Welcome to Startups Weekly — HeyThe weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Sign up here to receive it in your inbox every Friday.
We’ve been drowning in AI news this week. Google’s I/O set the pace: In its keynote, the word “AI” appeared an average of once a minute during its two-hour keynote. Yowzers! Here’s the DL for Google’s AI plans.
OpenAI just dropped GPT-4o — the AI model that is ChatGPT on steroids. This new ‘omni’ wunderkind can handle text, speech and video like a multi-tasking wonder that jumps into espresso shots. Also, OpenAI co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever decided to jump on board. The guy who essentially helped build the brains of our future AI overlords is ready to chase some “personally significant” rainbows.
Meanwhile, OpenAI is now looking into AI-generated porn. Yes, you read that right — it looks like our future includes robots with an artistic flair for NSFW content. The company wants to produce “responsible” images and text without violating laws or rights. Between you and me, letting Skynet handle adult entertainment seems anything but responsible, but I guess you’ll have to stay tuned for more updates on this rollercoaster ride, because it looks like we’re headed for a technological dystopia with rate X faster than you can say “algo-rotica”.
Oh, it’s also worth noting that Anthropic has let the kids join the AI party, but only if developers play by the company’s rules. Teens can access third-party apps using Anthropic’s AI—not just Anthropic’s apps—provided those apps include security features like age verification and content filtering, and a wall of “COPPA compliant” signs that is affixed to every surface.
Nothing happened outside of earth AI? Of course, let’s take a look…
The most interesting startup stories of the week
Are you ready to hand over your love life to a robot? Bumble’s Whitney Wolfe Herd thinks it’s time for bots to date other bots, all in the name of cultivating “healthy and equal relationships.” Picture this: An AI “dating gatekeeper” critiques your insecurities, then sends its own bot on a trial run with another bot. If sparks fly, you might find a match! It’s basically Tinder meets ‘Black Mirror’ episode ‘Hang the DJ’ minus the dystopian glamour. While some people scoff, others wonder if living vicariously through digital avatars is worse than swiping right on someone because they have a cute dog in their profile picture. Truly, the most modern romance.
- Ring, who is this? Your creaking bones: Are you ready to feel ancient? Oura’s new smart ring features promise to tell you how miserable your heart is by measuring Cardiovascular Age. It’s like a magic mirror, but for your arteries.
- From cradle to cradle: Gather together, exhausted parents and eco-warriors! Alora Baby is here to save you from the endless parade of landfill-bound baby gear. The startup decided that your little angel’s crib shouldn’t be a one-way ticket to Trashville. Instead, they are state-of-the-art “remanufactured” products that are as good as new (or so they claim).
- Domo Arigato: Kyle Vogt, the man who with Cruise brought us self-driving cars that sometimes forget there are pedestrians, is back with a new venture: robots to do your chores. Vogt’s latest brainchild, Bot Company, has already raised $150 million in funding. One can only hope that these robots have better spatial awareness than his latest work.
The most interesting fundraisers this week
Have you ever lost a bet and ended up starting a company? Nicholas Johnson has, and now he’s here to save apartment-dwelling EV owners from the slow death of 120-volt outlets. Enter Orange Charger, selling $750 smart plugs that will get you enjoying your ride without owners breaking a cold sweat over installation costs. The company raised a $6.5 million oversubscription round
In a plot twist straight out of a Silicon Valley soap opera, Permira is taking Squarespace private in a $6.9 billion cash deal. The website builder you probably used to start your probably-now-abandoned blog has just been snapped up by some very serious people with very deep pockets. After riding the public trading rollercoaster and watching the stock yo-yo like it was auditioning for Cirque du Soleil, Squarespace will once again stay out of the prying eyes of the market.
- Layer? I hardly know!: QuickBooks, meet your new nemesis: Layer. This San Francisco-based startup just raised $2.3 million to upend the accounting giant by integrating accounting tools directly into platforms like Square and Toast.
- Spicy coins: In a world dominated by Sysco and US Foods, Pepper is the wild underdog disrupting the B2B food e-commerce scene. With a new $30 million cash injection led by ICONIQ Growth, Pepper is giving small distributors some serious tech power to fight back against the big boys.
- Won’t you be my neighbor?: Welcome to the world of PayHOA, where Kentucky charm meets SaaS brilliance. This one-time startup just raised $27.5 million in Series A funding — looks like even your local HOA needs some cloud-based financial wizardry these days.
Other Unmissable TechCrunch Stories…
In the latest episode of “Elon Musk Does Whatever He Wants,” the social media platform formerly known as Twitter now labels the words “cis” and “cisgender” as slurs. Yes really. While real Hate speech targeting marginalized groups skates by the innocuous, using a term recognized by medical and government authorities will get you a full-screen warning. It’s almost as if Elon is trying to make X a hostile environment for anyone not aligned with his new extremist fan base. Never mind that the vast majority of people on the platform is cisgender — if you use the word (or just enjoy basic human decency), consider this your cue to exit stage left.
Oh, and if Musk does whatever he likes… Guess what happens when you put Elon Musk and a profitable division in the same room? You fire it, of course! Tesla’s Supercharger network — an EV owner’s dream with its 50,000+ global charging ports — is now in complete disarray after Musk shut down the entire team.
- will you support me: Uber’s latest brainwave to solve the concert traffic nightmare: shuttle buses. Inspired by its success in India and Egypt, Uber is launching a ride-hailing service in US cities this summer for concerts, sporting events and airport trips — because everyone likes to be packed like sardines with strangers.
- A crushing disappointment: Be sad, folks, because Apple’s latest attempt to promote the new iPad Pro is a masterclass in how to alienate your creative fan base. In its “Crush” ad, they thought it would be pretty cool to show an iPad smashing traditional art supplies into oblivion. Spoiler: It wasn’t.
- are you tonight: Ever wondered how to manage a mob of frontline employees without losing your mind? Enter Sona, the superhero workforce management platform that just raised $27.5 million to revolutionize shift planning and scheduling for all those who keep society running while we binge-watch Netflix.
- Zeekr and you will find: Zeekr, the Chinese luxury EV brand owned by Geely, made a major entry on the New York Stock Exchange, becoming the first major US listing from China since 2021. Investors went wild, sending Zeekr’s stock price soaring soared 38% in minutes and valued it at $7 billion.
- A lightweight solution to a heavyweight problem: In a world where everyone is either on a fad diet or taking miracle diet pills, Sammy Faycurry decided to do something useful: create a startup that helps registered dietitians start their own practices and get covered by insurance.
