Windows is getting a ChatGPT app

Plus: A big leadership shake-up at Google

View this email online in your browser By Rebecca Szkutak Thursday, October 17, 2024 Welcome to TC PM! Today we are looking at OpenAI's plan to release a ChatGPT app on Windows. We also get the details on a big leadership change at Google and on some new features for Apple Pay. Let's do it! TechCrunch Top 3 Image Credits: OpenAI 🪟 WindowsGPT: OpenAI announced today that it is launching a dedicated ChatGPT app on Windows. The company is currently previewing the product to select users but plans to roll out more broadly later this year. Read more 👋 Google shake-up: Today Google announced that Prabhakar Raghavan is leaving his role of 12 years managing Google's search and ad products. Raghavan will be taking on the role of chief technologist while Nick Fox will replace him. Read more 💸 Apple Pay day: Apple Pay is 10 years old today. Apple marked the milestone with the announcement that Apple Pay will be incorporating BNPL capabilities from Klarna and launching the ability to redeem rewards. Read more   A Message from Filance.AI Filance.AI serves 100 Million workers ignored by Credit Bureaus. Filance.AI challenges the traditional credit bureau model by integrating creator, gig worker, and freelancer data into banking credit engines. By centralizing income and performance data from one-third of the U.S. population, Filance.AI also offers this group access to fair, tailored credit solutions from top US banks, for free. Learn More   Afternoon must-reads Image Credits: Jirapong Manustrong / Getty Images ❌ You can't do that: Federal authorities announced the arrest of Eric Council Jr. today for allegedly hacking into the SEC's X account in January and posting a false statement that the organization had approved Bitcoin ETFs to be listed on securities exchanges. Read more 😵‍💫 Intentionally vague: Earlier this week, OpenAI released a statement that said it wouldn't pursue its patents aggressively due to its commitments to access and collaboration. AI experts told Kyle Wiggers they think this statement was purposefully vague. Read more  ⚙️ AI agenda: Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff thinks AI is overhyped in many ways, partially due to messaging from Microsoft. But despite the shade, Benioff said that the potential of AI is the most exciting trend of his Salesforce career. Read more 😬 Security slipup: Microsoft notified customers that it is missing more than two weeks of security logs for some of its cloud products. This is bad because these logs help folks spot potential intrusive login attempts. Read more 💻 A hack!: Insurance company Globe Life is being extorted for money by a hacker threatening to release stolen customer data, according to an SEC filing. The company said 5,000 customers are known to be affected by the breach. Read more Money, money, money Image Credits: Daniel Francis 🚔 Police products: Abel is a startup looking to use AI to help police departments fill out police reports. The company recently raised a $5 million seed round from investors, including Day One Ventures and Y Combinator. Read more 🪦 Death tech deal: U.K. end-of-life startup Farewell was acquired by a large funeral service provider, Dignity, for £12.9 million ($16.8 million). Farewell had raised more than $39 million in venture funding. Read more 💰 Take private: Zuora, a company selling software to help businesses manage their subscription-based services, is being taken private by GIC and Silverlake in a deal that values the company at $1.7 billion. The deal is expected to close in Q1 2025. Read more Around the web ✈️ An unlikely duo: The Financial Times reported today that Uber was in the very early stages of mulling over an acquisition of Expedia. This would be the ride-hailing company's largest acquisition to date.The FT outlines why Uber would be interested. Read more 🤖 Don't put in the papers that I was mad: After receiving criticism that the humanoid robots at Tesla's event last week were remotely controlled by human operators, Tesla released a video showing the progress the robots have made. Read more Featured jobs from Crunchboard Chief Technology Officer, Mary McDowell Friends School (Brooklyn, NY) Senior Software Engineer, Dyna Robotics (San Francisco, CA) IT Technology Analyst, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (Middletown, PA) Product Manager, Pramata Corporation (San Francisco, CA) Director of Marketing and Communications, AidKit (Remote) See more jobs on CrunchBoard Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $349 per month.   Check out some of our other newsletters: Startups Weekly TechCrunch AI TechCrunch Mobility Got a tip? tips@techcrunch.com Want to advertise on TechCrunch? advertise@techcrunch.com 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 Privacy Policy

Meta lays off staff across multiple teams

Also: Zepto in talks to raise $100M

View this email online in your browser By Rebecca Bellan Thursday, October 17, 2024 Welcome to TechCrunch AM! This morning, we've got details of yet more layoffs at Meta, why a YC-backed fintech is shutting down, the latest merger in cybersecurity, and a scoop on Indian startup Zepto's third round in 6 months. We've also got notes from Meta's chief AI scientist; how diamonds can help clear nuclear waste; an effort to keep AI competitive; Instagram's new safeguards for kids, and more. Let's go! — Rebecca TechCrunch Top 3 Image Credits: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP / Getty Images 1. Did you think the tech layoffs were over? Not even close. Teams at Reality Labs, Instagram and WhatsApp were hit by Meta's latest round of layoffs as the company ensures "resources are aligned with their long-term strategic goals and location strategy." FT reports that two dozen staffers were fired for using their $25 meal credits to buy household items. Read More 2. Cybersecurity consolidation continues: Cybersecurity unicorn Cyera has been gaining ground over the last few years as major breaches have hit governments and businesses. Now, Cyera's acquired Trail Security for $162 million. And it's raising capital at a $3 billion valuation. Read More 3. Quick commerce is on fire: India's Zepto is in advanced talks to raise $100 million in a new round that would be its third fundraise in six months. Clearly quick-commerce is doing way better in India than it ever did in the U.S or elsewhere. Read More Morning Must-Reads Image Credits: Paras Griffin/Getty Images for Operation Hope 🔻 Fintech is not easy: CapWay, a YC-backed fintech that wanted to bring financial services to "banking deserts," has shut down. In the aftermath of Evolve Bank's hacking and Synapse's collapse, banks became wary of partnering with upcoming fintechs without large bank accounts, CapWay's founder said. Read More 💰 The makings of a serial entrepreneur: Former HubSpot engineer Elias Torres sold his company Drift for $1.2 billion in 2021. But, as he told TC, he's "not done." Today, he launched Agency, which wants to use AI to automate tasks for customer success managers. Read More 🗺️ True AI remains a dream: Yann LeCun, Meta's chief AI scientist (and my favorite voice on X/Twitter), doesn't think today's AI models are really reasoning like a human would. He says if we want to get there (in a decade or so), we need to focus on building "world models." Read More 💻 Private equity in action: Squarespace is no longer a publicly traded company after private equity firm Permira bought out all of its remaining stock at a valuation of around $7.2 billion. Anthony Casalena will continue as CEO and chairman, and his stake in the company remains intact. Read More ☢️ Fixing the radioactive debris problem: Japanese startup Ookuma Diamond Device has stepped up to help remove radioactive debris in and around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. As its name suggests, it uses diamond chip-powered amplifiers to do it. Read More Around the Web 🌍 Will AI help Africa? A Financial Times article explores whether machine learning could have a transformative effect on Africa by putting revolutionary tools into the hands of individuals. Or will thrusting a foreign-born technology onto the continent deepen the development gap? Read More 🤑 A slice of that AI data center cash: Institutional investors have been pouring money into AI data centers, and that cash is now trickling down to startups, per Crunchbase News. To date, $1.3 billion has been invested in startups that make tools and solutions for data centers. Read More 🥊 Keeping AI competitive: The Open Markets Institute and Mozilla have published a new report titled "Stopping Big Tech from Becoming Big AI," urging policymakers to ensure that AI remains a competitive and innovative field, rather than being dominated by a few tech giants. Feels like that ship has sailed, but I still have hope. Read More Before You Go Image Credits: picture alliance / Contributor / Getty Images 📸 Instagram has introduced new safety features to protect kids from sextortion scammers. For example, people can no longer screenshot or screen-record ephemeral images or videos in private messages. It's a step in the right direction, but why do I feel like it's a small effort aimed at avoiding regulation? Read More Featured jobs from Crunchboard Chief Technology Officer, Mary McDowell Friends School (Brooklyn, NY) Senior Software Engineer, Dyna Robotics (San Francisco, CA) IT Technology Analyst, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (Middletown, PA) Product Manager, Pramata Corporation (San Francisco, CA) Director of Marketing and Communications, AidKit (Remote) See more jobs on CrunchBoard Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $349 per month.   Check out some of our other newsletters: Startups Weekly TechCrunch AI TechCrunch Mobility Got a tip? tips@techcrunch.com Want to advertise on TechCrunch? advertise@techcrunch.com 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 Privacy Policy