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Friday, January 26, 2024

Good morning and welcome to TechCrunch AM for Friday, January 26, 2024. Today we have a treat for you: India's first AI unicorn, the latest on Apple's slowly opening mobile OS, an insurtech acquisition, a new venture fund in Denmark, and news from Japan's lunar lander. To work! – Alex

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UK mobile merger under scrutiny: The U.K. government is putting together a formal probe into the proposed merger between Vodafone and Three UK. If the deal went through, the U.K. would see its number of major mobile providers fall from four to three. Startups, the lesson here is that antitrust fervor is not merely a U.S.-based phenomenon, and large deals around the world are getting closer looks.
India mints first AI unicorn: It's fitting that India's first AI unicorn is also the fastest company in the country to ever reach a $1 billion valuation – AI startups are operating in a 2021 venture world. Krutrim, the startup in question, is building an LLM that is "trained on local Indian languages in addition to English," TechCrunch reports.
Fortnite, Epic Games Store coming to iOS: In Europe only, we hasten to add. To comply with the European Digital Markets Act, Apple will allow users of its mobile OS to install apps from outside of its in-house App Store. That means new app stores, albeit with heavy rules and fees attached to them. Have fun battle-royale-ing on the go, Europe.

Image Credits: Peter Dazeley / Getty Images / Getty Images

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Troubled French insurtech Luko finds new home: Allianz Direct is buying the last remaining piece of Luko, a French startup that works in the home insurance business, for €4.3 million. For Luko, the deal marks the end of an ascent and fall that TechCrunch likened to a "roller-coaster ride" due to its ups and downs.

OpenAI responds to Congressional Black Caucus: TechCrunch viewed a response sent by private AI company OpenAI to the Congressional Black Caucus, which said that it is working on building a more diverse board. In the wake of the 2023-era, OpenAI leadership fracas, the company's leadership became even more male and white. Given issues with AI tech involving explicit and implicit biases in some models, the question of diversity in oversight of new artificial intelligence products is material and pressing.

Say hello to a new Danish venture fund: Kost Capital is putting together a €25 million fund, backed in part by Danish sovereign fund EIFO for what it's worth. The firm wants to invest in businesses that may underpin the future of food. The timing of the fund could be auspicious, with TechCrunch writing that "food tech is having a moment in Europe" today.

Growth is not (always) enough: On the back of 90% growth in 2023, Veho is cutting 19% of its staff, or around 65 jobs. Certainly this is not the largest layoff we have seen in recent days, but the news does underscore that even startups that are posting quick revenue expansion are not immune from pressures to lower their cost basis. Veho works in the shipping space, including offering last-mile deliveries in dozens of markets in the United States, with a focus on the Northeast.

Bill Gates is excited by humanoid robots: There's an argument in the realm of robotics that, as we have built a world that works for human-shaped entities, human-shaped robots have a good shot at fitting into our daily lives. Bill Gates is a fan, it turns out, and has notes on several upcoming humanoid robots. Please, tech companies, we all want this. We hate doing dishes.

The Solana phone is booming? Making a new mobile platform is hard work. Just ask Microsoft – RIP Windows Phone. Making a new mobile platform that is also web3-ready? It turns out that might be possible. Solana Mobile's first handset sold out, and it has a second handset with even higher sales goals. But it might not be a super viable platform for decentralized apps until it can sell even more handsets, which might take until it gets a third-gen device into the market. Still, getting even that far is a rare feat for companies trying to build a new mobile platform.

Image Credits: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Before you go

Japan lands on the Moon: Executing a 'soft' landing on the Moon is so complicated that only five nations have ever managed the feat, a figure that now includes Japan. However, TechCrunch reports, issues during its lander's landing process led to the piece of hardware landing upside down. Sure, it's slightly amusing to imagine a lunar lander going all turtles on its final descent, but the recent Moon craze is likely good news for space exploration more generally, so I refuse to make any humorous comments. To the moon, literally!