Google’s Gemini makes an appearance

TechCrunch Newsletter

By Christine Hall Wednesday, December 06, 2023

Google unveiled some new offerings today, including a closer look at its next-generation AI model, Gemini. In our top story for today, Kyle details what Gemini is and how it works in this lengthy chronicle. Meanwhile, Sarah explores how Gemini improvements will look on the AI chatbot Bard and Pixel 8 Pro. But, wait, there's more. Kyle also looks at the programming tool AlphaCode 2, while Frederic discusses Google's AI accelerator, Cloud TPU v5p. In other news, Ivan reports that iMessage may be immune from a European Union interoperability regulation. Score one for Apple. And Lorenzo writes about the cyber attack on a U.S. government agency's “end of life" software. Read more. Image Credits: Alex Tai/SOPA Images/LightRocket / Getty Images

More top reads Not your OpenAI's kind of AI: Liquid AI, a new MIT spinoff, wants to build an entirely new type of AI. See how it will do that. Squash that bug: Millions of patient scans and health records are spilling online thanks to a decades-old protocol bug. Time to scream and jump on a chair. All about that Meta: Meta didn't want to let Google have all the limelight today, so it made some news of its own. That included launching a stand-alone AI-powered image generator. Meanwhile, its AI unit added the ability to create new AI images when prompted and support for Reels. And remember all those celebrities lending their likeness to a set of Meta AI characters? That's now live across U.S. apps, among other things. When Q4 means more layoffs: Haje discusses why layoffs happen in December, and how to handle them compassionately. Read more. (TC+) Exposed!: A U.S. senator warns governments are spying on Apple and Google users via push notifications. Get the scoop. And your mobile password manager could be exposing your credentials. Art made easy: Sydney-based generative AI art platform Leonardo.Ai raises $31 million. Here's how it works. Sing a song: Sona launches its music streaming platform and marketplace to reward fans for buying "digital twins" of songs. Listen up. Nothing but blue skies from now on: Social media platform Bluesky says it will allow users to opt out of the public web interface after backlash. Nothing's private anymore, amirite? Credit card gibberish managed: Spade, a startup that turns the really long string of letters and numbers you see on your credit card statement into a merchant identity, raises new capital amid a shift in strategy to detect fraud. Read more. One long thread: X, the entity formerly known as Twitter, now lets users broadcast community posts to all followers. See how it works. Out of this world: OurSky, now flush with $9.5 million in seed funding, plans to build out a developer platform for space data. Here's how. Game on: Titan AI grabs some pre-seed funding as it leverages generative AI to streamline mobile game development. Learn more. Vast cash for Vast Data: Vast Data, a startup that provides data storage for AI workloads, lands $118 million. Read more. Even more for your Wednesday: Is business software too cheap? (TC+) Poppy says 'I do' to new capital for digital booking, fulfillment of wedding flowers Summer's secondary surge didn't last, but 2024 should be strong (TC+) Regulatory approval for this subscription solar UK startup could mean more are to come Respeecher's ethics-first approach to AI voice cloning locks in new funding Image Credits: dem10 / Getty Images

Venture Debt Remains Strong Amidst Slowdown in VC Investment Sponsored by Bridge Bank, a division of Western Alliance Bank. Member FDIC. Economic uncertainty has dramatically changed the venture capital landscape, yet venture debt lenders remain a strong partner for many technology startups, explains Mike Lederman, senior managing director in Bridge Bank's Technology Banking Group. Read More

On the pods Today on Equity, we're bringing you back to TechCrunch Disrupt 2023, when Alex sat down with Serhii Bohoslovskyi, the founder of no-code app builder Trible. Trible is a no-code software product that helps folks construct online courses. The pair are catching up on the state of the creator economy, the use of no-code tooling today and how it is received by non-technical creators, and the state of startups that have roots in Ukraine. Listen here. Read More Image Credits: Bryce Durbin

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When a buy now, pay later strategy doesn’t pay off

TechCrunch Newsletter

By Christine Hall Tuesday, December 05, 2023

ZestMoney, a buy now, pay later service, had a good run. It was once valued at $450 million and has some big-time investors, like Goldman Sachs, in its corner. However, in today's top story, Manish writes that new leadership, after an unsuccessful journey to find a buyer, plans to shut ZestMoney down. Get the scoop. Meanwhile, after Meta built some functionalities across Instagram and Facebook, Ivan reports that the social media giant decided to discontinue the cross-messaging feature between the two services. Here's what we know. And Annie covers Omniful's $5.85 million funding round that has the Middle East–based company coming out of stealth to digitize supply chain and e-commerce enablement. Read more. Image Credits: Jane0606 / Shutterstock

More top reads In more Meta news: Meta and IBM form an AI Alliance. Here's what that means. Speaking of AI, over on TechCrunch+, Alex writes that today's AI funding rush gives him all the feels of 2021 fintech investing. Read more. Master blaster: Fortnite expands its horizons this week with a Lego building game and a Rock Band successor. Game on. Breaker breaker one: Self-driving truck company TuSimple was flying, or should we say, driving, high in the U.S. Until it wasn't. Now it's leaving the country. Encrypted email no more: Used by only a few nerds, Facebook kills PGP-encrypted emails. Here's what happened. Link up: SoftBank takes a 51% stake in Cubic Telecom for $513 million to drive into the connected car world. Look, Mom, no wires. Toot toot, hey, beep beep: For iPhone users who really care about the color of text chain bubbles, Beeper reversed-engineered iMessage for Android users. Get the scoop. And thanks to Beeper, Darrell has a new favorite phone. Meet the OnePlus Open. When you need to find that next transmission: Egypt's Mtor nabs $2.8 million preseed for its online auto parts marketplace. Vroom. In the driver's seat: Foretellix raises $85 million to build and test scenarios for self-driving systems. Here's how. Carbon-friendly food: Carbon Maps, a French carbon accounting startup for the food industry, gets new backers. See what they do. Dumplings to your door: Vancouver's Fantuan raises $40 million to deliver real Chinese food to your doorstep. Knock knock. Heigh ho!: Mine digs up $30 million for its no-code approach to vetting data privacy. Read more. Even more for your Tuesday: Twilio might actually deserve activist investor attention (TC+) Rightbot, which is developing robots to unload freight, lands investment from Amazon Git platform AllSpice now curries favor with enterprises Vercel makes it easier to ship better code at scale Veteran life sciences firm RA Capital spins up 'planetary health' team to ride climate tech wave (TC+) Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch

TechCrunch Early Stage 2024 Call for Content Webinar Sponsored by TechCrunch Want to speak at TechCrunch Early Stage 2024? Get the insider scoop on how to optimize your submission at this free, online event on Thursday December 7 @11am PT. TechCrunch staff will walk you through everything you'll need to know before you apply. Sign Up Now

On the pods Today on Found, we're talking to David Rogier, the CEO and founder of MasterClass, a streaming platform where you can learn from the world's experts on a variety of topics, from baking to screen writing to developing empathy. Before David launched MasterClass, he worked as a VC. Through his connections, he received a $500,000 seed round before he even had an idea for a company. That was nearly a decade ago, and today Dom, Becca and David talk about how he's built the company since. They also talked about: His intentional ideation and testing process. How MasterClass landed top talent right out the gate. Why he thinks of MasterClass as a creative-first company. Their unique approach to hiring and his values as a leader. Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each week. Listen here. Read More Image Credits: Bryce Durbin

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