Welcome to TechCrunch AM! This morning, we've got a handful of funding rounds across genAI, fintech, and aerospace; notes on the price of running OpenAI's latest model; and Epic CEO Tim Sweeney's latest swipe at Apple and Google. We've also got a hands-on review of the new Nintendo Switch 2, the impact of tariffs on crypto, and more. Let's go! | | | Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch | 1. What's another zero? The Arc Prize Foundation has updated its estimate of how much OpenAI's o3 "reasoning" model costs. Originally, they thought it would cost around $3,000 to solve a single problem. Now it's looking more like $30,000 per task. Read More 2. Likening big tech to mafia: Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said Apple and Google were "gangster-style businesses" while speaking at a Y Combinator event. He said the big tech companies' illegal practices have hurt his business by scaring users away from installing Epic's Game Store software. Read More 3. Say no to IPO: Plaid has raised $575 million at a $6.1 billion valuation – a huge dip compared to its last $13.4 billion valuation in 2021. The company is still working towards an IPO, but definitely not in 2025. Read More | | | Image Credits: Dan Kitwood / Getty Images | 💹 Or say yes: While some startups don't want to brave 2025's public markets, Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, clearly thinks Trump's pro-crypto stance makes this the right time. This is the company's second attempt at a listing after it tried for a SPAC deal in 2022. Read More 🛰️ Straight out of sci-fi: Honestly, how many tech inventions have been inspired by Isaac Asimov's works? Here's a cool one: Aetherflux wants to bring solar power from space to Earth. Founded by Robinhood's billionaire co-founder Baiju Bhatt, the startup just raised a $50 million round from some heavy hitters. Read More 👀 Big if true: Web3 startup Watr thinks it can track tariffs automatically on goods coming into and out of the U.S. using its blockchain platform. With Trump's latest round of tariffs on everything and everyone, that might come in handy. Read More 🎮 Mama Mia! TC's Amanda Siberling got to spend a few hours testing out the new Nintendo Switch 2. Her take? It's pretty good! Particularly the graphics upgrades that highlight even such small details as the spaces in between each tuft of Donkey Kong's fur. "I am a changed woman," Siberling writes. Read More 💰 Living up to your name: Runway, a startup building generative AI models for media production, has raised $308 million in a Series D round led by General Atlantic. The company wants to build a new media ecosystem with world simulators. Read More | | | 🧑⚖️ Blow the whistle: Meta is trying to block former Facebook executive Sarah Wynn-Williams from communicating with members of Congress who are investigating the company's dealings with China, Business Insider reports. Read More 💦 Accidental advertising is the best advertising: U.S. Senator Cory Booker broke the record for the longest speech on the Senate floor – 25 hours straight – as he condemned the Trump administration. He wore an Oura ring throughout, which repeatedly asked if he was working out as his heart rate shot up to over 100 bpm, per The New York Times. Read More 🔮 Not so decoupled: It seems crypto is not immune to real-world market effects after all. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies fell after Trump revealed his global tariffs, reports CNBC. Bitcoin dropped 4%, Ether fell 7%, and the token tied to Solana dropped 13%. Read More | | | 📸 Prepare for Greenland pics: Meta says it will start combining the Instagram accounts of the Second Lady of the United States, Usha Vance, and the former Second Gentleman of the U.S., Doug Emhoff. That means whoever has been following Kamala Harris's husband will now be following J.D. Vance's wife on @SLOTUS. 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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