75 million deep tech fund. With all of that going on, is venture capital spring here? (TC+) More for your Tuesday: US lawmakers ask TikTok about its ByteDance ties after recent exec transfers between the companies Don't sweat the valuation headlines, ByteDance is doing great (TC+) Gmail to enforce harsher rules in 2024 to keep spam from users' inboxes Motel One says ransomware gang stole customer credit card data Fearless Fund barred from awarding grant to Black women founders. Image Credits: FBI/Department of Justice

TC Opinion: The EU is about to adopt a dangerous law with international consequences Proponents of the European Media Freedom Act say the legislation will preserve independent reporting and reduce disinformation, but the rules “could lead to users . . . facing arbitrary content moderation and discrimination,” write Christoph Schmon and Paige Collings of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital civil liberties organization. “And with some hoping the law's effects could extend far beyond Europe by changing company policies in the United States and elsewhere, vulnerable people around the world could suffer.” If you’d like to submit an opinion column to TechCrunch, please read our new editorial guidelines. Read More Image Credits: Baac3nes / Getty Images

Adapting to a world with higher interest rates — a guide for startups TC+ guest columnist Mohit Agarwal says scaling startups need to consider every savings option at hand, like negotiating with vendors or buying short-dated Treasuries. "Some boards will prohibit the buying of any form of securities, but most will be on board. After all, why not when there is a riskless 5%+ rate of return to be had." TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack. You can sign up here. Use code "DC" for a 15% discount on an annual subscription. Read More Image Credits: Mike Kemp / Getty Images

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Writer claims SBF wanted to pay Trump $5B not to run for re-election

TechCrunch Newsletter

By Christine Hall Monday, October 02, 2023

Just when you think you know all there is to know about Sam Bankman-Fried, a new interview comes out that shows us that we don’t know anything. In today's top story, we bring some highlights of SBF's interview with "60 Minutes" and why people are not amused. Wait, there's more: All eyes will be on his impending trial this week. So let's take a look at how he — and FTX — got here. Meanwhile, spend management is a hot topic right now because of how much of a pain point it is for big and small companies alike. Meet Pivot, a French company that wants to simplify it. Find out how. And it's time to get your hands on the new Chromebook Plus, which will set you back $399. Get the scoop on this new category. Meanwhile, if you love all things Google Pixel (it's personally my phone of choice), here's how to stream the Pixel 8 reveal happening October 4. Image Credits: Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images

More top reads Cars and quarterly earnings: Tesla is pointing the finger at some factory upgrades that resulted in downtime that caused it to miss on Q3 delivery expectations. Meanwhile, Rivian faced the opposite problem with its third-quarter deliveries beating expectations. It was also a 23% jump from the previous quarter. AI, it's everywhere: Spotify was spotted developing AI-generated playlists created with prompts. Learn more. Obsessing over PDFs: Reading can be such a drag. Fortunately, Humata AI developed a program that summarizes and answers questions about your PDFs. Research is suddenly fun again. New fund alert: Alpaca VC unveils two new investment vehicles, including one that taps into its real estate roots. It doesn't just invest in real estate, though. Robots on the farm: Eyeing vision-based autonomy for farm equipment, Bonsai Robotics raises $10.5 million. Find out what it is doing to help farmers. Testing, testing . . . Is this ad on?: Are ads getting in the way of your daily scroll through TikTok? Is $4.99 burning a hole in your digital wallet each month? Well, TikTok can help you with both. The streaming giant started testing a $4.99, ad-free subscription tier. Learn more. Data spill: India's national logistics portal exposed sensitive personal data and trade records. Find out how. Streaming the day away: X, formerly known as Twitter, is set to test livestream shopping in a partnership with Paris Hilton. Get the scoop. Meanwhile, amid all that Twitter chaos, Mastodon grew donations 488% in 2022 and reached 1.8 million monthly active users. Read on. We don't like to MOVEit, MOVEit: There's more relief from the MOVEit hack in the way of a patch for new actively exploited security flaws. Read more. Brrrr, it's cold in here: There must be more of that crypto winter — web3 funding is down again. (TC+) Weekend warriors you may have missed: A tale of two research institutes How much can artists make from generative AI? Vendors won't say Humane's 'AI Pin' debuts on the Paris runway Image Credits: Rivian

TC Opinion: We need to break Big Tech's data broker industry Could a new, decentralized social networking protocol protect personal privacy, spark innovation and give consumers greater control? “Democracy is under siege. Our digital fingerprints are being sold,” writes Martina Larkin, CEO of Project Liberty. “And digital ownership is being crushed by the small group of tech giants who control the internet as we know it.” If you’d like to submit an opinion column to TechCrunch, please read our new editorial guidelines. Read More Image Credits: Francesco Carta fotografo / Getty Images

How to raise a Series A in today's market Follow-on financing has become harder to raise, which leaves startups striving for a Series A in a real bind. Pre-downturn, companies with a good narrative could reach the next level, but today’s investors are looking for hard numbers that demonstrate future potential. At TechCrunch Disrupt, Tim DeChant interviewed three VCs to get their advice for founders who believe they've achieved product-market fit: Maren Bannon, co-founder and managing partner, January Ventures James Currier, general partner, NFX Loren Straub, general partner, Bowery Capital TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack. You can sign up here. Use code "DC" for a 15% discount on an annual subscription. Read More Image Credits: Eric Slomonson/The Photo Group/TechCrunch / Flickr under a CC BY 2.0 license.

On the pods Equity‘s kicking off Q4 2023 with a look at the global stock market, what’s ahead for SBF, Amazon and the FTC, and why we’re seeing so many seed-stage fintech deals. Listen here. Read More Image Credits: Bryce Durbin

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