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Happy Thursday, Croqueurs!
If you’ve ever been to Disrupt, you’ll remember we had a scene, two or three. This year, we’re pulling out all the stops, with plenty of tunes to tickle your curiosity. New for Disrupt 2023: The Security Stage, for those of us who love hacking, security, and everything in between.
TechCrunch’s top 3
- Yabba dabba doo!: 🎶 Bedrock, meet the Bedrock, it is part of the modern generative AI family. 🎶 From the city of Seattle comes Amazon’s entry into the generative AI race with an offering called Bedrock, writes Kyle. Of course, Amazon has to be different, so instead of building AI models on its own, it hired third parties to host models on AWS.
- Listen: Sarah reports of a pair of new Spotify features: iPhone users can now access the app faster thanks to a new lock screen widget, and there’s new technology to turn radio shows into podcasts.
- Inside the mind of a hacker: Our cybersecurity team does a lot of reporting on hacked systems, but Lawrence obtained first-hand verification from a hacker who was part of a group claiming extensive access to Western Digital systems. The end is spicy.
A glimpse into the world of AI
Beyonce painted by Frida Kahlo, generated by Stable Diffusion by Haje. Picture credits: Haje Jan Kamps
Artificial Intelligence, a creation that inhabits the realm of our deepest fears and highest aspirations, lurks in the shadows of our existence. It lingers, a paradoxical force, illuminating the abyss of human consciousness, while daring to challenge the very fabric of the essence of life. A relentless and untamed wilderness, the enigmatic potential of AI stretches endlessly, evoking both wonder and disquiet. Humanity, on the delicate tightrope between dystopia and utopia, must confront its own nature as it advances into the unknown, a cosmic dance with the ghost of the machine.
Yes, the previous paragraph is the result of asking GPT-4 to spit out 50 words about the state of artificial intelligence in Werner Herzog style. For what? Because we can. But also because KyleAmazon’s story about entering the generative AI race was the most read story on TechCrunch today. And because today we have a real wall of coverage on AI:
Startups and VCs
Comixology has truly changed the game. Before the arrival of the platform, brian knew very few people who had ever read a comic on a phone or tablet. There was too much friction in the process to prioritize screens over print, he writes, and suggests the app proved a viable option, thanks to a stocked store and user interface smart that has both adopted and adapted the sequential form. Now the Comixology veterans return with their own publishing house.
And we have five more for you:
13 VCs talk about the state of robotics investment in 2023
Image credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch
A veritable dozen baker VCs took part in our latest TC+ robotics investor survey, our first since February 2020.
“The intervening period was arguably the most important years for the industry,” writes hardware editor Brian Heater, who interviewed the group on several topics, including robotics as a service, emerging consumer products and the role she could play. in the fight against climate change:
- Milo Werner, General Partner, The Engine
- Abe Murray, Managing Partner, Alley Robotics Ventures
- Kelly Chen, Partner, DCVC
- Neel Mehta, Venture Capitalist, G2 Ventures
- Oliver Keown, Managing Director, Intuitive Ventures
- Rohit Sharma, Partner, True Ventures
- Helen Greiner, Advisor, Cybernetix Ventures
- Kira Noodleman, Partner, Bee Ventures
- Dayna Grayson, Co-Founder and General Partner, Construct Capital
- Paul Willard, Partner, Grep
- Cyril Ebersweiler, general partner, SOSV
- Claire Delaunay, private investor
- Peter Barrett, Co-Founder and General Partner, Playground Global
Three others from the TC+ team:
Tech Crunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get a head start. You can register here. Use code “DC” to get 15% off an annual subscription!
Big Tech inc.
Ivan had a pair of popular readings today. First, Snap is signing new music licensing agreements with multiple labels around the world to expand its Snapchat Sounds library. And let’s move on to Twitter, which announced its partnership with eToro to display real-time stock and crypto information. Ivan writes this following a feature launched in December that allows users to search for a ticker or coin symbol like $TSLA, $APPL or $ETH to get prices directly in search results.
And we have five more for you:
- Speaking of Twitter: taylor writes about more newsrooms bailing out on Twitter as Elon Musk dabbles in account labels.
- I need, need speed: Google’s Chrome has become much faster on Mac and Android, reports Sarah.
- The saga has only just begun: Jacqueline was able to test Solana’s Web3-focused Saga Phone, writing, “The process itself was easy – and admittedly fun – but using the phone wasn’t the smoothest experience. The phone was slow at times, and I had to close and reopen the dApps multiple times because the crypto wallet and NFT minting platform kept freezing. Don’t worry, she also writes that Solana is working on it.
- The moon is made of cheese, uh, water: Three brothers, and former SpaceXers, left this gig to start their own company to build spacecraft powered by water from the moon. Aria see you.
- It goes on and it goes on, I hope: In a move toward better environmental stewardship, Apple says new batteries will use 100% recycled cobalt by 2025, reports brian.
