Friday, December 20, 2024 | | | Welcome to TechCrunch AM! This morning, we've got notes on Sam Altman's stake in OpenAI, a new AI fund out of South Korea, and Apple's strategy for dealing with spyware attacks. We've also got stories on a new startup by Twitch's former CEO, fresh truckloads of cash for Perplexity, startups helping industries wrap their heads around AI, and more. Before we jump in, a quick heads up that TechCrunch AM will be on break next week, so we'll see you in 2025! Happy Holidays! — Rebecca | | | Image Credits: Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg / Getty Images | 1. Oh, you mean that equity: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has always said he doesn't have an equity stake in the company, claiming he runs it out of love. But it turns out he did have a stake through a Sequoia fund that he's since sold. Read More 2. From Genius Girl to Silicon Valley: Songyee Yoon was so dedicated to her work at university that she became the inspiration for a South Korean TV show character. Today, armed with an PhD from MIT and experience running video game developer NCSoft, Yoon has launched Principle Venture Partners, a $100 million fund to back AI startups. Read More 3. Apple doing the right thing: When people become targets of spyware attacks, Apple alerts them and sends them to Access Now, a nonprofit and digital helpline. Cybersecurity experts who work with human rights defenders agree that Apple's approach is the right one. Read More | | | Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons | 🪄 The problem of AI alignment: TC's Kyle Wiggers got the scoop that Emmett Shear, the former CEO of Twitch, is launching a new startup. Stem AI is currently in stealth, but public documents show the startup is developing software for AI that "understands, cooperates with, and aligns with human behavior…" Read More 🫧 How big can the bubble get? Perplexity has reportedly closed a $500 million round at a $9 billion valuation as it goes toe-to-toe with OpenAI in the AI-powered search market. The fundraise comes a week after Perplexity acquired Carbon. Read More 🎥 And just like that: TuSimple is embracing its pivot away from autonomous trucking to AI animation and gaming with a rebrand. The company's new name is CreateAI, but it's still dealing with drama over its attempts to pivot and send its U.S. cash to China. Read More 📦 Seriously, where's my package? The logistics industry is an essential one, even though it can be fragmented and inefficient at times. Is it ready to be disrupted by AI agents? Boon thinks so, and it's just raised $20.5 million to prove that out. Read More 🥽 Do you have protection? Mindgard, a British university spinoff, is one of several startups that have emerged to help companies handle the unique threats that come from integrating new AI capabilities. Like playing a game of whack-a-mole, no doubt. Read More 💶 Angels on steroids: Europe has seen a rise in the number of firms run by solo general partners setting out on their own. One of the latest, Robin Capital, just closed a €15 million fund. Robin Haak, the firm's GP, spoke to TC's Mike Butcher about the challenges of raising in today's venture environment and his hopes for the fund. Read More | | | 🤖 Generalized robotics is hard to achieve, because robotics doesn't have the same internet-scale dataset that LLMs have. But a group of researchers this week unveiled Genesis, a new open-source simulator that lets robots practice tasks in simulation 430,000 times faster than they can in the real world, reports Ars Technica. Read More 🪃 Fair dinkum! Australia passed one of the strictest laws banning kids under 16 from using social media that holds platforms responsible for verifying kids' ages. NPR spoke to Julie Inman Grant, Australia's internet enforcer, about how it'll work and what the unintended consequences of the regulation could be. Read More 🚦 Nvidia has gotten the green light from the EU to buy Israeli startup Run:ai, reports Bloomberg. The EU was investigating whether the deal would be bad for competition, but found that other software compatible with Nvidia's hardware will still be available in the market. Read More | | | 🏀 Nothin' but net: Toyota researchers have created a humanoid robot that can shoot hoops, and how. It currently holds the Guinness World Record for the most consecutive free throws by a humanoid robot. Now they just have to get it to say "Kobe!" after every shot. Watch Now | | | Featured jobs from CrunchBoard | | | Has this been forwarded to you? Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. | | | Update your preferences here at any time | | Copyright © 2024 TechCrunch, All rights reserved.Yahoo Inc. 110 5th St,San Francisco,CA | | | | |
