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Ticking, TikTok: It's been a wild week for TikTok. Even as the company begins to test its twitter competitor in certain markets and launches its luxury thrift store in the United Kingdom, it encounters a lot of friction in the land of the free and the home of the brave: in an episode of “As the TikTok Turns,” the esteemed US House of Representatives, in a rare display of bipartisanship, passed a bill to give TikTok’s parent company a nine-month ultimatum: sell up or face extinction in the US. This is like giving your teenager three extra months to clean up. her room before punishing them…forever!
The bill also comes with a magic “90-day extension” button for the president's exclusive use. That thoughtful! This move appears to have appeased some skeptics in the Senate, and even President Biden agrees. Critics argue that this ban could infringe on free speech rights and harm businesses. (Who knew viral dances were so crucial to our economy?) On the other hand, as one lawmaker says: Consider it less banning entertainment apps and more deflating spy balloons.
How powerful are influencers?: The strangest curveball we saw this week was a reminder that people don't really understand how journalism or product reviews work. To wit: Humane ai raised $230 million before the product even left the factory. The hype was real until the ai Pin dropped to a hefty $699 plus monthly fees, and people realized it's much ado about nothing. Do not shoot the messenger; in this case, popular YouTuber Marques Brownlee, also known as MKBHD, whose crime was “Tell it like it is” with your review titled “Worst product I've ever reviewed…so far.”
Now, this YouTuber has more subscribers than people in some countries (18 million to be exact; in fact, if his YouTube channel were a country, it would be about the 69th most populous country. Cool). Apparently, being honest is equivalent to “potentially killing someone else's fledgling project.” twitter.com/dvassallo/status/1779753281960722706″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>according to former AWS engineer Daniel Vassallo. Funny how an underdog worth $800 million can hurt his feelings so easily! And by the way, this is not the first time; MKBHD was also accused of bringing down Fisker with another explosive review last month: “This is the worst car I've ever reviewed.” Dom and Amanda think it's remarkable that a YouTuber is perceived as having the power to make or break a company.
The most interesting startup stories of the week
Poetry Camera takes a photo and prints a poem. Image credits: poetry chamber
Next time you miss the good old days of squinting through a tiny viewfinder and praying your shot turns out right, remember Mood.camera. It is an application for iOS that offers you all the uncertainty of analog photography without trips to the photo lab. Created by developer Alex Fox, this app says “no thanks” to live previews and editing features, instead of focusing on old filters and letting fate decide how your photos turn out. Because who doesn't love a little mystery in their life? Don't forget to stay still for about three minutes while it “unfolds.” For $1.99 a month (or a one-time fee of $14.99), you too can experience the thrill of accidentally overexposing every image on your beach vacation like it's 1995.
Have you ever taken a photo of a tree and wished it were poetry? Well, neither does Joyce Kilmer. But in the age of ai technology, Kelin Carolyn Zhang and Ryan Mather have decided to bless us with their intriguing spawn: the poetry camera! This is not your average Insta click maker; Instead of capturing duck faces and plates, it generates thought-provoking (or as thought-provoking as ai can achieve) poetry based on its visual encounters. A Raspberry Pi serves as its brain, while OpenAI's GPT-4 produces verses worthy of Wordsworth (or maybe not). And here's the kicker: this camera prints your poetic masterpiece on paper, yes, on paper. No digital saving for that extra touch of nostalgia or is it just an easy way to avoid privacy issues? The jury is still out. But hey, if you've been longing for a physical reminder of your digital existence… go for it!
- A shared date is a risk reduced by half: Tinder launched a new feature called “Share My Date,” which allows users to send details about their upcoming romantic getaways right from the app. Now your friends can know where you are going, with whom and when. And let's face it, who doesn't love a good remote, digital third wheel?
- Caramba: Here's something that might help you navigate that murky labyrinth of sadness and stews. DayNew is a new social platform for dealing with trauma and grief, brought to you by two widows turned entrepreneurs who were fed up with the lack of adequate resources available during their own grieving process.
- No loans for you students: BloomTech (formerly Lambda School) has received a big slice of the humility pie from the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). After pulling back the curtain on its “not-so-risk-free” income-sharing loans and playing fast and loose with job placement statistics, the CFPB has imposed a 10-year ban on BloomTech's consumer lending activities .
This week's most interesting fundraisers
Image credits: Betty Laura Zapata/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Breaking news in the world of bling: Lab-grown diamond startup Pascal is making it rain with nearly $10 million in venture capital funding and a hefty revenue forecast. Who needs Drake's $400,000 diamond-encrusted iPhone case when you can get ice at an affordable price? These cultured gems are so shiny, they'll make your TikTok videos shine like a disco ball. Even Andreessen Horowitz couldn't resist investing some money in this gem of an idea!
Good good good! Last week we learned that Rippling was close to closing a $200 million funding round at a staggering $13.4 billion valuation. Now founder Parker Conrad has confirmed the news and revealed some juicy details. They were looking for a way to give early employees some liquidity (read: cash), but investor interest was so high that they had to expand their plans. As for going public? That's somewhere over the rainbow, Conrad suggests.
Other must-see stories from TechCrunch…
Oh, Tesla. With profits falling faster than a Cybertruck on a stuck throttle and electric vehicle sales feeling the pressure, it looks like the automaker is in a pickle. A 55% drop in profits? Oh! It seems that slashing prices on EVs like they were Black Friday deals hasn't worked out so well for them. Between wars, factory arson attacks, high-profile layoffs, and new models rolling off the assembly line slower than Los Angeles traffic, it seems Tesla has a long list of challenges. Let's hope Musk's plans work out better than the Tesla semi-truck production schedule.
Here are another handful of stories you might have otherwise missed:
- Formlabs' Form 4 breaks the cover: Formlabs has been making desktop 3D printing less of a pipe dream and more of a reality; It's been five years since the Form 3 came out, and what better way to celebrate than by releasing an improved version? Meet the Form 4. This great model features faster print times (less than two hours for most prints), higher print volume (30% increase), and resolution that apparently rivals injection molding (whichever is). that half).
- Bezos' animated creation is leaving California: amazon's Prime Air drone delivery operations in Lockeford fold faster than a poorly flown origami bird. Because? Well, amazon mumbled some vague reasons, but the experiment continues in Texas and will soon reach Arizona.
- The last post: Oh, post news. We barely knew you… mainly because we still had twitter. The a16z-funded microblogging platform that emerged as a fledgling enthusiast after Elon Musk's acquisition of twitter is closing its digital doors.
- Wait, what did you say?: Remember when Rewind promised to help you record your digital life and let you search it? Well, they will change their name to “Limitless” and produce a pendant (or is it a necklace?) that records your conversations.
- Robotics hiring: Folks, dust off your circuit boards and get connected to the job market, because Brian compiled a comprehensive list of 74 robotics companies that are hiring! From Advanced Construction Robotics with four roles to Exotec with 17, there are plenty of opportunities for all the wiring whiz kids.
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