Facebook warns it could ban news, two giant SPACs are called off, and OpenAI’s ChatGPT melts the internet

Facebook warned today it could ban news in the US if Congress passes a bill that would require the platform to negotiate with and compensate publishers for their content. Andy Stone, Meta’s head of policy communications, said on Twitter that Facebook will “be forced to consider removing news” from Facebook if the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act is passed. Facebook previously threatened to block news in Canada and Australia when similar laws were proposed, notes The Verge.

Everyone's obsession with OpenAI's ChatGPT -- including the best ways to use it and how much to trust it -- has only intensified since its release last Wednesday. (We'll have plenty to talk about next month, when we sit down with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.) More here and here and here and here.

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HealthKart, an 11-year-old Indian startup that sells protein supplements and health accessories, raised a $135 million Series H round at a $350 million valuation. The lead investor was Temasek, with additional participation from Sequoia Capital India, Sofina, and IIFL. The company has raised a total of $225 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Runway ML, a four-year-old, New York-based maker of video editing software, for which the company has been releasing a bevy of generative AI features, has raised $50 million in Series C funding led by Felicis. Forbes has more here.

Aigens, a 10-year-old Hong Kong startup that provides online ordering and marketing tools for the food and beverage industry, raised a $14 million Series A round led by Ant Group, with Velocity Ventures, Phillip Private Equity, and Prizm Ventures also pitching in. TechCrunch has more here.

Chattermill, a six-year-old, London-based platform that aims to help companies unlock insights by analyzing customer feedback data across myriad digital channels, says it has raised $26 million in Series B funding led by Beringea, with participation Blossom Street Ventures and earlier backers DN Capital, Ventech, Runa Capital, btov, and SVB. TechCrunch has more here.

Loft Dynamics, a six-year-old Zurich startup that is creating virtual reality simulation technology for helicopter pilots, raised a $20 million round from Craft Ventures, Sky Dayton, and Up Ventures. The company has raised a total of $29.3 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Strangeworks, a four-year-old Austin startup that helps companies use quantum computing technologies, raised a $14.75 million Series A round led by Hitachi Ventures; additional investors included Raytheon Technologies, Lightspeed Ventures, IBM, Ultratech Capital Partners, and InQTel. Fortune has more here.

Twelve Labs, a South Korean startup that is developing video search technology, raised a $12 million in new seed round led by Radical Ventures, with Index Ventures, WndrCo, and Spring Ventures also anteing up. The company has raised a total of $17 million. TechCrunch has more here.

3Bee, a five-year-old Italian startup that develops systems to improve bee health and protect biodiversity, raised a $5.2 million Series A round. Investors included Grow Impact Fund, Anya Capital, and ESA. The company has raised a total of $6.5 million. More here.

Kapu, a Kenyan startup founded this year that enables consumers to band together in order to buy groceries at lower prices, raised an $8 million seed round co-led by Giant Ventures and Firstminute Capital, with additional capital provided by Founder Collective, Base Capital, Norrsken, and Raven One. TechCrunch has more here.

OneOrder, a Cairo startup founded this year that makes it possible for Egyptian restaurants to order food supplies through its online platform, raised a $3 million seed round led by Nclude, with A15 and Delivery Hero Ventures also contributing. TechCrunch has more here.

Onomotion, a six-year-old, Berlin-based has come up with a scalable way to do micromobility-powered urban logistics — cargo e-bikes with built-in cover from the elements and attachable containers, has raised €6 million ($6.3 million) in Series A funding, along with and €15 million ($15.7 million) in debt. The equity comes from Proeza Ventures, Zu na mi GmbH, the European Innovation Council and existing investors; the debt, in the form of a bond, comes from GLS Bank. TechCrunch has more here.

​​Prophia, a four-year-old San Francisco startup that is building a platform to scour and extract key terms from commercial real estate contracts, raised a $10.2 million Series A round led by Cercano Management, with SignalFire also chipping in. The company has raised a total of $15.3 million. GeekWire has more here.

Pylon, a New York startup founded this year that claims to be bringing a way for lenders and fintechs to embed end-to-end mortgage tools into their existing platforms, raised a $8.5 million seed round led by Conversion Capital, with participation from Peter Thiel, Fifth Wall, Montage Ventures, QED Ventures, and Village Global. Forbes has more here.

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Partech, the now 40-year-old Paris and San Francisco-based investment firm, has raised €120 million ($126.47 million) in capital commitments for its fourth seed fund focused on European and international startups at the pre-seed and seed stage. TechCrunch has more here.

Intuit has agreed to acquire SeedFi, a three-year-old, San Francisco-based credit-building platform, for undisclosed terms. Finextra has more here.

One of the SPAC industry’s most well-known sponsors and a would-be serial backer saw deals worth $10.6 billion go up in smoke in less than an hour earlier today. Alec Gores, one of the most well-respected sponsors, said today that Gores Holdings VIII would not be merging with materials science tech company Footprint. Meanwhile, Concord Acquisition Corp., whose chairman is former Barclays CEO Bob Diamond, pulled the plug on its tie-up with Circle Financial, a Boston-based provider of payment and treasury infrastructure software for online businesses. Bloomberg has more here.

Slack CEO and co-founder Stewart Butterfield is leaving Salesforce in January, Business Insider reported earlier today. We were wondering if Butterfield would leave Salesforce --which acquired Slack for $27.7 billion last year -- after learning that co-CEO Bret Taylor had abruptly stepped down. Taylor and Butterfield are long friends and Taylor drove the acquisition (we talked with them both about this last year). Butterfield insists the timing is merely coincidental, however. More here.

Brett Harrison, the former president of FTX’s U.S. arm, is trying to raise money for a new crypto startup focused on building crypto trading software for big investors, according to The Information. Harrison has reportedly told at least one venture capital firm he is aiming to raise $6 million at a valuation of $60 million. More here.

Jillian Williams, a fintech investor who joined the early-stage venture firm Cowboy Ventures last year after spending more than four years with Anthemis Group, has been promoted to partner. More here.

Israel-based funds have secured an increase in capital commitments for 2022, even as Europe's biggest venture capital markets struggle to maintain momentum.  Pitchbook has more here.

Crypto had a credit bubble.

Where did the missing billions go? Sam Bankman-Fried tells the WSJ he can only guess, as squabbles erupt around the world over who controls the insolvent company’s cash and crypto assets.

SmileDirectClub says it will fix your smile, but its refund policy seems awfully crooked.

An honest lease agreement.

Goblin mode. (You can look it up.)

He's the bad boy of chess, but did he cheat?

Robot parking lots are now a thing in New York -- and they aren't cheap.

Homes with tricked-out sports spaces.

A paper airplane propeller.