Topics
Latest
AI
Amazon
Image Credits:Rivian
Apps
Biotech & Health
mood
Image Credits:Rivian
Cloud Computing
mercantilism
Crypto
Image Credits:HivemapperImage Credits:Hivemapper
Enterprise
EVs
Fintech
Image Credits:Carol Yepes / Getty ImagesImage Credits:Carol Yepes / Getty Images
Fundraising
gadget
Gaming
Image Credits:OpenAIImage Credits:OpenAI
Government & Policy
Hardware
Layoffs
Media & Entertainment
Meta
Microsoft
seclusion
Robotics
surety
Social
Space
startup
TikTok
transfer
speculation
More from TechCrunch
event
Startup Battlefield
StrictlyVC
Podcasts
Videos
Partner Content
TechCrunch Brand Studio
Crunchboard
Contact Us
receive to Startups Weekly — your weekly recapitulation of everything you ca n’t miss from the world of startup . Sign uphereto get it in your inbox every Friday .
Rivianlaunched with a promise to revolutionise the way we think about hand truck and S.U.V. but has now hit a bit of a speeding bump . In a move that yell , “ Oops , we might ’ve gotten a bit ahead of ourselves , ” the company announced it’slaying off 10 % of its workforce . Why , you enquire ? Well , it seems the EV grocery store is a tad more fierce than foresee , with pricing pressing mounting like the suspense in a sorry thriller movie . Rivian is now faced with the harsh realness that make cars is tough and making them profitable is even hard . The current round of layoffs keep an eye on the6 % of staff it laid off a year ago , and another6 % that was shown the dooraround 18 months ago .
The producer is reportedly launchingits R2 series vehicles early next calendar month , which supposedly will ameliorate the company ’s profit margins somewhat .
As Rivian navigates these turbulent waters , one ca n’t help but wonder if this is just a protuberance in the route or a sign of more ominous clouds on the horizon . Who ask soap opera when you have the EV market ?
Most interesting startup stories this week
delay in the world of self-propelled , there ’s been a lot of movement from the avant - garde of EV manufacturers .
Lucid Motors , in a valiant attempt to make lemonade out of the maize that were its 2023 sales build , has determine toslash prices across its lineup of electric sedans . The move screams “ Please notice us ! ” in a grocery where being the new kid on the block ( Lucid was founded in 2007 ) is about as advantageous as a skateboard in a Formula 1 race . The lowly model Lucid Air Pure , antecedently coquette with the $ 80,000 sucker , now bat its eyelashes at potential wooer with a more approachable $ 69,900 price ticket . This comes on the bounder of a rather humbling accession that the company only wangle to deliver 6,001 cars in the totality of 2023 . The company at one point predicted it would be shipping 90,000 cars in 2024 — it expect likethe tangible number will be a tenth of that .
It is n’t just the new kids on the block that are struggling . set up a upstanding 104 years before Lucid , Ford , in a move that echoes the playground tactic of “ if they can do it , so can we , ” has settle toslash prices on its electric Mustang Mach - Ein response to the softening demand for premium EVs . It seems the galvanising vehicle grocery store is experiencing a bit of a reality tick , with consumers suddenly call up that money does n’t grow on trees , even if those trees are saved by driving electrical gondola .
Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
These price adjustments from Ford and Lucid come red-hot on the heel of EV industry posting childTesla ’s price reduction , suggesting that the EV market place is ripen and that customers are becoming more price witting .
A fire sale on electric motorcycle : The possessor of aFlorida retail shop scooped up the majority of Swedish electric motorbike brand Cake ’s U.S. stock list , include all the Makka and Ösa minibike , accessories , and supererogatory parts that had made their path stateside . coat itself iscruising into failure .
Despite all their rage , they ’re still just a rat in a Faraday coop : Struggling EV startup Faraday Futureowes the landlord of its Los Angeles headquarters well-nigh $ 1 millionafter miss the last two months ’ rent .
go on its eyes on the roads : Hivemapper , the company that ’s been buzz around the tech fit with its innovative function engineering in an attempt to take on Google Maps , has just unveil its latest creation : the Bee dashcam . This is n’t your average dashcam : It’sdesigned to hoard and divvy up street - level imagery , contribute to Hivemapper ’s globular map .
Most interesting fundraising trends this week
Global investment firm Partech latterly closedits 2nd Africa fund at a whopping $ 300 million , double down on its dedication to the continent ’s burgeoning technical school ecosystem . The newfangled fund aims to bridge the gap from come to Series C backing round , provide a much - ask continuum of fiscal reenforcement for African startup . The fund ’s scheme is to not only inject capital but also offer strategic guidance and access to a global connection , invest startups to scale both within Africa and internationally .
Om nom nom : Bluestein Ventures , a Chicago - ground former - microscope stage speculation capital house , has recently close its third fund , with $ 45 million in capital commitments . Founded in 2014 , the firm pore on investing inconsumer - confront technology across the food provision strand , including health and wellness , proprietary intellectual nourishment technical school , commerce , and digital engineering .
quick player 2 : The worldwide TV game manufacture , despite its immense revenue surmount that of movies and music combined , faced a challenging class in 2023 with significant layoffs and a five - year low in speculation funding . However , optimism remain high among VCs for a turnaround in 2024 .
That ’s a liberal bag of moolah , you guys : Moonshot AI , a burgeon artificial word inauguration from China , has reportedly secure over $ 1 billion in a Series B funding around , setting a new disc for the largest single funding one shot for Formosan large language model ( LLM ) developers . This financial boost propels Moonshot AI ’s valuation to an impressive $ 2.5 billion .
This week’s big trend: The AI train keeps rumblin’ along
OpenAI has bring out a new reproductive AI model bring up Sora , equal to of creating videos from textbook description or still image . Sora stands out by mother eminent - res moving picture - like scenes that can include multiple character , various motions , and elaborate backgrounds . This poser can also extend existing video clips by filling in missing item , prove a deep sympathy of spoken language and the physical humans .
Sora ’s capabilities draw out to generating videos in a range of way , such as photorealistic , animate , and black and white , with durations up to a minute — importantly longer than most existing textual matter - to - video models . Despite some limitation , like occasional inaccuracies in feign complex physics or specific cause - and - effect scenario , Sora ’s outturn maintains a high floor of coherence , forfend vulgar pitfalls of “ AI outlandishness . ” The mannikin will probably not be released to the populace .
In other OpenAI news , the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has denied the company ’s endeavor to trademark “ GPT , ” find that the term is“merely descriptive ” and therefore unable to be record .
Yeah , that checks out : Dili , a platform designed to automate key investment due industry and portfolio management step for individual equity and VC business firm using AI , hasraised $ 3.6 million in venture financing . The company aims to ease the burden of due diligence tasks by leveraging generative AI , specifically expectant language models , to streamline investor workflows .
Is there anything else AI can help you with today?:Sierra ’s approach to client service AI is focused onaugmenting human agents rather than replacing them . The ship’s company believes that AI can plow routine and repetitive enquiry , freeing up human agent to focalize on more complex and nuanced client fundamental interaction . The company has raised $ 110 million to particular date .
Focusing on the 20 : In a New York Times piece belatedly last yr , the Gray Lady broke down how the current boom in AI fall to be . The part went viral — not for what was reported , but instead for what it give out to mention : women . We took a look at the woman who are micturate wave in AI .
Other unmissable TechCrunch stories …
Every week , there are always a few stories I want to share with you , but they somehow do n’t fit into the categories above . It ’d be a shame if you missed ’em , so here ’s a random grab pocketbook of goodies for ya :
Onshoring : Don’t miss Aria ’s awesome profile ofChris Power , the founding father and chief operating officer of Hadrian , an industrial automation startup . He is on a missionary post to defy historical patterns of empire decline through foundation in American manufacturing . draw from his observations of diachronic cycle where empire descend due to outsourcing core manufacture , Power embarked on a journeying from Australia to the U.S. in 2019 with a dissertation that the U.S. industrial radix was in monumental diminution . In that decline , he see to it an opportunity .
Gimme all your money : Ransomware has become a lucrative stage business model for cybercriminals , generating billions of dollars in revenue annually . This malicious software cypher the victim ’s data point , making it inaccessible , and demands a ransom for the decryption winder . Carly turn over in to seehow it became such a moneymaking criminal endeavour .
Hello , this is Mr. I : Y Combinator ’s New request for startup ( RFS ) is well worth read , and not just because it ’s been a while since the incubator share the ideas and category its partners “ would care to see more people working on . ” Including a request for more startups working on cancer treatments .
Domo arigato , bricker roboto : Bricklaying robots are n’t on the nose an untapped concept , but Amsterdam - basedMonumental specify in the more intimate red stiff varietyand catch our newsman ’s oculus .
seize the mean of production : Amazon , SpaceX , and Trader Joe ’s have recently taken effectual actions thatchallenge the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Board(NLRB ) , potentially threatening home worker protections that have been in place for nearly a century .
