Thursday, July 3, 2025

Welcome to TechCrunch AM! This morning, we're reading about Robinhood's "OpenAI tokens"; a startup's unconventional take on quantum computing; and a fintech going mainstream in Europe. We've also got updates on AI's white collar bloodbath; Lucid's success; Substack's video ambitions, and more. Let's get to work!

TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP / Getty Images

1. Nonconsensual tokens: OpenAI isn't thrilled with Robinhood's sale of "OpenAI tokens," which are tied to the AI firm's valuation. OpenAI wants to make it clear that tokens are not equity, and that it did not work with Robinhood on this, nor does it endorse the exchange's efforts. Read More

2. Schrodinger's semiconductors: TechCrunch got the scoop that Israeli quantum computing startup Qedma has raised $26 million to build its error mitigation software that supposedly allows quantum circuits up to 1,000 times larger to run accurately on current hardware. Read More

3. Eyes on the big leagues: French fintech Qonto wants to be a real bank. The startup, which targets European freelancers and SMBs, has hit 600,000 customers on the back of its take on BNPL, and now has filed for a banking license in France. Read More

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Morning Must-Reads

Image Credits: Sean O'Kane / TechCrunch

🔋 Inching ahead: EV maker Lucid delivered 3,309 vehicles in Q2, 6% more than the previous quarter, and set a new record for itself. That's a humble flex given the EV landscape has lately been marked by falling sales. Read More

🤖 What utopia? Everyone is coming out with predictions on the new bloodbath that AI will cause in the workforce. In fact, unemployment doom is becoming something of a competitive sport — Anthropic's Dario Amodei predicts up to 20% unemployment, while Ford's Jim Farley says AI will replace "half of all white collar workers." Thanks, AI. Read More

📹 Livestream nation: As part of a push to offer more video tools to creators, Substack is now letting users share clips of their live videos on Notes so they can get feedback in real time about their performance. That's ostensibly to help determine which clips creators should upload to other platforms. Read More

🎮 Time to play: A couple of playful hints from Google execs on X suggest that Google might be exploring playable world models, and Veo 3, its latest video generation model, might be the start of it. Read More

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Around the Web

🧑‍⚖️ AI Moratorium, Europe Edition: More than 100 European companies including ASML, Airbus, and Mistral AI have asked the European Union to hold off on implementing its landmark AI regulation for two years, claiming it puts the bloc's AI ambitions at risk, reports Bloomberg. Read More

☀️ Struggles ahoy! The team at the Great Chat podcast explore an important question on many of our minds: Are we going to get a break this summer, or does the fast pace of AI development spell the end of summer slowdowns? Listen Here

Before You Go

📽️ Lights, camera, prompt: Google has started rolling out its uncanny video generation model, Veo 3, to Gemini users in more than 159 countries. Users can generate up to 8 seconds of video, complete with audio, using text prompts. Read More