TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: Northvolt

⚡️ Northvolt goes south: Northvolt CEO and co-founder Peter Carlsson announced today that he's resigning but will stay on the board. This comes a day after his lithium ion battery startup filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Read more

🎊 New Year's resolution? British fintech Revolut is making big plans for 2025 — it's planning to release an AI-powered assistant to help users navigate its app. Revolut also wants to roll out branded ATMs that will dispense cash and cards. Read more

🍿 Plex gets a redesign: Streaming and media organization platform Plex launched a redesign of its software today, meant to make it easier to discover content and access a user's watchlist. The company hopes to be nearing profitability by year end. Read more

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Afternoon must-reads

Image Credits: Usis / Getty Images

☁️ X exodus tip: If you were a fan of lists on X and are not looking forward to transferring that information over to Bluesky, you are in luck — Pack2List is here to help. Read more

💰 More money for MatX: MatX, which designs chips to support large language models, has raised an $80 million Series A, according to sources. This is less than a year after the company raised a $25 million seed round. Read more

🧐 AI in the new administration: LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman shared his thoughts on how technology will be affected by the incoming administration. For one thing, he thinks Elon Musk's involvement in DOGE, while remaining CEO of xAI, presents a conflict of interest. Read more

🤑 Instant cash back: StoreCash launched in 2020 as an app that helps users get cash back immediately after they buy things. The startup says it helps customers earn $900 in cash back each year, and it just raised $3.7 million. Read more

🧵 Under pressure: Meta's Threads is definitely feeling the pressure from other social media companies. Earlier this week, it tweaked its algorithm. Now it is looking to test AI-powered summaries for its "Trending now" section, which is very similar to an X feature. Read more

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Around the web

🚖 Robo cab competition: Baidu's robotaxi division, Apollo Go, has rolled out robotaxis across more cities in China. The Verge argues that U.S. companies should pay attention because Baidu's vehicles are Level 4 self-driving and are under $30,000. Read more

⏸️ Polymarket pauses: Polymarket, a popular predictions market that runs on crypto, won't let users in France place new bets for a while, amid increasing scrutiny from France's national gambling regulator. Read more