TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: NASA

Boeing vs. SpaceX: Two NASA astronauts are finally (hopefully) coming home after their eight-day stay was extended to nearly three months. NASA will now choose whether Boeing's Starliner or SpaceX's Dragon will bring them back home, and the decision could have ripple effects on the rapidly evolving space industry. Read More

Your robo-driver is here: Uber has signed on its second autonomous vehicle partner after onboarding Waymo's robotaxis to its app last year. In 2025, Cruise will also join the platform, a sign that the troubled AV company is getting ready to hit the road again. Read More

Burning bridges and building new ones: Sankaet Pathak, founder and former CEO of failed fintech startup Synapse, has raised $11 million in a pre-seed for his next act: A humanoid robot company called Foundation. And that's not all. Pathak took this opportunity to throw serious shade at Evolve Bank, which he blamed for the downfall of Synapse. Read More

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Morning must-reads

Image Credits: Google DeepMind

🪖 Once more into the breach: At least 200 workers at DeepMind have signed a letter saying they are concerned with Google's military contracts, particularly with the Israeli military. Why do I feel like Google's been here before? Read More

📉 A timeline of Synapse's downfall: While the founder of fintech Synapse is moving on, many are still dealing with the startup's collapse and bankruptcy that left millions of customers with no path to recovering nearly $160 million. Here's how Synapse got to where it is today, and where it might be headed. Read More

🥳 India's NSE gets a boost: 360 One Asset has raised its valuation of India's National Stock Exchange to $29.9 billion, up from about $18 billion last year. 360 One's mark-up is a sign of the growing confidence in India's economic future. Read More

🛰️ A Tesla alum aims really really high: Dhaval Shiyani helped Tesla grow its Fremont factory output of Model 3 vehicles from 50 to 5,000 per week in six months. He's bringing that same chutzpah to his new startup, Gimbal Space, which wants to create a supply chain in space. Read More

🙅 The case against open source: In-memory database company Redis changed its license earlier this year from open-source to a dual-license scheme to protect its tech from being poached by Google and Amazon for free, and so it can innovate more. The company has now launched Redis 8, indicating that it's ready to double down on helping developers targeting AI use cases. Read More

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Around the web

🇨🇳 China's AI chip workaround: Reuters got the scoop that state-linked Chinese entities are using AWS and other cloud services to access advanced U.S. chips and AI capabilities. The U.S. government has restricted exports of such chips to China over the past two years, but those restrictions don't extend to the cloud. Read More

🧑‍💻 Just when you thought coding was safe: The Financial Times reports that AI-driven coding assistant startups like Replit, Anysphere, Magic and Augment have amassed nearly $1 billion in funding since the start of 2023. The rush to pour money into such companies is a sign that programming could be one of the first jobs to be transformed by this AI wave. Read More

🪐 Samsung Galaxy Ring teardown: The consumer electronics giant's newest smart ring comes with a huge string attached, argues iFixit: It's 100% disposable, due to its lithium-ion batteries, which have a shelf life. And the way Samsung has designed it, you can't replace the batteries without destroying the ring entirely. Read More

Before you go

Image Credits: Tesla

🤖 Be the robot: Tesla is paying people $48 per hour to wear a motion capture suit and VR headset and move stuff around all day. Why? To train its humanoid robot Optimus to move like a human. Read More