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I know I usually run Startups Weekly with my own column (and I wrote one this week, so if you're somehow a fan of everything I write, go for it), but Devin's piece opposing ai pseudontropy is a must-see . -read. He proposes a new set of rules that AIs must follow to preserve our humanity:
- ai must rhyme.
- ai cannot present a face or identity.
- ai cannot “feel” or “think.”
- Figures, decisions and answers derived from ai should be marked with '⸫'.
- ai should not make life or death decisions.
- ai images should have a corner cropped.
Yes, these suggestions cannot realistically be implemented, but read the article anyway; delves into some of the interesting challenges we face as AIs become more mature and ubiquitous.
Well, with today's philosophy lesson over, let's dig in and see what else is out there in the Honorable Royal Kingdom of Startups.
Flying high, diving deep
Image credits: Bird
The turbulent startup journey continues.
Bird, once a high-flying electric scooter company, has crashed into bankruptcy. After a wild ride from a $2 billion valuation to a financial floor, this former micromobility cartel is now restructuring its finances faster than one of its scooters racing downhill with a tailwind. Now they're relying on Chapter 11 to keep their wheels turning, but only after ruffling a few feathers and hoping someone finds enough value in their assets to buy them. The irony? Its Canadian and European operations continue to move forward as if nothing had happened.
I'm not going to say “I told you so,” but it was definitely no coincidence that I chose Bird as an example for the 'Understanding the Levers of Your Business' post I wrote in 2018. . .
Anyway. Here are some more stories that have kept you all clicking:
Back to startups: Eric Wu, co-founder of Opendoor, is once again abandoning his executive chair for a bean bag in the startup world. After a decade of playing real estate Tetris, Wu is ready to get back to building things from the ground up, in the midst of the toughest real estate market in more than 40 years.
Do you feel even safer?: In a move that is less surprising than discovering your password is still “password123”, Okta has acquired the security company Spera for a cool $100 million. The latter is like a Sherlock Holmes of cybersecurity, detecting digital weaknesses before they become full-blown disasters.
I bet this newsletter activates your algorithms: Meltwater, the master of media monitoring who has been dancing around print and digital news like a tech-savvy dancer, just got a $65 million pat on the back from Verdane, valuing the company at $592 million.
When artificial intelligence prevails more than real intelligence
Image credits: fake images
Devin opens the ai crystal ball in 2024 and predicts a roller coaster ride from hype to reality. He suggests that OpenAI, after the change in leadership, could transform into an Apple-like product powerhouse with its own ai app store. Meanwhile, niche ai applications, such as agent-based models and generative multimedia, could go from “meh” to “hmm, interesting,” especially in monotonous tasks like insurance claims. In the political sphere, ai could become a tool of disinformation and manipulation in the 2024 elections, where bot accounts and fake news will add to the chaos.
I can't say I disagree. When media literacy hits rock bottom and ai is booming, we have a perfect storm.
Great, great, great. What else has been cooking in the ai kitchen?
Composers, composers, composers: Microsoft Copilot, the ai-powered chatbot, is now dipping its digital feet into the world of music composition through an integration with GenAI music app Suno. Users can ask Copilot to create complete songs, including lyrics and instruments, with requests like “Create a pop song about adventures with your family.”
Hey Spotify, make me a playlist where each song starts with the letters W, T and F: Spotify is testing an “ai playlists” feature that allows users to create playlists using ai prompts. Users can type messages in an ai chatbot-style box or choose from suggested messages like “Focus on work with instrumental electronic music” or “Songs that will probably drive my parents crazy.”
Sorry Charles Ponzi, you can't shop here: Rite Aid has been banned from using facial recognition software for five years after it was found that its “reckless use of facial surveillance systems” caused customer humiliation and compromised sensitive information.
There's an application for that
Image credits: Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch
Apple has been ordered to shell out $25 million to settle a lawsuit over its Family Sharing feature. The Cupertino-based software giant was promoting a “share all” feature for apps that were . . . not shareable. Despite the “Who, us?” From Apple Because of their position, they decided to invest money in solving the problem instead of enduring the endless judicial drama. Now, some lucky Family Sharing users from the good old days (2015-2019) could score a whopping $30 payout. That's three months of an Apple TV+ subscription after the price increase. Hurrah.
Apple came out on top compared to Google's recent day in court. In a “My bad, here's some money” move, Google is digging through its couch cushions for an extra $700 million to settle a lawsuit over its Play Store monopoly antics. Of this, $630 million goes to American consumers and about $70 million goes to the country's states. The search giant, once known for its motto “Do no evil,” apparently did not extend it to app distribution on Android. As part of the deal, Google is also revamping its user choice billing program in the US, allowing developers more freedom in billing methods. They're even making sideloading (i.e. installing apps without Google's blessing) less of a digital obstacle course. But let's not get too excited: As Epic Games' vice president of public policy points out, consumers are likely still overpaying for digital products thanks to Google's high fees. So while Google Wallet is getting lighter, our wallets may not feel much different.
“Court shenanigans aside.” . .
Sharing is showing interest: Claim, the new kid on social media, is trying to make sharing rewards with friends the next big thing. They have raised $4 million from Sequoia Capital to turn purchasing things into a multiplayer game.
Hello, I didn't see you there: Jagat, a location-based social network that is all about real-life connections, has crossed 10 million users. Launched in March, this app, which is like a social map for friends and activities, aims to make social media, well, social again.
Link in bio: Australian link-in-bio platform Linktree has acquired competitor Koji from GoMeta. In this digital Monopoly game, Linktree is not only expanding its empire but is also phasing out the Koji product by January 2024.
Top Reads on TechCrunch This Week
I dove into our analytics software to see what else might be worth highlighting from the past week. Here is some further reading:
Taking the oxygen out of Apple's Christmas candles: Apple has stopped sales of its Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 due to a patent dispute with Masimo, a medical technology company. The dispute involves the blood oxygen sensor in Apple smart watches.
To Xfinity and beyond: Comcast's Xfinity service was the victim of a cyberattack that affected nearly 36 million customers. The breach potentially exposed customer usernames, hashed passwords, contact information, dates of birth, portions of Social Security numbers, and secret questions and answers.
Where were you?: Google, in a move that could make Big Brother a little less nosy, announced plans to store users' location data on their devices rather than its servers. This change aims to end the use of “geofencing warrants,” where police require Google to hand over data from devices in a specific area at a certain time. These orders have been criticized as being overly broad and possibly unconstitutional.
