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Hello and welcome to the last ever Startups Weekly.
Do not worry! We’re not going far — the newsletter continues, but next week we’ll get a shiny new name and a brand new paint job.
As Brian, Mary Ann, and Zack wrote earlier this week, we lost a lot of startups in 2023, but honestly, I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Startups are not meant to last forever – they either grow into a fully-fledged company with a growth trajectory or cease to exist altogether. There’s no in-between, and while job losses and people’s livelihoods are a tragedy, that’s exactly why startup workers tend to be paid pretty well: Risk trades off rewards in the form of equity.
A tale of two halves
Image Credits: Jon Challicom (opens in new window) / Getty Images
Tim Stevens took a deep dive comparing the various driver assistance systems currently on the market. In this technological showdown, Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ and Mercedes’ Drive Pilot struggle to live up to their hype and prices, falling short of their more down-to-earth rivals from BMW, Ford and Chevrolet. It turns out that expensive doesn’t always mean better in the race for driver assistance supremacy, with hands-off features and automatic lane changes becoming the new benchmarks for road rights.
More than transportation land:
Round and round we go: Elon Musk’s Hyperloop dream hits the buffers as Hyperloop One shuts down, leaving high-speed rail to steal the spotlight.
What’s next? A Nokia Taxi?: Xiaomi’s jump into the electric vehicle market with its SU7, dubbed a “smartphone on wheels,” combines aspirational technology with the automotive industry. We looked at Xiaomi’s attempt to merge phone-like software into cars, with a side note about the challenges of building a car that’s both technologically advanced and worthy of the open road.
EV free-for-all (except non-free): EV fast charging networks are preparing for a turbulent 2024 as they battle the expanding dominance of Tesla’s Superchargers. Big players like Ford, GM, and Volkswagen are semi-reluctantly joining Tesla’s charging protocol, leaving once-promising networks like Electrify America in purgatory.
The glass holes are back
Image Credits: Brian Heater
Of wild that it’s been a decade since Google Glass was all the rage, but here we go again . . . We’re back to wearing all kinds of computing devices on our faces. Amazon’s latest Echo Frames, despite their improved sound, can’t keep up with the Ray-Ban Meta, which manages to blend technology and style more effectively. The Echo Frames are a somewhat underwhelming contender in the smartglasses arena, especially when compared to the sleeker Ray-Ban Meta, Brian concludes.
More from the world of hardware startups:
Coming soon to a person near you: Apple’s Vision Pro is rumored to launch in late January or early February. It marks one of Tim Cook’s boldest moves to date. Priced at $3,499, it’s an ambitious venture into spatial computing, despite VR’s historical underperformance and Apple’s modest shipping expectations.
More treatments than you can shake a pill at: MIT scientists are shaking things up in the fight against obesity with a vibrating pill, literally. This pill, once swallowed, vibrates to trick the body into feeling full, potentially replacing expensive drugs and surgery. Now if it could also alert us to new Netflix episodes, it really can do it all.
It’s the most wonderful time of naaaaaaar: That’s right, I’m joining the TechCrunch team at CES in Vegas next week. Here’s what to expect this year.
So what does 2024 have in store?
Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch
More than 40 investors share their predictions for 2024, with different views on IPOs and the future of AI. While some expect a return to exits, others predict a dry spell until 2025. Consensus is unclear, but all eyes are on AI investment and startup survival amid tighter valuations and selective funding.
More AI news from Team TechCrunch:
2024 in AI: Devin digs into the top eight predictions for the AI world for the coming year. There are some borderline obvious ones in there as well as some thought provoking ideas. Check it out!
Cough, Robot!: The New York Times is suing OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging they trained artificial intelligence models on Times content without permission. The suit seeks damages and the destruction of models containing Times material, arguing that the practice damages journalism and its brand.
Download LLM Offline: Giga ML aims to revolutionize the way companies use large language models (LLM) by enabling offline development. Their platform focuses on privacy and customization, addressing common business concerns about data sharing and lack of flexibility with existing LLMs.
Top reads on TechCrunch this week
Want even more? Well, damn, you’re starting the year kind of greedy, but I see you. Here are the top five stories from the latest Startups Weekly:
Well, it’s your fault we got hacked: “Instead of acknowledging its role in this data security disaster, 23andMe apparently decided to hang its customers out to dry by downplaying the seriousness of these events,” said Hassan Zavareei, one of the lawyers representing the victims who received the letter from 23andMe. TechCrunch.
It’s like the lottery, but YouTuber: MrBeast’s stunts have evolved into a new kind of American dream, where enduring weird and difficult situations on YouTube could pay off your debts. Driven by their desperation to pay off student loans or medical bills, contestants take part in extreme challenges like living in a grocery store or sharing a sparse room for months.
Real Estate Highs and Lows: Frontdesk, a short-term rental provider, is on the brink of collapse after laying off its entire workforce of 200 people. The company’s struggles, exacerbated by failed fundraising efforts and challenges with its business model, led to the drastic step just months after acquiring a smaller competitor.
The best gifts to avoid: Sure, Christmas has come and gone, but I still enjoyed reading Zack’s anti-gift guide. Warns of tech gifts with security and privacy pitfalls. Highlighting items such as genetic testing kits, video doorbells, VPNs, child monitoring apps, cheap Android tablets and online sex toys, the article advises against giving them away due to potential data breaches, surveillance risks and general privacy concerns.
X continues its decline: Fidelity has slashed the valuation of X, the parent company of X (formerly Twitter) owned by Elon Musk, by 71.5%. This follows a tumultuous year for the company, including a CEO change, challenges in attracting advertising and controversial decisions such as the reinstatement of banned accounts. The valuation cut reflects ongoing difficulties and the significant dilution from Fidelity’s original investment.
