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Elon Musk just convinced Tesla shareholders to approve his $56 billion pay package, making him the highest-paid CEO in history — assuming he can avoid a Delaware judge’s disapproval. And where better to stage this circus than Texas, home of all things big, including egos? Shareholders erupted into applause at Tesla’s gigafactory in Texas when the results of the vote were announced. Meanwhile, Musk juggles more companies than a clown with a chainsaw and faces two new lawsuits (the only lawsuit a week is for dudes). Oh, and forget about any fancy ESG initiatives. these were shot down faster than you can say “corporate responsibility”. Who needs sustainability when you have Elon dancing on stage with 0.7 Twitter cash in a suitcase?
The most interesting startup stories of the week
It seems that Henrik Fischer’s ability to design cars is matched only by his talent for driving companies into bankruptcy. Despite aiming to be the Apple of EVs (with Magna playing Foxconn), the much-hyped Ocean SUV sank faster than the Titanic with software bugs, recalls and heated lemon lawsuits. Now, filing for Chapter 11 in Delaware, Fisker has gone from dreaming of revolutionizing the auto industry to trying to just avoid getting stuck with a $500 million bill. This marks the second bankruptcy of a Fisker namesake company. Can he make it to three? Stay tuned.
- Yeah, I saw that coming: Ever feel like your subscription services are conspiring against you? Well, Adobe has just been subpoenaed by the Department of Justice for allegedly facilitating the escape from Alcatraz despite canceling one of its subscriptions.
- You I will watch our ads: YouTube is at it again, folks. This time they’re pushing their crusade against ad blocking to new heights with server-side ad injections, making sure those pesky ads greet you before the video even lands on your device. Oh, and I summarized this story in the TechCrunch Minute series, if you’re more of a watcher than a reader.
- You go around in circles: Looks like Loop, the insurance startup with a noble mission to overturn discriminatory pricing models, has hit a massive fundraising wall. After 20 months of trying (and failing) to make money, co-founder John Henry had the unenviable task of announcing layoffs via Instagram.
Trend of the week: All eyes on AI
Apple has finally thrown its hat into the AI icon circus, joining groups like Google and OpenAI in a desperate attempt to depict AI with a logo that makes sense. Spoiler alert: They are just as clueless as everyone else. Is Apple’s new take on “Intelligence” essentially a psychedelic circle — wait, no — a one-sided infinity symbol? Actually, it’s the New Siri. Or maybe it’s when the edges of your phone glow like an alien spaceship landing. The real takeaway here? No one knows what artificial intelligence should look like, but let’s say some friendly pastel colors and call it innovation.
Meanwhile, Ilya Sutskever, the AI mastermind who last month decided OpenAI wasn’t exciting enough anymore, has started his own craft called Safe Superintelligence Inc. (SSI) with a few other former OpenAI friends. After a dramatic exit from OpenAI (presumably over how to avoid a Skynet takeover), Sutskever is doubling down on making sure super-intelligent AI doesn’t become our master any time soon. SSI’s mission? To balance the amazing advances of artificial intelligence with security measures so we don’t end up starring in our own ‘Black Mirror’ episode.
The most interesting fundraisers this week
Meet the dynamic duo who seem to have bypassed the quarter crisis and gone straight to swimming in cash. Edward Tian and Alex Cui, founders of GPTZero, are living proof that high school friendships can lead to multi-million dollar ventures. In just a year and a half, they’ve turned their AI detection startup into a money-making machine that beats your favorite viral app. With $10 million recently raised from eager VCs eager for an official raise, these guys are well on their way to creating an Internet where we can still tell if your essay was written by you or by your ChatGPT cousin named Cheech .
Other Unmissable TechCrunch Stories…
Each week, there are always a few stories I want to share with you that somehow don’t fit into the above categories. It would be a shame if you missed them, so here’s a random goodie bag for you:
- So what happened to Fisker?: Once again, Fisker proves it’s the little engine that couldn’t. Despite outsourcing their manufacturing to auto giant Magna and aiming for a quick launch, the EV startup ignored one glaring issue: It wasn’t ready to become a real car company.
- Tough times to be an Apple developer: Get ready to shell out one for your favorite third-party apps, because iOS 18 is on its way and it’s bringing its wrecking ball. Apple’s infamous habit of “sherlocking” — aka swiping ideas from third-party developers and baking them into its operating system — could reach nearly $400 million in app revenue.
- Vitamin: Well, it looks like personalized vitamin subscription company Care/of is officially calling it quits. The company announced that all subscriptions will expire by June 17. Despite being backed by $46 million from investors and a massive $225 million Bayer buy-in in 2020, it just couldn’t keep the lights on.
- That’s not how privacy works: In a dazzling display of cyber security cluelessness, EU lawmakers are once again trying to pull off the legislative equivalent of blindfolded toothy tiger juggling. Meredith Whittaker, president of Signal and a purveyor of common sense, slammed the EU’s latest plan to scan personal messages for CSAM as a surefire way to throw web security under the bus.
