X and Threads battle it out for presidential debate crown

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Plus, the EU probes Shein and Temu while Volkswagen drives off with Rivian talent

View this email online in your browser By Christine Hall Friday, June 28, 2024 Welcome to TechCrunch PM! For your Friday afternoon reading pleasure, we have a look at which social media platform handled the presidential debate the best, a battery technology company going after a cold market, the friendliest venture capital firm you've ever seen and Haje's 100th Pitch Deck Teardown. Have a great weekend! TechCrunch Top 3 🥇🥈🥉 Image Credits: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images X versus Threads: Which platform best handled the debate? That depends on who you ask. There were definite differences between how the two platforms managed last night, with some saying X felt more alive and others asserting that Threads proved that X is no longer necessary. Read more Brrrr, it's cold in here: Artyc is developing a way to disrupt the cold chain with batteries. Its first product, Medstow Micro, helps hospitals, clinical trials and medical laboratories ship temperature-sensitive specimens. Read more Shein and Temu find themselves part of an EU probe: Amazon is not the only one trying to figure out how Shein and Temu do what they do. The European Union sent a bunch of requests for information to both platforms vis-à-vis their compliance with various requirements of the Digital Services Act following some consumer complaints. Read more A MESSAGE FROM HSBC Your Partner in Innovation  You can rely on HSBC for stability and sector expertise. Through partnership and a strong global network, HSBC Innovation Banking is here to support tech, life science and healthcare companies at every stage of growth.  Learn More Afternoon must-reads 🗞 Image Credits: Rivian Rivian talent found a new home at Volkswagen: Interestingly enough, it was months before the German automotive group signed a $5 billion deal with the electric vehicle maker. Read more HubSpot investigating a possible security incident: Rumors of some kind of cyberattack against HubSpot began circulating on social media today, and the company confirmed that earlier in the week, some customer information was targeted. Read more There's founder-friendly VCs, and then there's Ludlow Ventures: VCs Jonathon Triest and Brett deMarrais attribute their longevity to what's sometimes called "Midwestern nice." But is it crazy? Maybe not. Read more Pitch Deck Teardown: It's the 100th edition of Haje Jan Kamps' Pitch Deck Teardown series, and he has chosen to look at MegaMod's seed-stage pitch deck in which the gaming company pocketed a cool $1.9 million, bumping its post-money valuation to $27 million. Read more Social media creators go to Washington: Throughout Joe Biden's presidency, the White House has leveraged creators to reach their broad audiences about hot-button issues. Now the White House will host its first-ever White House Creator Economy Conference for a group of influential social media personalities and industry professionals to discuss issues like data privacy, fair pay, AI and mental health with senior White House officials. Read more Everything you ever wanted to know about Google Gemini: To make it easier to keep up with the latest Gemini developments, we've put together this handy guide, which we'll keep updated as new Gemini models, features and news about Google's plans for Gemini are released. Read more Unlock the secrets of successful fundraising: Among the TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 lineup is a panel of venture capitalists who will provide startups with the knowledge and strategies needed to navigate the evolving investment landscape. Read more A MESSAGE FROM NORTHERN DATA GROUP Scaling a startup is not easy... But it's much easier with the support of Northern Data Group's AI Accelerator. Apply now for access to NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPUs, mentoring from industry leaders and partners, including HPE and Supermicro, and dedicated access to NVIDIA's Deep Learning Institute. Applications close July 28. Learn More TechCrunch Minute 🕒 Image Credits: Getty Images / MirageC Beware the smiling robot with living skin: You have to admit these robots are creepy, but also so interesting, you can't look away. It's very "Terminator," minus the killing ability. Researchers at the University of Tokyo and Harvard wanted to create skin that would cling to an artificial substrate and then could be manipulated to do things like smile without any tearing or distortion. Is it "absolute nightmare fuel" as Devin Coldewey put it, or a viable method for attaching living skin to a robotic undercarriage? Hit play and let's chat! Around the web 🌐 Something's gotta give: Axios' Dan Primack writes that now that venture capital deals come with a decade-long time period, certain institutional LPs, particularly university endowments, may begin to bow out. Read more iPhone 16 will be hot: CNET reviews the iPhone 16, and why there's enough new and fun stuff on it to make you want to upgrade. Read more EVs are buggy? Who would have thought?: Those who buy electric vehicles often think there won't be as much maintenance as a traditional car. However, The Verge reports that EVs are basically a "computer on wheels," and there is no computer that isn't without problems. Read more Has this been forwarded to you? Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. 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