Google's new AI team takes on the world

Plus: Check out our CES coverage

View this email online in your browser By Dominic-Madori Davis Monday, January 6, 2025 Hey, y'all, it's Dominic, and I'm guest-writing today's afternoon newsletter. Today, we have tons of CES news for you, though the show officially kicks off tomorrow. We also have some interesting fundraising announcements and the latest news about a group of Chinese hackers.  TechCrunch Top 3 Image Credits: Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP / Getty Images 🌎 What in the world (models)? Google is creating a new team to make AI models that can simulate the real world. Tim Brooks, who co-led OpenAI's video generator, has been tapped to lead the new team. Read more 🤩 Live from CES: TechCrunch is on the ground at CES 2025, bringing you the can't-miss news from one of the world's largest tech conferences. Keep up with our coverage to make sure you stay up-to-date. Read more  🤝 Streaming merger: Disney announced the groundbreaking merger between Hulu Live TV and Fubo, with the hopes of taking on YouTube TV. It comes as the world of streaming services sees some shake-ups as their parent companies search for profitability. Read more    A Message from HumanX Attend the No. 1 AI event of 2025 — Everyone else is! HumanX brings together 300 of the world's most important AI speakers, 3,500 of the world's preeminent business leaders, and global vendors who can connect the dots between theory and execution. If you are involved in AI and not at HumanX, you will be left behind — it's that simple. Use TC250 for $250 off a GA ticket! Register Now   Afternoon must-reads Image Credits: MustafaU / Getty Images 👀 A hacking party: There are new Chinese-government-backed hacking groups in town — Volt Typhoon, whose group mission is to disrupt the U.S. military's mobilization ability, and Flax Typhoon, which helps conceal the activities of China's hackers. We have the story of who these groups are — and what they want. Read more 🚜 Landscaping robots: John Deere showcased a bunch of new products at CES, including a landscaping electric robot. It also revealed an automated dump truck and an autonomous orchard tractor that can spray crops. Read more 🛍️ Hey, big spender: A new Salesforce report reveals that online spending rose this year, with the U.S. specifically seeing a 4% increase, with $282 billion spent over the holiday period. We dig into what these numbers mean — and the one catch that turns the numbers on their heads. Read more 🤖 Robot bucks: RoboForce, a company that's building robots to do tasks like install solar panels, raised $10 million from Carnegie Mellon University and Nobel Laureate economist Myron Scholes. Read more 💰 Money for transpo: Trucks VC has launched a $70 million fund to invest in transportation startups. This is the third — and largest — fund that the firm has raised. It hopes to cut at least 30 seed checks between $500,000 and $2 million. Read more 🚗 EVs are still hot, hot, hot: Lucid, a luxury EV startup, delivered a record number of cars last year, seeing its production numbers increase from 7% in 2023. It comes as competitors like Tesla have started to see a drop in sales. Read more Around the web 🇺🇸 All eyes on the White House: Trump going to Washington means tech does, too. The Economist has the rundown on what might be a clash of cultures as Elon Musk and the Valley start heading to the Hill. Read more 💸 China's startup ecosystem is on edge: Failed founders in China are being put on the national debtor blacklist for failing to pay investors back. The Financial Times has more  Before you go Image Credits: Liudmila Chernetska / Getty Images 🔮 New year, new predictions: We asked a few investors what they expect this year to bring. Some answers weren't a surprise, like the restart of M&A activity as the Trump administration settles in, and the feeling that AI will continue on its path to overtake the world. But some answers were a little surprising. Read more Featured jobs from CrunchBoard Vice President of Infrastructure and Operations, Parsons Corporation (Remote) Systems Integrator & DBA, Air Line Pilots Association (Tysons, VA) Startup Backend Engineer, Athlete To Athlete (Santa Monica, CA) Senior Network Operations Engineer, Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA) Manager of Unified Technology Solutions, 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

OpenAI is losing money on its ChatGPT Pro plan

Also: All the CES tech news that's fit to print

View this email online in your browser By Rebecca Bellan Monday, January 6, 2025 Welcome to TechCrunch AM! Happy New Year!. We've got plenty of news coming out of CES, like Samsung's new AI-powered TV and Intel's new chip lineup. We're also reading about OpenAI's march towards "superintelligence," a PayPal lawsuit, why raising less venture funding is sometimes the way to go, and more. Let's go! — Rebecca TechCrunch Top 3 Image Credits: Getty Images 1. CES 2025: The TC gang is on the ground in Las Vegas, reporting on all the weird and wonderful tech news that's fit to print — from earbuds with real-time translation and super smart life-saving rings to a tiny robot cat that blows on your coffee to cool it off. Oh, and of course, updates from Nvidia, Samsung, Sony, Toyota, and more. Read More 2. Humble brag: Sam Altman says OpenAI is losing money on its $200-per-month ChatGPT Pro plan because people are using it more than the company expected. While this problem demonstrates the product's popularity, it's not clear how OpenAI is meant to turn a profit, much less operate its costly business sustainably. Read More  3. Less is more: Accel apparently had ample opportunity to raise billions of dollars for its eighth India fund, but instead chose to leave it at $650 million even as other venture firms raise huge pools of capital. The reason? ROIs are harder to come by when funds grow past $650 million. Read More   A Message from West Monroe The High-Tech and Software Industry's 2025 Roadmap An eye toward growth, reimagined data and the AI transition: What's trending Learn More   Morning must-reads Image Credits: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto / Getty Images 🤔 Oh, goodie: Sam Altman wants a glorious future for OpenAI. He says OpenAI is turning its attention towards "superintelligence," which the company defines roughly as systems that "outperform humans at most economically valuable work." Read More 🧑‍⚖️ Sleeping leach: MegaLag, a lawyer who posts videos on his LegalEagle YouTube channel, is suing PayPal. He claims that the company's browser extension Honey is a "scam" that diverts commissions from influencers, "undermining the affiliate marketing system." Read More 🤖 Bring on the AI slop ads: Peak XV and Tiger Global-backed Avataar have come out with a new tool that can create videos of products based on a link. The company is going against Amazon and Google, which are also experimenting with AI-powered video tools for ads. Normally I like rooting for the little guy, but I'm really not excited about AI ads. Read More 🍔 Now I'm hungry: Samsung is bringing some interesting AI-powered features to its TVs. A feature called Samsung Food can identify the food on your screen and find a recipe for it (courtesy of Samsung's acquisition of the Whisk app in 2019), and a new Live Translate feature can translate live broadcasts in real time. Read More 🥔 Is it time for a comeback? Intel is coming off the back of the worst year of its life on the public markets, announcing a slew of new chips at CES 2025 that it hopes will turn its fortunes around. Read More    A Message from Brex The financial stack you can bank on Runway is everything for startups. That's why 1 in 3 startups choose Brex for modern checking, treasury, and FDIC in one account. Move money fast worldwide. Earn yield from your first dollar — while accessing your funds anytime. And get up to $6M in FDIC coverage from program banks. Learn More   Around the web 😵‍💫 Fighting the good fight: FTC Chair Lina Khan is almost out, but her legacy of going after anti-consumer and anti-competitive practices will be remembered. In an interview on the Better Offline podcast, Khan explains how the FTC has fought against Amazon 'enshittifying' platforms, hidden 'junk fees,' and more. Listen Now 📺 Remember TiVo? TiVo was one of those technologies that completely changed the game for a hot minute, and then quickly became somewhat irrelevant as streaming took hold. But it's making a comeback with a TV operating system that will rival the likes of Roku, Google TV, and Amazon's Fire TV, reports The Verge. Read More 🔥 When a fire starts to burn, it starts to spread, and Californians are struggling with the crushing anxiety of that reality. Enter Watch Duty, a popular app that alerts users of wildfire risk and provides information about blazes as they unfold, reports The Guardian. Read More Before you go Image Credits: Soliddd 👓 We love useful tech: Soliddd is one of a growing number of startups attempting to deliver smart glasses for accessibility purposes. The company's SolidddVision glasses target people with macular degeneration, which affects roughly 13% of U.S. residents aged 40 and up. Read More Featured jobs from CrunchBoard Vice President of Infrastructure and Operations, Parsons Corporation (Remote) Systems Integrator & DBA, Air Line Pilots Association (Tysons, VA) Startup Backend Engineer, Athlete To Athlete (Santa Monica, CA) Senior Network Operations Engineer, Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA) Manager of Unified Technology Solutions, 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