Wednesday, February 12, 2024

Welcome to TechCrunch AM! This morning, we've got notes on a new lawsuit against DOGE, Founders Fund's latest cash draw, and ChatGPT's impact on the climate. We've also got details of why Google removed cultural events from Calendar, Microsoft's solar gambit, fresh funds for startups in climate tech and banking, the first major AI copyright case decision, and more. Let's go! — Rebecca

TechCrunch Top 3

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1. A lawsuit magnet: More than 100 current and former federal workers are suing Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency for allegedly accessing highly sensitive personnel records without proper vetting or authorization. Read More

2. Look out: Founders Fund is on track to close its third growth fund at the end of March. Peter Thiel's firm is raising $3 billion, sources tell TC, and the fund is expected to be "significantly oversubscribed." Read More

3. How bad for the climate is ChatGPT? Apparently not as bad as everyone thought. A recent analysis by Epoch AI, a nonprofit AI research institute, tried to calculate the energy used in a typical ChatGPT query and found it's "not a big deal compared to using normal appliances." Read More

A Message from DealMaker

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Morning must-reads

Image Credits: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

📅 Google Calendar gets a trim: As the war against diversity, equity and inclusion gains steam, people are noticing that Google has removed events like Black History Month, Pride Month, Jewish Heritage, and Indigenous People Month from the default view on its Calendar app. The company says it did this last year. Read More

☀️ Powered by the sun: Microsoft has procured 389 MW of renewable power from across three solar projects in the U.S. The electricity will add to Microsoft's renewable energy mix and feed its AI data centers. Read More

🌲 From farm to forest: Chestnut Carbon raised $160 million to buy degraded farmland, plant native trees on it, and then harvest the resulting carbon credits – a hot commodity as tech companies look to offset skyrocketing emissions from data centers. Read More

💸 Buy Now IPO Later: Tabby, a BNPL startup in the Middle East, has doubled its valuation to $3.3 billion following a $160 million fundraise. The funds will help the already-profitable startup to expand beyond BNPL and gear up for a potential IPO. Read More

📹 Bold move: Adobe has launched a standalone subscription service for Firefly AI that gives users access to the company's AI image, vector, and video generating models. The Firefly offerings will compete with OpenAI's Sora, Runway's Gen-3 Alpha, and others. Read More

🤳 The problem with ghost kitchens is that there's no brand that people can engage with, no storefront to visit, and no colorful chef in the kitchen to compliment. German startup Lanch thinks it can change that by tapping creators and influencers to launch and endorse food products. Read More

A Message from West Monroe

The High-Tech and Software Industry's 2025 Roadmap

An eye toward growth, reimagined data and the AI transition: What's trending

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Around the web

🧑‍⚖️ Thomson Reuters has won the first major AI copyright case in the U.S., reports Wired. The media and tech conglomerate filed an AI copyright lawsuit against legal AI startup Ross Intelligence. Five years later, it won in a case that may have implications for other AI copyright cases. Read More

💍 When the CEO is the customer: Bloomberg has a profile of Tom Hale, the CEO of Oura. Hale joined Oura in 2022 after becoming an acolyte of the ring's abilities to help him improve his sleep, and he's helped broaden the wearable's appeal beyond the biohacker fringe. Read More

🎯 The threat of adtech: Last year, an investigation revealed that Florida-based data broker Datastream was selling sensitive location data that tracked U.S. military and intelligence personnel overseas. A letter sent to U.S. senator Ron Wyden reveals the source of that data was a little-known Lithuanian adtech company, Wired reports. Read More

Before you go

🛍️ Search engine of shopping: Amazon is testing a feature that will redirect shoppers to other brands' websites if they search in the app for a product that Amazon doesn't carry. It's a smart, if dubious, move from Amazon. Many of those brands will use Amazon's checkout and delivery service, plus it gives Amazon data on what customers want. Read More