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Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you ca n’t miss from the world of startups . Sign uphereto get it in your inbox every Friday .
Ticktock , TikTok : It ’s been a raging week for TikTok . Even asthe caller starts testing its Twitter competition in certain marketsandlaunches its opulence secondhand store in the U.K. , it ’s find a lot of friction in the land of the devoid and the home of the brave : In an instalment of “ As the TikTok Turns , ” the U.S. ’s honored House of Representatives , in a rare show of bipartisanship , has snuff it a bill to give TikTok ’s parent company a nine - calendar month ultimatum : betray or present extinction in the U.S.This is like giving your adolescent an surplus three months to houseclean their way before ground them … forever !
The bill also comes with a magic “ 90 - day extension ” button for the president ’s use only . How heedful ! It seems this move has appeased some Senate skeptics , and even President Biden is on board . Critics argue this ban could impinge detached speech rights and hurt businesses . ( Who knew viral dances were so essential to our economy ? ) On the flip side , as one lawmaker puts it — believe it less entertainment app forbiddance and more spy balloon deflation .
How powerfulareinfluencers?:The weird curveball we saw this calendar week was a monitor that mass do n’t really understand how journalism or merchandise review work . To mental capacity : Humane Ai raised $ 230 million before the product even left the manufactory . The ballyhoo was real until the Ai Pin dropped at a goodly $ 699 plus monthly fees , and folks realized it ’s a lot of ado about not - a - circumstances . Do n’t shoot the messenger — in this lawsuit pop YouTuber Marques Brownlee aka MKBHD , whose crime was < checks notes > “ tell it like it is ” withhis reviewtitled “ The Worst Product I ’ve Ever Reviewed … For Now . ”
Most interesting startup stories from the week
The next time you ’re missing the good ol’ days of squint through a tiny viewfinder and praying your barb turns out okay , think Mood.camera . It ’s an iOS app that gives youall the uncertainty of analogue photographysanstrips to the photograph lab . make by developer Alex Fox , this app says “ no give thanks you ” to go previews and editing feature film , instead focusing on vintage filter and have fate adjudicate how your exposure turn out . Because who does n’t love a piddling secret in their life sentence ? Just do n’t forget to hold still for three minutes or so while it “ develops . ” For $ 1.99 / month ( or $ 14.99 one - time fee ) , you too can feel the thrill of accidentally overexpose every picture on your beach holiday like it ’s 1995 .
Ever snap a picture of a tree diagram and wish it was poesy ? Well , Joyce Kilmer did n’t either . But in the years of AI tech , Kelin Carolyn Zhang and Ryan Mather have decided to bless us with their challenging spawn — the Poetry Camera ! This ai n’t your fair Insta click - Divine ; or else of capturing duck case and dinner plates , it bring forth thought - chivvy ( or as thought - provoking as AI can wangle ) poesy found on its visual skirmish . A Raspberry Pi serves as its brain while OpenAI ’s GPT-4 spin out verses worthy of Wordsworth ( or maybe not ) . And here ’s the kicker : This television camera prints out your poetic chef-d’oeuvre on newspaper publisher — yes , composition . No digital economy for that extra touch of nostalgia or is it just an gentle agency to forfend privacy concerns ? The panel ’s still out . But hey , if you ’ve been yearning for a forcible souvenir from your digital being … snap away !
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Most interesting fundraises this week
Breaking tidings in the world of bling : Pascal , the science lab - grow infield inauguration , is making it rain with closely $ 10 million in VC funding and a brawny revenue forecast . Who need Drake ’s $ 400,000 baseball diamond - encrusted iPhone fount when you may have low-priced ice ? These cultured gem are so shiny they ’ll make your TikTok videos sparkle like a discotheque ball . EvenAndreessen Horowitz could n’t resist throw some money at this gem of an idea !
Well , well , well ! Last week we got wind thatRippling was about to close a $ 200 million financial support roundat a jaw - dropping $ 13.4 billion valuation . Now laminitis Parker Conrad hasconfirmed the news show and spilled some juicy details . They were looking for a mode to give early employee some liquidity ( read : cash money ) , but investor involvement was so high they had to dilate their design . As for going public ? That ’s somewhere over the rainbow , suggests Conrad .
Other unmissable TechCrunch stories …
Oh , Tesla . With earnings strike down faster than aCybertruck with a stuck acceleratorand EV sale sense the pressing , it seems the automaker is in a routine of a pickle . A 55 % dip in profits ? Ouch ! It appears thatslashing EV price like they ’re Black Friday dealshasn’t worked out quite so well for them . Between wars , arson attacks on factories , high - visibility layoff , and new models rolling off the assembly line slower than LA traffic , it seems Tesla has a long lean of challenges . Let ’s just desire Musk ’s plans work out better than the Tesla semi - truck product timeline .
Here ’s another smattering of stories you might otherwise have leave out :
