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Hello and welcome to Wednesday Crunch!
On everyone’s mind today is the power of AI and if we are all doomed. Conny reports that over 1100 notable signatories have just signed an open letter calling for “all AI labs to go on immediate hiatus for at least 6 months.” Meanwhile, amanda explores how everything is “Goncharov” as meme creators are going mainstream with a big help from AI technology.
TechCrunch Top 3
- The future of work knows no borders: Payday, now replete with $3 million in new capital, plans to expand its African operations to Canada and the UK, carry writes The company provides a way for those who work remotely to receive payments in the currency of their choice.
- “Alexa, call grandma”: A new capability from Amazon brings T-Mobile customers into the fold to make and receive calls through an Alexa-enabled device, Ivan reports.
- Securing new funds: India-based insurtech company Acko, already backed by Amazon, is in talks for $120 million in new funding. manish has more.
Startups and VCs
With a drier-than-usual investment scene, founders are looking for more effective ways to reach the right venture capitalists. Thousands of founders have applied for land capital through a common application, natasha m. reports. The platform they have been using is Seed Checks. Founders are invited to apply using a one-minute form that requests a deck, note, and region. The application is then sent to 16 investors.
Autio, a location-based audio entertainment app co-founded by actor Kevin Costner and formerly known as HearHere, has raised $5.9 million. The funding round was led by iHeartMedia, Aisha reports. Autio uses GPS to tell stories of nearby landmarks, cities and towns with the goal of fostering deep connections and understanding of where users travel.
And we have five more for you:
Ask Sophie: What to do if I am selected/unselected in the H-1B lottery?
Image Credits: Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch
Dear Sophie,
After three tries, I was finally selected this year in the H-1B lottery! What do we do next?
— Winner wondering
Dear Sophie,
I’m in STEM OPT. My employer put me in this year’s H-1B lottery for the third time, but I was never selected again! What should I do?
— Lottery loser
Three more from the TC+ team:
TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps start-up founders and teams get ahead of the rest. You can sign up here. Use code “DC” to get 15% off an annual subscription!
big tech inc
Lots of Google-related news today, so let’s recap, shall we? The TechCrunch audience was particularly enamored with AishaThe story of a new feature on extreme heat alerts. Because? Maybe it’s because our weather isn’t cooperating with the current month. Meanwhile, Frederick Reports on the release of AlloyDB Omni on Google Cloud; Ivan Check out the new Google Ads Transparency Center; manish reports on an Android antitrust case in India; Aisha writes about the new Google search features; and Lawrence and carly Complete it with a story about hackers using spyware to attack users in the United Arab Emirates.
And with that, we hope you have a Google day!
Now here are five more for you:
