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    Home » Startups Weekly: Drama at Techstars. Drama in AI. Drama everywhere.
    Technology

    Startups Weekly: Drama at Techstars. Drama in AI. Drama everywhere.

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    Startups Weekly: Drama at Techstars. Drama in AI. Drama everywhere.
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    Welcome to Startups Weekly — Haje‘s weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Sign up right here to get it in your inbox each Friday.

    Well, of us, it seems to be like Techstars’ drama simply acquired a brand new plot twist. CEO Maëlle Gavet is making her exit, leaving co-founder David Cohen to swoop again in and save the day — or at least attempt to. Gavet’s three-and-a-half-year tenure was a curler coaster of controversy, from worker exodus to shutting down accelerator packages sooner than you’ll be able to say “pivot.” Despite an $80 million cope with JPMorgan turning right into a Titanic-level catastrophe and dropping $7 million in 2023, she insists she wouldn’t commerce the expertise for something. As for Cohen? He’s enthusiastic about his return as CEO.

    Most fascinating startup tales from the week

    Linktree simply hit 50 million customers, proving that everybody and their grandma now has a link-in-bio. From a humble 2.7 million in 2019 to this astronomical quantity, they’re mainly the favored child at college that everybody desires to take a seat with. Linktree is rolling out social commerce options so creators can slap storefronts on their pages and earn commissions from huge manufacturers like Adidas and Sephora. With over $300 million in month-to-month gross sales already flowing by these hyperlinks, it’s clear they’re not messing round.

    • Humane searching for a house: Humane, the brainchild of ex-Apple execs and creator of the $700 Ai Pin that nobody requested for, is now reportedly searching for a purchaser. Apparently, it’s hoping to fetch between $750 million and $1 billion, simply in case somebody desires so as to add a wearable gadget that’s mainly a smartphone with dedication points to its product portfolio.
    • Sonos hugs your head: Sonos has lastly answered your prayers and dropped their “most requested product ever.” No, it’s not a speaker that does your taxes — it’s the Ace headphones. For a cool $449, you’ll be able to quickly flaunt these over-ear beauties.
    • Coming quickly to a roundabout close to you: The U.Ok. has formally waved the checkered flag for “driverless cars” — that’s what they name self-driving over there. How quaint! Through the Automated Vehicles Act, you may end up sharing the street with robotic automobiles by 2026.
    Beats by Sonos, in the form of the Sonos Ace headphones.
    Image Credits: Sonos

    Trend of the week: AI Drama

    Looks like OpenAI’s newest chatbot, Sky, did its finest Scarlett Johansson impression and acquired hella busted! The AI voice was flirting too intently with ScarJo’s iconic voice. OpenAI swears it wasn’t attempting to re-create her sultry tones from “Her,” however the web couldn’t assist however discover the uncanny resemblance. CEO Sam Altman even tweeted “her” as a result of, nicely, why wouldn’t you, actually? Now that Johansson has lawyered up sooner than you’ll be able to say “deepfake,” OpenAI yanked Sky’s voice from its product, whereas the authorized machinations are rumbling round to discover a resolution to this mess.

    OpenAI, in the meantime, doesn’t appear to be hurting all that a lot. ChatGPT’s cell app simply hit a income jackpot with the launch of GPT-4o. Despite promising free entry on the net, OpenAI determined to nudge cell customers towards a $19.99 month-to-month subscription in the event that they wished in on the motion. Plot twist: People are shelling out greater than their Netflix subscriptions for it. In its first week alone, internet income spiked by 22%, raking in as much as $900,000 each day and totaling a whopping $4.2 million from May 13 to 17.

    • Don’t ScarJo, me, bro: Hollywood’s elite can now stash their digital doppelgängers in CAA’s high-tech “theCAAvault” prefer it’s a Fort Knox for AI clones.
    • The whitest sausage-fest in city: Despite years of complaints from girls and folks of colour about being sidelined in the realm of AI, Meta apparently determined variety is overrated. So, it assembled a crew of enterprise bros to information its AI technique. Cool, cool, cool.
    • Hit the street, jack: Expedia’s newest information reads like a cleaning soap opera script: CTO Rathi Murthy and SVP Sreenivas Rachamadugu have been unceremoniously kicked to the curb for breaking some mysterious firm coverage. The journey reserving large is protecting mum on the juicy particulars, citing confidentiality. Murthy was simply touting new AI options days earlier than her sudden exit — discuss dangerous timing!
    A general view of atmosphere at launch of new Citi and Expedia travel credit cards on September 17, 2014 in New York
    Expedia noticed a sudden change as some senior workers was despatched packing.
    Image Credits: Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Citi

    Most fascinating fundraises this week

    Bonjour! In the most recent episode of “How Much Money Can We Throw at AI,” French startup H simply snagged a cool $220 million in seed funding. Yes, you learn that proper — seed funding. With a founding crew that boasts extra ex-Google DeepMind workers than a Silicon Valley reunion, H is aiming to revolutionize productiveness with their “frontier action models.” Translation: They’re constructing robots to do our jobs higher than we are able to. Remind me why I’m sitting right here typing this text with my precise literal fingers? What is that this, the Twenties?

    • Hardware is much less onerous: Forget what you recognize about {hardware} engineering as a result of Rollup is right here. The startup has been lurking in the shadows for 3 years, quietly elevating $5.6 million from huge names like Andreessen Horowitz and Thiel Capital.
    • Many Layers: QuickBooks may be the daddy of accounting software program, but it surely seems to be like there’s a brand new child on the block: Layer. Fresh off a $2.3 million increase, this startup is promising to make accounting much less painful for small and medium-sized companies with its oh-so-fancy embedded options.
    • We don’t want no steeenking roads: Forget robotaxis caught in metropolis site visitors — the most recent craze is self-driving autos that chuckle in the face of street maps. Overland AI and Potential are main this off-road autonomy revolution, backed by VCs and Uncle Sam’s Defense Department.
    An ATV autonomously drives itself in off-road environment
    Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
    Image Credits: Overland AI

    Other unmissable Ztoog tales …

    Welcome to the job market in 2023, the place as a substitute of flipping burgers, you could possibly be programming a robotic to do it for you. Brian compiled a listing of 81 robotics corporations which can be hiring sooner than you’ll be able to say “artificial intelligence.” From humanoids which may steal your job (or make your espresso) to drones guaranteeing your Amazon packages arrive earlier than you’ve even clicked “order,” there’s by no means been a extra thrilling — or terrifying — time to dive into robotics. So go on, apply now and safe your home in the courageous new world of mechanical overlords 🤖.

    • Mo cash, mo passengers?: Buckle up, Minnesota! Uber and Lyft drivers are getting a increase due to a brand new state deal, however don’t get too snug in that backseat. Starting in 2025, drivers will make more cash — charges that left Uber grumbling about increased prices.
    • Soz, kiddo, no financial institution for you: Teen fintech startup Copper Banking is having a tough week. Its banking and debit merchandise are donezo due to Synapse’s epic implosion. The middleware supplier crashed and burned into Chapter 11, then face-planted straight into Chapter 7 liquidation.
    • Won’t you be my good friend: Bumble, the relationship app that’s now feeling friend-zoned by the broader decline in its core market, has determined to swipe proper on Geneva — a community-building platform. Apparently realizing that “Netflix and chill” doesn’t all the time translate to lifelong partnerships, Bumble goals to broaden its focus from one-on-one connections to group hugs and friendship bracelets.
    • VinFast horror: In a tragic twist that sounds prefer it was ripped from the script of an automotive horror film, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating an April crash the place a VinFast VF 8 SUV determined to play “hug the oak tree” in California — ensuing in the fiery dying of a household of 4.
    • Don’t fear, we have now all of your particulars already: Welcome to the digital age, the place even your lodge check-in may star in a spy ware drama! At least three Wyndham inns in the U.S. have been caught red-handed with pcTattletale, a consumer-grade spy ware app that’s been sneakily taking screenshots of visitor particulars and buyer information.
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