Welcome to TechCrunch AM! This morning, we're exploring the logic of the X and xAI deal; what sci-fi means; and the origin story of CoreWeave. We've also got notes on: fresh funds for AI agents and drug discovery; how one fintech is preparing for its IPO, the Tesla Takedown movement, SpaceX and Apple's satellite fight, and more. — Rebecca | | | Image Credits: SAUL LOEB / AFP / Getty Images | 1. It finally happened: Elon Musk's xAI has acquired X in an all-stock deal that values the social media company at $33 billion. Is this deal meant to turn X into a data-gathering resource for the xAI, or simply to shed off some of the debt Musk & Co. incurred when they bought it? Read More 2. What is sci-fi? China Miéville, the author of novels like "Perdido Street Station" and "The Book of Elsewhere," says it's a mistake to read sci-fi as if it's actually about the future. "It's always about now. It's always a reflection," he told TechCrunch. Read More 3. Buzzwords: TC's Julie Bort sat down with CoreWeave's co-founder Brian Venturo in the wake of its public debut – the biggest U.S. tech IPO since 2021 – about how a closet of crypto-mining GPUs morphed into an AI training infrastructure play. Read More | | | 🏦 Deals, deals, deals: As Chime heads towards the public markets, the digital bank is revving up to attract customers. TC got the scoop that Chime is now offering customers who agree to have paychecks directly deposited into a Chime account an APY of 3.75%. Read More 🤑 Agent this, agent that: Seattle-based Temporal made a name for itself offering microservices, like helping platforms build integrations across apps. Now, with a fresh $146 million, Temporal will be one of the latest to support new areas like agentic AI. Read More 🙂 Everything's fine: Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas says the startup is doing just fine financially after users took to Reddit to hypothesize about cost cuts worsening the user experience. He also confirmed that Perplexity isn't looking to IPO anytime before 2028. Read More 🔥 It's getting uglier: Tesla Takedown protests are still going strong three months after they began. But there's a risk that the feds will treat peaceful protests the same as people throwing Molotov cocktails and label it all "domestic terrorism." Read More 🪑 People moves: Jennifer Salke is stepping down as head of Amazon MGM Studios, a move that could indicate dissatisfaction with the company's streaming strategy over the past few years. I wonder if the disappointment that was "Rings of Power" has anything to do with it. Read More | | | 🛰️ Apple v. SpaceX: A Wall Street Journal report details the clash between Apple and SpaceX as the iPhone maker tries to eliminate cellphone dead spots with satellite technology. Apple wants to expand its own satellite investments, but not if SpaceX has anything to say about it. Read More 💊 Drug discovery gets a boost: Isomorphic Labs, a division within Google using AI to accelerate drug design, has raised $600 million from outside investors. Jared Kushner-owned Thrive Capital led the round, reports The New York Times. Read More 🔮 Making money work for you: A Reuters analysis details how the Trump family took control of World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture, and grabbed the lion's share of half-a-billion dollars raised from selling governance tokens, which give holders the right to vote on changes to the project's underlying code. Read More | | | 🩺 Put me in, coach: Apple is developing a new version of its Health app that includes an AI coach that will be able to look at all your health data, including the food you eat, and suggest ways to improve. "You've been sitting for four hours and now you've had a donut. Tsk Tsk." Read More | | | 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. 680 Folsom Street,San Francisco,CA | | | | |
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