Ben Horowitz’s latest donation to the Las Vegas Police

Also: Trump wants to set up a crypto reserve

View this email online in your browser By Dominic-Madori Davis Monday, March 3, 2025 Welcome to TechCrunch AM! This morning, we have great news for crypto bros, why the Dutch love Signal so much, Google adding even more features to Gemini, Ben Horowitz donating Cybertrucks to the Las Vegas Police, and much more. Let's go! TechCrunch Top 3 Image Credits: TechCrunch 1. Getting cozy with the cops: Ben Horowitz' cozy relationship with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police continues. TC's Sean O'Kane reports that  the billionaire has donated an entire fleet of Tesla Cybertrucks to the department. Last year, we reported that Horowitz had donated more than $7 million to the department over the past few years. Read More 2. All hail crypto: U.S. President Donald Trump is calling for a federal reserve of crypto assets to help "elevate" the "critical" industry. He mentioned XRP, Solana, Cardano, Bitcoin and Ethereum in his post on Truth Social, and all those currencies are trading up now. Read More 3. AI everywhere: Soon you'll be able to ask an AI to weigh in on everything in front of you, because Google has added a new feature to Gemini that lets you take a video and ask Gemini about what's happening. You'll also be able to ask Gemini about whatever's on your screen. Read More Morning must-reads Image Credits: Artur Widak/NurPhoto / Getty Images The Dutch love Signal: The privacy-focused messaging app has been No. 1 on app store charts for a few weeks in the Netherlands. According to the company's president, Meredith Whittaker, it's because people are grappling with a growing mistrust of big tech, want more privacy and are understanding how "vulnerable digital communication can be." Read More Speaking of politics, DOGE over the weekend laid off an entire government tech department that helped government agencies build tech products. Now, billionaire investor Marc Cuban has said he would invest in a consulting company if it's formed by that department's workers. Read More The new AI agent in town: Opera has unveiled an AI agent called Browser Operator that can do things like book tickets or shop for you. The company says it's safer than other AI agents out there because it runs natively in the browser instead of on a mirrored cloud instance. Read More Bolstering the weaker links: Cloudsmith has raised a $23 million Series B led by TCV to help plug the security gaps in the software supply chain. The startup monitors and hosts the open-source repositories developers use to make sure they're updated and safe to use. Read More Helping engineers waste less time: HackerPluse has raised a $1.5 million seed round for its dashboard, which connects with the tools that devs use as well as revenue markers to help team leaders identify where engineering teams are getting bottlenecked. Read More  Around the web Texas state of mind: Big tech seems to be more interested in Texas than ever. Along with Apple, which last week announced a 250,000-square-foot factory in Houston, Samsung, Meta and Tesla are looking to make the most of the state's lower cost of doing business. Read More Flying high: Ramp's valuation has nearly doubled to $13 billion, the Financial Times reports, after a share sale in which investors including GIC, Stripes, Thrive, Khosla Ventures and General Catalyst bought $150 million of stock from employees and early investors. Read More Before you go Image Credits: Brian Heater / TechCrunch What if working out was fun? That's the question Aviron has asked as it has sought to bring video games to its exercise equipment over the years. TC's Brian Heater has a great review of the company's new Victory Treadmill and the gaming experience it offers. Read More Featured jobs from CrunchBoard Head of Strategic Finance, GITAI USA (Torrance, CA) Senior Software Engineer, Source (Remote) Engineering & Support Senior Director, AAOS (Rosemont, IL) Research Systems Engineer - Computing Services, Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA) Machine Control Technician, Sinacola (Dallas, TX) 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 Copyright © 2024 TechCrunch, All rights reserved.Yahoo Inc. 110 5th St,San Francisco,CA Privacy Policy

Mapping out OpenAI’s startup empire

Also, who needs an Uber for bodyguards?

View this email online in your browser By Anthony Ha Sunday, March 2, 2025 Image Credits: Nathan Laine/Bloomberg/Getty Images OpenAI raised a big startup fund from outside investors — $175 million in its main fund and another $114 million in special purpose vehicles. Since the OpenAI Startup Fund was launched in 2021, it's backed more than a dozen startups (that we know of). Marina Temkin rounds up all the investment announcements, from the Norwegian robotics startup 1X to Arianna Huffington's health coach startup Thrive AI. While these investments may not have a direct effect on OpenAI's bottom line, they offer hints about where its team sees the biggest opportunities as the AI ecosystem evolves. Keep reading to see what else TechCrunch is covering this weekend. Weekend news and opinion Image Credits: Protector Who needs an "Uber for guns"? Amanda Silberling writes about Protector, a startup offering users the opportunity to hire their very own security detail. The app is getting plenty of attention on social media, much of it negative, which may be the point — after all, the startup's adviser, Nikita Bier, has written about the appeal of rage bait app ideas. Read more How to rid yourself of the new Apple Mail design: Amanda also discussed the new design of Apple Mail in iOS 18 — specifically, how to return your version of the app to the old design, and how to remove some additional visual clutter. Read more What is Mistral AI? Well, it might be the only European startup that can compete with OpenAI. Anna Heim has this handy overview of the company's models, founders, business model, and anything else you might be wondering. Read more    A Message from TechCrunch Unlock access to startups and investors at TechCrunch All Stage TechCrunch All Stage sponsorships offer unparalleled access to tech's top innovators. Through speaking opportunities, interactive roundtables, and customizable activations, position your brand at the forefront of the industry. Gain valuable leads, media exposure and lasting ROI. Learn More   What else we're reading 📗 Wired reports that Google has been working with New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority to experiment with using consumer tech as a supplement to subway track inspections. So far, they've secured Pixel smartphones to subway cars on the A train, where they listen for suspicious sounds. Read more Also, The New Yorker has an in-depth profile of Amelia Dimoldenberg, who's become famous for her YouTube talk show "Chicken Shop Date" — she'll be on the red carpet at tonight's Academy Awards. Read more Before you go 🎬 The legendary Gene Hackman died this week, making this the perfect weekend for a Hackman movie marathon. Featured jobs from CrunchBoard Head of Strategic Finance, GITAI USA (Torrance, CA) Senior Software Engineer, Source (Remote) Engineering & Support Senior Director, AAOS (Rosemont, IL) Research Systems Engineer - Computing Services, Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA) Machine Control Technician, Sinacola (Dallas, TX) 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 Events TechCrunch Daily News 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 Copyright © 2024 TechCrunch, All rights reserved.Yahoo Inc. 110 5th St,San Francisco,CA Privacy Policy