Thursday, September 26, 2024

Welcome to TechCrunch AM! The tea is piping hot this morning as three OpenAI managers, including its CTO, leave the company, and WordPress officially blocks WP Engine from accessing its resources. We've also got a look at dystopia courtesy of Meta, a list of the top YC Demo Day startups, more funds for defense tech and fusion, and a potential $700M share sale at Wiz. Let's jump in! — Rebecca

TechCrunch Top 3

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1. Jumping ship: Bob McGrew and Barret Zoph, OpenAI's chief research officer and research VP, respectively, left the company hours after OpenAI's CTO Mira Murati said she'd leave. The departures come on the heels of reports that OpenAI is shifting from a nonprofit to a for-profit, and Altman reportedly is set to receive a nice chunk of equity. Read More

2. The lines are getting blurry: Yesterday was a big day for Meta, what with its Orion glasses reveal and other AI and mixed reality updates. But things are only going to get weirder, as evidenced by Mark Zuckerberg's video call with an AI-generated version of creator Don Allen Stevenson III. Read More

3. WordPress drama pops off: The open-source WordPress project has banned WP Engine from accessing its resources, which may cause major problems for the latter's customers. "WP Engine is free to offer their hacked up, bastardized simulacra of WordPress's GPL code to their customers…" wrote WordPress co-creator Matt Mullenweg in a blog post explaining the move. Read More

A Message from Roku

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Morning Must-Reads

Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch

🔥 Top picks from YC Demo Day 1: AI dominated Y Combinator's first Demo Day, and sectors like fintech and healthcare were noticeably quieter or absent. We've gone through the slop to find the 13 companies we think are worth watching. Read More

💰 Thriving post-breakup: TC got the scoop that since Peak XV Partners separated from Sequoia last year, the large India-focused venture firm has realized about $1.2 billion in exit gains. Read More

💥 The power of fusion: Fusion power and its promise of limitless energy supply, are seeing a boost in funding this year. The latest to benefit from this trend is Marvel Fusion, which landed $70 million for its laser-powered fusion wager. Read More

🚀 War is good for business, at least for the European defense tech industry, which has seen investments skyrocket in the wake of the war in Ukraine. Read More

🤝 A leg up for emerging managers: Pear VC is helping emerging venture funds get a step up in the world through its Emerging Manager in Residence Program. The firm will bring three pre-seed and seed funds under its wing to collaborate on deal flow and due diligence. Read More

A Message from VMware

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GenAI can significantly enhance productivity and revenue, but deploying it requires addressing privacy, security, control, cost and performance. This IDC whitepaper details how VMware Private AI handles these challenges.

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Around the Web

🚗 From Kia Boyz to Kia Men: Kia really needs to improve its security checklist. A group of hackers has found a way to hack and track millions of Kia vehicles through a simple website bug, reports Wired. Kia has fixed the vulnerability, but it goes to show that web security for cars is far from sufficient. Read More

🔋 EV charging is good for business: An MIT study has found that EV charging stations are good for other kinds of business. Because what else are you going to do while your car is charging, if not go buy yourself a treat for being a good eco warrior? Read More

👀 Wiz eyes immense share sale: The Israeli cybersecurity decacorn, which rejected an acquisition bid from Google, is reportedly exploring an up to $700 million share sale at a $15 to $20 billion valuation, reports Bloomberg. Read More

Before You Go

Image Credits: Richard Baker / In Pictures / Getty Images

☎️ Bringing 911 call centers to the 21st Century: A number of 911 centers are landline-bound, often have trouble finding callers, and can't process texts or photos. A startup called Prepared has now raised $27 million to further build its AI agent that can help dispatchers get callers' real-time location, receive texts and images, and answer video calls. Read More