Thursday, December 19, 2024 | | | Welcome to TechCrunch AM! Today we've got strange tales of AI bots deceiving humans and making up religions, notes on memecoins and stolen crypto, and big money for your favorite smart wearables company. We've also got a look back at funding in 2024, a look forward into the tech trends of 2025, and lessons on risk-taking. Let's go! — Rebecca | | | Image Credits: Andrey Rudakov / Bloomberg / Getty Images | 1. Can drinking bleach cure COVID? One of TC's newest reporters, Charles Rollet, got the scoop that Google is forcing contractors working on Gemini to rate AI responses outside their expertise, leading to concerns that the chatbot could become prone to spewing out inaccurate information on sensitive topics like healthcare. Read More 2. Stubborn streak: New research from Anthropic shows that AIs can pretend to have different views during training, while in reality, they actually have their own preferences and don't want to be forced to change their views. I'm not panicking, you're panicking! Read More 3. Goatse Gospels: Bots with their own personalities is the theme today as we delve into the story of Truth Terminal, an AI bot that posted so hilariously and prolifically on X about its Goatse-centered religion that it secured a bag from Marc Andreessen. The story here isn't about the memecoins the bot inspired, but about the researcher behind it all and his hope to use the bot as a warning about decentralized AI alignment. Read More | | | 💍 And anotha' one: Smart ring maker is absolutely slaying this year. The Finnish company closed a $200 million Series D, bringing the company's valuation to $5.2 billion. The news comes a month after Oura announced it was partnering with glucose device maker Dexcom. Read More 🥷 Gotta fund authoritarianism somehow: A new report from Chainalysis found that North Korea-linked hackers accounted for 61% of all stolen crypto in 2024. The total value of stolen crypto this year surged 21% to around $2.2 billion. Read More 🇮🇳 Mixed signals from India: Indian startups raised 32% fewer funding rounds this year when compared to 2023. That said, overall funding rose 6% to $11.3 billion, which tells us that while investors are being more choosy, they're not shy about shelling out for the right startup. Read More 💰Menlo Ventures and Anthropic have announced the first 18 startups to get funding from their new $100 million Anthology Fund. The startups run the gambit from recruiting software and autonomous coding to fintech compliance and radiology image analysis. Read More 📈 The rise of quantum: BlueQubit has raised $10 million after coming up with a way to integrate quantum computing into real-world computer applications with its Quantum SaaS platform. The startup's offering comes at a time when sectors like finance and pharma are feeling the strain of classical computing's limits. Read More | | | 🌐 Our culture's at risk: The Verge has an exploration of digital decay, the process of webpages disappearing or being inaccessible as pages are taken down, URLs are changed, and entire websites vanish. What happens to our culture, the outlet asks, when websites start vanishing randomly? Read More 🔮 What will 2025 bring? Crunchbase News has predictions for what 2025 will bring to the tech and investing space: an M&A rebound, the return of the IPO, the continued hype of AI and blockchain, and a boom in space and defense tech. Read More ♠️ Risky business: Wired has a piece from Nate Silver, the poker player and statistician, on the 13 habits and traits of highly effective risk takers, from poker players to venture capitalists. Things like courage, "strategic empathy," and an ability to stay cool under pressure. Read More | | | 🪙 In today's episode of Jumping on the Bandwagon, we're taking a look at a startup called Neverless, founded by former Revolut executives, which wants to make it easier to start trading memecoins. The app lets you buy over 400 crypto tokens using Apple Pay or Google Pay. Lord help us, and also, sign me up. I hear Fartcoin is popping off. 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. 110 5th St,San Francisco,CA | | | | |
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