Welcome to TechCrunch AM! This morning, we're looking inside a founder's diary of his time at DOGE; Nvidia lamenting regulatory hurdles; and a new early-stage VC fund. We've also got notes on Gamestop's bitcoin reserve; banking for creators; how AI can transform construction; a huge round for cybersecurity; the end of Musk's stint at DOGE; a new dating app, and more. Let's dive in! | | | Image Credits: Sean O'Kane / TechCrunch | 1. DOGE Diaries: Founder Sahil Lavingia published a diary of his time on Elon Musk's DOGE workforce, where he lasted 55 days before being booted for talking to Fast Company. The diary has a lot of revelations, like Lavingia realizing that the government isn't as inefficient as he was told. Read More 2. With friends like these… Nvidia says it incurred a $4.5 billion charge in the first quarter of its 2026 fiscal year due to Trump-fueled licensing requirements impacting its ability to sell H20 AI chips to companies in China. During the call, CEO Jensen Huang lamented that "the $50 billion China market is effectively closed to us." Read More 3. Zeal-ous about tech: Zeal Capital Partners closed its second fund with $82 million to back early-stage startups in fintech, healthcare, and the future of work – a show of faith for the firm in a tough funding environment. LPs include Citi, Wells Fargo, and Spelman College. Read More | | | | On June 5 in Berkeley, the future of AI takes center stage at TechCrunch Sessions: AI. Gain insights from experts at Google Cloud, Anthropic, Twelve Labs, Khosla Ventures, Amazon, Toyota, and more. Join founders, investors, and researchers for bold ideas, candid talks, and powerful networking. Save more by bringing a guest. | | | Image Credits: Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket / Getty Images | 🌝 r/blockchainbets: GameStop bought 4,710 bitcoin, worth over $500 million, putting it in the camp of companies like Tesla, Coinbase and Block that have done the same to grow their assets. Such bets might become more common with Trump backing the crypto industry. Read More 🤳 DITL: "Creators are real businesses, and banks don't understand them," feels the co-CEO of Karat Financial Eric Wei. To address this gap, Karat is launching a creator-focused business banking project, powered by digital bank Grasshopper. Read More 👷 Hard hat AI: Buildots wants to drag construction management out of the spreadsheet era. The Chicago startup just raised $45 million to grow its AI and computer vision platform, which helps track progress and predict delays using 360-degree cameras strapped to site managers' helmets. Read More 🔐 Cybersurge: Cybersecurity startup Horizon3.ai is on the hunt to raise $100 million at a $750 million valuation to boost its autonomous penetration testing tools. The company has already secured at least $73 million towards the total in a round led by NEA. Read More 😵💫 Streaming meets sim: Odyssey, a new startup from self-driving vets Oliver Cameron and Jeff Hawke, has built an AI model that turns video into an interactive experience. Think real-time, explorable streams – like a video game – powered by a predictive "world model" that generates new frames every 40 millisecond. Read More 👋 So long, farewell: Elon Musk has confirmed that he's ending his stint at the U.S. government. Some are reading it as a slow thawing of his relationship with the Trump administration, which has cost Tesla in sales and reputation. Read More | | | 🤨 Misplaced punishment: In NYC, e-bike riders are getting hit with criminal summons for running red lights. The Daily News argues that the city shouldn't punish gig workers who are effectively penalized for following all traffic laws, and instead look to the platforms like Uber, Grubhub, and Instacart that set unrealistic delivery time standards. Read More 🤑 Seize them! The Washington Post has published data from Chainalysis that provides some answers as to how much mystery crypto the Trump administration has seized for its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve – it's looking like it's upwards of $21 billion. Read More | | | 👨❤️👨 Those five little words: LoveJack is a new dating app that ditches resume-style bios for something snappier – five words, revealed before your face is. Founders Julia LeStage and Lisa Le say it's about bringing creativity and spontaneity back to dating apps. No swiping, just vibes. 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 © 2025 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. Yahoo Inc.. 680 Folsom Street, San Francisco, CA | | | | |
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