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Well folks, it looks like the Techstars drama just got a new plot twist. CEO Maëlle Gavet is leaving, leaving co-founder David Cohen to return and save the day, or at least try to. Gavet's three-and-a-half-year tenure was a rollercoaster of controversy, from employee exodus to closing accelerator programs faster than you can say “pivot.” Even though an $80 million deal with JPMorgan turned into a Titanic-level disaster and lost $7 million in 2023, she insists she wouldn't trade the experience for anything. As for Cohen? He is excited about his return as CEO.
The most interesting startup stories of the week
Linktree just hit 50 million users, proving that everyone and their grandmother now has a link in their bio. From a lowly 2.7 million in 2019 to this astronomical number, they are basically the popular kid at school that everyone wants to sit next to. Linktree is rolling out social commerce features so creators can showcase their pages and earn commissions from big brands like Adidas and Sephora. With over $300 million in monthly sales already flowing through those links, it's clear they're not kidding.
- Human looking for home: Humane, the brainchild of former Apple executives and creator of the $700 ai Pin that no one asked for, is now reportedly looking for a buyer. Apparently, it hopes to raise between $750 million and $1 billion, in case someone wants to add a wearable device that's basically a smartphone with commitment issues to their portfolio.
- Sonos hugs your head: Sonos finally answered your prayers and released its “most requested product to date.” No, it's not a speaker that pays your taxes, it's the Ace headphones. For $449, you'll soon be able to flaunt these over-the-ear beauties.
- Coming soon to a roundabout near you: The United Kingdom has officially waved the checkered flag for “driverless cars”; That's what autonomous driving is called there. How picturesque! Through the Automated Vehicles Act, you may find yourself sharing the road with robot cars in 2026.
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-trend-of-the-week-ai-drama”>Trend of the week: ai drama
It looks like OpenAI's latest chatbot, Sky, did his best Scarlett Johansson impression and got arrested! The ai voice flirted too much with ScarJo's iconic voice. OpenAI swears it wasn't trying to recreate the sultry tones of “Her,” but the internet couldn't help but notice the uncanny resemblance. CEO Sam Altman even tweeted “she” because, well, why wouldn't you, really? Now that Johansson has gone legal faster than you can say “deepfake,” OpenAI has removed Sky's voice from its product, while legal machinations rumble to find a solution to this mess.
OpenAI, meanwhile, doesn't seem to be doing much harm. The ChatGPT mobile app just scored a revenue jackpot with the launch of GPT-4o. Despite promising free access on the web, OpenAI decided to push mobile users towards a $19.99 monthly subscription if they wanted in on the action. Plot twist: People are shelling out more than their Netflix subscriptions for it. In its first week alone, net revenue increased 22%, raking in up to $900,000 daily and totaling a whopping $4.2 million from May 13 to 17.
- Not ScarJo, me, brother: Hollywood's elite can now hide their digital doppelgängers in CAA's high-tech “theCAAvault” as if it were a Fort Knox for ai clones.
- The festival of the whitest sausages in the city: Despite years of complaints from women and people of color about being marginalized in the ai space, Meta has apparently decided that diversity is overrated. So, she assembled a team of entrepreneurs to guide her ai strategy. Great, great, great.
- Hit the road take: The latest Expedia news reads like a soap opera script: CTO Rathi Murthy and SVP Sreenivas Rachamadugu have been unceremoniously ousted for violating some mysterious company policy. The travel booking giant is staying mum on the juicy details, citing confidentiality. Murthy was simply promoting new ai features days before his sudden departure – talk about bad timing!
This week's most interesting fundraisers
Good day! In the latest episode of “How Much Money Can We Spend on ai?”, French startup H just raised $220 million in seed funding. Yes, you read that right – seed foundation. With a founding team that includes more former Google DeepMind employees than a Silicon Valley gathering, H aims to revolutionize productivity with its “frontier action models.” Translation: They are building robots to do our jobs better than us. Remind me why I'm sitting here writing this newsletter with my literal fingers? What is this, the 20s?
- The hardware is less hard: Forget what you know about hardware engineering because Rollup is here. The startup has been lurking in the shadows for three years, quietly raising $5.6 million from big names like Andreessen Horowitz and Thiel Capital.
- many layers: QuickBooks may be the father of accounting software, but it looks like there's a new kid on the block: Layer. Fresh off a $2.3 million raise, this startup promises to make accounting less painful for small and medium-sized businesses with its sophisticated built-in features.
- We don't need roads of steel: Forget robotaxis stuck in city traffic – the latest trend is autonomous vehicles that make fun of road maps. Overland ai and Potential are leading this off-road autonomy revolution, backed by venture capitalists and Uncle Sam's Department of Defense.
Other must-see stories from TechCrunch…
Welcome to the job market in 2023, where instead of flipping burgers, you could program a robot to do it for you. Brian compiled a list of 81 robotics companies that are hiring faster than you can say “artificial intelligence.” From humanoids that could steal your job (or make your coffee) to drones that ensure your amazon packages arrive before you've even clicked “order,” there's never been a more exciting (or terrifying) time to dive into the robotics. Go ahead, apply now and secure your place in the brave new world of Mechanical Overlords .
- More money, more passengers?: Buckle up, Minnesota! Uber and Lyft drivers will get a raise thanks to a new state deal, but don't get too comfortable in that back seat. Starting in 2025, drivers will earn more money, rates that caused Uber to complain about higher costs.
- Soz, boy, there's no bank for you: Teen fintech startup Copper Banking is having a rough week. Your banking and debit products are ready thanks to the epic implosion of Synapse. The middleware vendor crashed and burned in Chapter 11, then was planted directly into Chapter 7 liquidation.
- Won't you be my friend?: Bumble, the dating app that now feels like a friend zone due to the broader decline of its core market, has decided to pivot to Geneva, a community-building platform. Apparently realizing that “Netflix and chill” doesn't always translate into lifelong partnerships, Bumble intends to expand its focus from one-on-one connections to group hugs and friendship bracelets.
- VinFast horror: In a tragic twist straight out of the script of an automotive horror movie, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating an April crash in which a VinFast VF 8 SUV decided to play “hug the oak tree” on California, resulting in the fiery death of a family of four.
- Don't worry, we already have all your information.: Welcome to the digital age, where even your hotel check-in can be the star of a spyware drama! At least three Wyndham hotels in the US have been caught red-handed with pcTattletale, a consumer spyware application that has been surreptitiously taking screenshots of guest details and customer information. .
