Tuesday, October 1, 2024

Welcome to TechCrunch AM! This morning, we have the deets on drama at a YC-backed startup, an investigation linking Lockbit with a Russia-backed hacking gang, and funding for a startup that's raised $50M to build AI sales reps. We've also got news on the dangers of social media, funding for infra cloud backup tools, Meta's silence on data training policies, and more. Let's jump in! — Rebecca

TechCrunch Top 3

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1. An open-source No-No: Y Combinator-backed PearAI caused a stir after admitting that its AI coding tool was a clone of an open-source tool called Continue. That became a problem when it also came to light that PearAI slapped its own made-up closed license on it. Read More

2. 11x.ai has secured $50 million in Series B funding, TC has exclusively learned. Andreessen Horowitz led the investment in the startup, which develops AI-powered sales development bots. Maybe they can use the funding for a new name because there are too many companies with "x" in their name these days. Read More

3. From one gang to another: U.K. and U.S. authorities have linked a senior member of the prolific ransomware gang, LockBit, to a previously sanctioned group, Evil Corp, which has links to the Kremlin. Read More

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Morning Must-Reads

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🥐 Swiggy gets a raise: Invesco has raised the estimated worth of its stake in Indian food delivery and quick-commerce startup Swiggy, implying a valuation of about $13.3 billion. Swiggy is on the fast track to go public, and the markup comes at a time when many investors are actually cutting the value of their holdings. Read More

☁️ Calling for backup: A team of founders who sold their previous company to Amazon is back with a new startup, Eon, aimed at reinventing cloud infrastructure backups. And they've raised a total of $127 million across three rounds at a $750 million valuation. Read More

📊 Structured data: U.K.-based Pydantic, known for its open-source, data-validation framework, has launched its first commercial product with the backing of Sequoia, which led its $12.5 million Series A. Read More

🛴 Tier becomes Dott: The two leading European scooter- and bike-sharing services are officially becoming one. Their goal as a combined company is to scale to offset razor-thin margins, so they'll merge into one app, one tech stack, and a single fleet of vehicles. Read More

🕶️ The thing about Meta's Ray Bans is that they have a discreet camera on the front for taking photos, which can be triggered inadvertently with certain keywords. Meta isn't committing to keeping these images private, nor is it saying whether it's training AI models with them. Read More

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Around the Web

🥔 Competition is coming for Nvidia: AI chip startup Cerebras Systems has taken its first steps towards becoming a public company, reports CNBC. The company recorded sales of $136.4 million and a net loss of $66.6 million in the first half of 2024. Read More

📱 Has social media fueled teen suicide? A New Yorker report explores how mental health struggles have risen sharply among young Americans, and what parents and lawmakers are doing to try to regulate social media companies. Read More

💍 One ring to rule them all: Oura expects to see its annual sales double to about $500 million this year and sees "healthy" growth in 2025, according to Bloomberg. The Finnish company is gearing up to release its new, slimmer ring with an improved battery life. Read More

Before You Go

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👻 Snap Map: TC got the scoop about a new feature Snapchat is quietly rolling out called "Footsteps" that uses Snap Map to show you where you've been. The map is Snap's key differentiator from competitors, but is it one the kids are asking for? Read More