Monday, November 4, 2024

Welcome to TechCrunch AM! This morning, we've got a deep dive into OpenAI's ChatGPT Search; why rich companies are trying to hinder AI regulation; a startup that wants to foster affordable at-home care; and X changing what it means to be blocked. We've also got notes on a valuation cut for Ola; Threads' growing user base; a new face at OpenAI; big money for a robotic brain startup; and the problem of social media during election season. Let's dive in! — Rebecca

TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: CareYaya

1. CareYaya is a startup born out of common sense: It's a platform that matches people who need affordable in-home care with healthcare students who need to gain experience in the field. Simple and genius. Read More

2. Search me outside, howboutdat: ChatGPT Search had people so excited to see what it could do, the hype-driven folks went so far as to label it the "Google killer." But OpenAI's search engine isn't anywhere close to that goal yet, TechCrunch's Maxwell Zeff found, when he took it out for a test drive. Read More

3. Changing the definition of "blocked": X is rolling out its controversial update to the block feature that lets people you blocked continue to see your public posts. Read More

A Message from Grammarly

Decode AI ROI: Measure What Matters

Most leaders recognize AI's potential, but few know how to measure its value.

Join Grammarly's top experts for a webinar designed to guide you through an objective, data-backed approach to AI measurement. Learn how to justify scaling with confidence—focusing on the metrics that matter most to your business.

Secure Your Seat

Morning must-reads

Image Credits: RichVintage / Getty Images

🤝 The enemy of my enemy: I'll just let TC's Devin Coledewey say it — Microsoft and a16z have taken a break from counting their money to jointly plead that the government cease and desist from even pondering regulations that might affect their financial interests (or as they like to call it, "innovation"). Read More

🚗 Ola takes another hit: Vanguard has revised its valuation of the Indian ride-hailing startup to about $2 billion as of the end of August. That's down from a $7.3 billion valuation in 2021, though that was the year when money was free and valuations were overblown. Read More

🧵 Threads is on the up: Meta's social network Threads now has 275 million monthly active users. It's gaining steam, but it still has some work to do to become a better platform that can compete with X and other platforms. Read More

🤫 Shhhhh: Gabor Cselle, former CEO and co-founder of Twitter competitor Pebble, has joined OpenAI to work on a secret project. Cselle is a serial entrepreneur who has mostly played in the online media space. Wonder what he'll be working on at OpenAI? Read More

⚠️ We need to slow down: Sophia Velastegui, an AI veteran, says AI is moving too damn fast. She also encouraged more women to get involved in AI, because "when we join the conversation, we can help shape the industry and change that power imbalance." Hear, hear. Read More

A Message from Carta

Free SAFE Fundraising 101 e-book by Carta's experts

Raising a round using SAFEs? Carta's fundraising experts are here to help. Download this ebook to learn everything you need to know, including: the difference between pre-money and post-money SAFEs, convertible notes vs SAFEs, how dilution works with SAFEs, and more.

Learn More

Around the web

🇺🇲 Political ads gone wrong: An Elon Musk-funded super PAC is now straight up impersonating Democrats with its ad campaign that targets registered Republicans, reports 404 Media. The campaign, called Progress 2028, includes ads like "Imagine a world where the American Dream has no borders," that claim to be sponsored by VP and presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Read More

🤖 We all, Robot: Physical Intelligence has raised $400 million to build "a single generalist brain that can control any robot," according to Karol Hausman, the company's co-founder and CEO. The round was led by Jeff Bezos, Thrive Capital and Lux Capital, according to The New York Times. OpenAI, Redpoint and Bond also invested. Read More

🤛 Anti-social media: The election is tomorrow, and a majority of Americans say social media platforms – which seem to have reversed course entirely on combating political disinformation – will bear responsibility for any upcoming political violence, per Tech Policy Press. Read More

Before you go

Image Credits: Getty Images

🫡 Do your civic duty: Need a ride to the polls this week? We've got a round-up of all the transportation companies offering free or discounted rides — everyone from Lime to Uber to Hertz. And, of course, your local public transit agency. Read More

Featured jobs from Crunchboard

Senior Data Warehouse SQL Developer, Washington Dept. of Natural Resources (Olympia, WA)

Pharmacy Epic Application Analyst, OFFSITE (Toppenish, WA)

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)

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?
Get in touch securely.

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

View this email online in your browser

By Anthony Ha

Sunday, November 3, 2024

Image Credits: Barak Shrama/Slava Blazer Photography

TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 ended just a few days ago, which means we're still catching up on all the eye-opening conversations and impressive startups that filled its stages and booths.

Let's start with Bonobos founder Andy Dunn's comments about being diagnosed with bipolar disorder in college. As reported by Amanda Silberling, Dunn acknowledged that as an entrepreneur, he benefited from hypomania (the high state of bipolar disorder), but "the price that I paid was ultimately too high."

Now Dunn is hoping to build his new startup, an in-person social media platform called Pie, without sacrificing his hard-earned stability. And that's a worthy goal for any founder, even if they don't have a mental health diagnosis. As Dunn put it, "It doesn't take a diagnosis to suffer or struggle."

Keep reading to see what else TechCrunch is covering this weekend.

Weekend news and opinion

Image Credits: Barak Shrama / Slava Bazer Photography

How startups should think about government contracts: Rebecca Bellan recaps a panel about the boom in "national interest" startups, where Dcode Capital managing partner Rebecca Gevalt said that if a startup wants to work with the government, it needs to focus on getting repeatable revenue, not just grants. And if you're wondering where to start, Gevalt said the Department of Defense is "flush with money." Read more

Find your co-founder with CoffeeSpace: This Startup Battlefield company built a social networking app that matches up entrepreneurs who are looking for co-founders. CEO Hazim Mohamad told Aisha Malik that the goal is to "change the nature of how people can find business partners," just as Tinder changed the nature of dating. Read more

Wesley Chan goes unicorn shopping: Investor and early Googler Wesley Chan told Matt Rosoff that there aren't many commonalities between the founders he backs, except that they usually remind him of Sergey Brin and Larry Page, and they focus on building a great product first. Read more

What else we're reading 📗

Steampunk — that subset of science fiction focused on combining futuristic tech with a 19th-century aesthetic — might seem pretty far removed from our 21st-century reality, but a recent New Yorker article argues that the genre is more relevant than ever. Specifically, as we face the lure of automation and AI, it can be valuable to hold on to the steampunk vision of the world as "an aging contraption hurtling into the future." Read more

Also, Paul Graham writes about how generative AI might eventually divide the population into "the writes and the write-nots." Read more