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Well, folks, it looks like Techstars’ drama just got a brand new plot twist. CEO Maëlle Gavet is making her exit, leaving co-founder David Cohen to swoop back in and save the day — or at the very least attempt to. Gavet’s three-and-a-half-year tenure was a roller coaster of controversy, from worker exodus to shutting down accelerator programs faster than you may say “pivot.” Despite an $80 million take care of JPMorgan turning right into a Titanic-level disaster and losing $7 million in 2023, she insists she wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. As for Cohen? He’s enthusiastic about his return as CEO.
Most interesting startup stories from the week
Linktree just hit 50 million users, proving that everybody and their grandma now has a link-in-bio. From a humble 2.7 million in 2019 to this astronomical number, they’re mainly the favored kid in school that everybody wants to take a seat with. Linktree is rolling out social commerce features so creators can slap storefronts on their pages and earn commissions from big brands like Adidas and Sephora. With over $300 million in monthly sales already flowing through those links, it’s clear they’re not messing around.
- Humane on the lookout for a house: Humane, the brainchild of ex-Apple execs and creator of the $700 Ai Pin that nobody asked for, is now reportedly on the lookout for a buyer. Apparently, it’s hoping to fetch between $750 million and $1 billion, just in case someone wants so as to add a wearable gadget that’s mainly a smartphone with commitment issues to its product portfolio.
- Sonos hugs your head: Sonos has finally 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 may soon flaunt these over-ear beauties.
- Coming soon to a roundabout near you: The U.K. has officially waved the checkered flag for “driverless cars” — that’s what they call self-driving over there. How quaint! Through the Automated Vehicles Act, you would possibly end up sharing the road with robot cars by 2026.
Trend of the week: AI Drama
Looks like OpenAI’s latest chatbot, Sky, did its best Scarlett Johansson impression and got hella busted! The AI voice was flirting too closely with ScarJo’s iconic voice. OpenAI swears it wasn’t attempting to re-create her sultry tones from “Her,” but the web couldn’t help but notice the uncanny resemblance. CEO Sam Altman even tweeted “her” because, well, why wouldn’t you, really? Now that Johansson has lawyered up faster than you may say “deepfake,” OpenAI yanked Sky’s voice from its product, while the legal machinations are rumbling around to search out an answer to this mess.
OpenAI, meanwhile, doesn’t appear to be hurting all that much. ChatGPT’s mobile app just hit a revenue jackpot with the launch of GPT-4o. Despite promising free access on the internet, OpenAI decided to nudge mobile users toward a $19.99 monthly subscription in the event that they wanted in on the motion. Plot twist: Individuals are shelling out greater than their Netflix subscriptions for it. In its first week alone, net revenue spiked by 22%, raking in as much as $900,000 every 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 on the town: Despite years of complaints from women and folks of color about being sidelined within the realm of AI, Meta apparently decided diversity is overrated. So, it assembled a team of business bros to guide its AI strategy. Cool, cool, cool.
- Hit the road, jack: Expedia’s latest news reads like a soap opera script: CTO Rathi Murthy and SVP Sreenivas Rachamadugu have been unceremoniously kicked to the curb for breaking some mysterious company policy. The travel booking giant is keeping mum on the juicy details, citing confidentiality. Murthy was just touting latest AI features days before her sudden exit — speak about bad timing!
Most interesting fundraises this week
Bonjour! In the most recent episode of “How Much Money Can We Throw at AI,” French startup H just snagged a cool $220 million in seed funding. Yes, you read that right — . With a founding team that boasts more ex-Google DeepMind employees than a Silicon Valley reunion, H is aiming to revolutionize productivity with their “frontier motion models.” Translation: They’re constructing robots to do our jobs higher than we are able to. Remind me why I’m sitting here typing this article with my actual literal fingers? What is that this, the Nineteen Twenties?
- Hardware is less hard: Forget what about hardware engineering because Rollup is here. The startup has been lurking within the shadows for 3 years, quietly raising $5.6 million from big names like Andreessen Horowitz and Thiel Capital.
- Many Layers: QuickBooks could be the daddy of accounting software, however it looks like there’s a brand new kid on the block: Layer. Fresh off a $2.3 million raise, this startup is promising to make accounting less painful for small and medium-sized businesses with its oh-so-fancy embedded features.
- We don’t need no steeenking roads: Forget robotaxis stuck in city traffic — the most recent craze is self-driving vehicles that laugh within the face of road maps. Overland AI and Potential are leading this off-road autonomy revolution, backed by VCs and Uncle Sam’s Defense Department.
Other unmissable TechCrunch stories …
Welcome to the job market in 2023, where as a substitute of flipping burgers, you would be programming a robot to do it for you. Brian compiled a listing of 81 robotics firms which can be hiring faster than you may say “artificial intelligence.” From humanoids which may steal your job (or make your coffee) to drones ensuring your Amazon packages arrive before you’ve even clicked “order,” there’s never been a more thrilling — or terrifying — time to dive into robotics. So go on, apply now and secure your home within the brave latest world of mechanical overlords 🤖.
- Mo money, mo passengers?: Buckle up, Minnesota! Uber and Lyft drivers are getting a raise because of a brand new state deal, but don’t get too comfortable in that backseat. Starting in 2025, drivers will earn more money — rates that left Uber grumbling about higher costs.
- Soz, kiddo, no bank for you: Teen fintech startup Copper Banking is having a rough week. Its banking and debit products are donezo because of Synapse’s epic implosion. The middleware provider crashed and burned into Chapter 11, then face-planted straight into Chapter 7 liquidation.
- Won’t you be my friend: Bumble, the dating app that’s now feeling friend-zoned by the broader decline in its core market, has decided to swipe right on Geneva — a community-building platform. Apparently realizing that “Netflix and chill” doesn’t at all times translate to lifelong partnerships, Bumble goals to expand its focus from one-on-one connections to group hugs and friendship bracelets.
- VinFast horror: In a tragic twist that feels like it was ripped from the script of an automotive horror movie, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating an April crash where a VinFast VF 8 SUV decided to play “hug the oak tree” in California — leading to the fiery death of a family of 4.
- Don’t worry, we’ve got all of your details already: Welcome to the digital age, where even your hotel check-in might star in a spyware drama! No less than three Wyndham hotels within the U.S. have been caught red-handed with pcTattletale, a consumer-grade spyware app that’s been sneakily taking screenshots of guest details and customer info.
