SBF whiffs, Stability AI shrinks, and Cruise hits the brakes on all of its driverless operations

Amazon's revenue jumped 13% in the third quarter, blowing past analysts' expectations. Digital advertising continues to be a bright spot, observes CNBC, but growth at AWS has slowed in recent quarters as big businesses looked to reel in spending.

OpenAI has formed a new team to watch out for "catastrophic risks" associated with AI, such as “chemical, biological, and radiological threats” as well as (gulp) “autonomous replication.” 

Cruise said tonight that it has paused all driverless operations, a decision that comes just two days after the California DMV suspended its deployment and driverless testing permits, effectively ending its robotaxi operations in the state.

In an apparent attempt to justify Google's aggressive tactics, Google executive Prabhakar Raghavan testified today in Google's anti-trust trial that he and his confrères are paranoid about becoming "Grandpa Google." Said Raghavan, "I feel a keen sense not to become the next roadkill."

FTX co-founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried testified briefly today without a jury present so that the judge could determine whether his testimony is relevant. Remarking on Bankman-Fried's selective memory, the judge observed that “the witness has what I’ll simply call an interesting way of responding to questions.” 

X's mobile app downloads in the U.S. have plummeted 57% between October 2022 and September 2023. The WSJ lays out the global situation below:

Source: The WSJ

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Triveni Bio, a six-year-old startup based in Waltham, Ma., that is developing drugs targeting targeting eczema and asthma, raised a $92 million Series A round co-led by Atlas Venture and Cormorant Asset Management, with additional participation from OrbiMed, Viking Global, Invus, Polaris Partners, and Alexandria Venture Investments. Fierce Biotech has more here.

Arteria AI, a three-year-old Toronto startup that uses AI to extract data from financial documents, raised a $30 million Series B round led by GGV Capital U.S., with previous investors Illuminate Financial, Information Venture Partners, BDC Capital, and Citi also taking part. The company has raised a total of $50 million. SiliconANGLE has more here.

CentML, a one-year-old Toronto startup that develops tools to decrease the cost and improve the performance of machine learning models, raised a $27 million seed round extension from Gradient Ventures, TR Ventures, and Nvidia. The company has raised a total of $30.5 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Cranium, a startup based in Short Hills, NJ, that specializes in securing AI applications and deployments, raised a $25 million Series A round led by Telstra Ventures, with previous investors KPMG and SYN Ventures also pitching in. The company has raised a total of $32 million. SecurityWeek has more here.

Eve, a four-year-old startup based in Palo Alto, Ca., whose AI platform is designed to handle legal tasks like document review, case analysis, client intake, and research, raised a $14 million seed round co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Menlo Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

FounderSix, a three-year-old Los Angeles startup that is incubating celebrity beauty brands, raised a $12 million round. KD Capital was the deal lead. BeautyMatter has more here.

LegalMation, a seven-year-old Los Angeles startup that uses generative AI to enable legal professionals to respond to legal matters such as lawsuits and discovery requests based on the client's historical responses, raised a $15 million Series A round led by Aquiline Technology Growth, with additional capital provided by previous investors Motley Fool Ventures, REV Venture Partners, Key Venture Partners, Quick Set, and Brentwood Investments. More here.

Neon Machine, a two-year-old Seattle startup that is developing an RPG shooter video game called Shrapnel, raised a $20 million Series A round led by Polychain Capital, with Griffin Gaming Partners, Brevan Howard Digital, Franklin Templeton, IOSG Ventures, and Tess Ventures also anteing up. VentureBeat has more here.

Oxide Computer Company, a four-year-old San Francisco startup that is building hardware and software designed for on-premise cloud computing, raised a $44 million Series A round led by Eclipse, with Intel Capital, Riot Ventures, Counterpart Ventures, and Rally Ventures also participating. The company has raised a total of $78 million. More here.

QuoteWell, a two-year-old Austin startup that operates a wholesale brokerage focused on the distribution of commercial insurance, raised a $15+ million Series A round led by NEA, with Goldcrest and Floating Point also contributing. Life Insurance International has more here.

Siro, a three-year-old New York startup whose platform uses AI to train sales reps, raised a $14 million Series A round led by previous investor CRV, with prior backers Fika Ventures and Index Ventures also investing. More here.

Threedium, a six-year-old London startup that offers 3D developer tools and related services to help brands create 3D and AR experiences, raised an $11 million Series A round co-led by Interpublic Group and Olma Partners, with Mesh Consensys, Reflexive Capital, Nirvana Family Office, and Lyra Ventures also stepping up. More here.

1337 (pronounced "Leet"), a New York startup founded this year that says it is leveraging generative AI to build a community of AI-driven micro-influencers, raised a $4 million pre-seed round from Credo Ventures, GFR Fund, Treble VC, and Roosh Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

Chkk, a one-year-old startup based in Sunnyvale, Ca., that helps companies maintain complex Kubernetes environments, raised a $5.2 million seed round led by Sequoia Capital. TechCrunch has more here.

CipherStash, a three-year-old Sydney startup whose queryable encryption technology keeps data encrypted even when in use, raised a $3 million "Seed-2" round led by Skip Capital, with SixThirty Ventures also pitching in. SecurityWeek has more here.

Drovo, an eight-year-old London startup that claims to run the UK’s largest programmatic transit advertising platform, raised a $3.6 million Series A round led by Maven Capital Partners, with Change Ventures, Caygan Capital, Venturian, Growthdeck, and existing investor SEL Capital also taking part. Silicon Canals has more here.

FlyGuys, a nine-year-old startup based in Lafayette, La., that has built a network of drone pilots to provide aerial data for clients, raised a $10 million Series A round. Backers included Mitchell Capital and Advantage Capital. More here.

Heidi Health, a four-year-old Melbourne startup that is attempting to alleviate the administrative load on doctors by using AI to turn consultation transcripts into case histories, referral letters, financial forms, and other documents, raised a $6.3 million Series A round led by Blackbird Ventures and joined by Hostplus, Vesta, Wormhole Capital, Archangel Ventures, Possible Ventures, and Daniel Ventures. The company has raised a total of $10 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Inlyte Energy, a two-year-old Berkeley, Ca., startup that is making grid batteries using sodium metal halide technology, raised an $8 million seed round led by At One Ventures, with additional funds supplied by First Spark Ventures, Valo Ventures, TechEnergy Ventures, Climate Capital, and Anglo American. TechCrunch has more here.

Klu, a London startup that helps companies integrate AI into their apps and workflows, raised a $1.7 million pre-seed round led by Firstminute Capital, with participation from a16z, Sequoia Capital, Craft Ventures, and Atomico. Tech.eu has more here.

Kota, a one-year-old Dublin startup that is building a platform for companies to manage employee benefits, raised a $5.3 million seed round led by EQT Ventures, with previous investors Northzone and Frontline Ventures also investing. Forbes has more here.

Nocturne, a crypto startup that is combining blockchain technologies like zero-knowledge proofs, account abstractions, and stealth addresses to bring private accounts to public blockchain, raised a $6 million seed round co-led by Bain Capital Crypto and Polychain Capital, with additional support from Bankless Ventures, HackVC, Robot Ventures, and Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. CoinDesk has more here.

Rymedi, a five-year-old startup based in Greenville, S.C., that enables the transfer of medical records and data via blockchain, raised a $9 million Series A round co-led by RW3 Ventures and White Star Capital, with Blockchange Ventures and Avalanche's Blizzard Fund also opting in. The Block has more here.

Triple-A, a Singapore startup that enables clients to accept crypto payments and receive fiat money in their bank accounts the next day, raised a $10 million Series A round. Peak XV and Shorooq Partners invested in the deal. TechCrunch has more here.

Upfort, a six-year-old San Francisco startup whose cybersecurity technology is designed to streamline the cyber insurance purchase and underwriting process for brokers, insurers, and their clients, raised an $8 million Series A round. SYN Ventures was the deal lead, with participation from previous investors Eniac Ventures and Fika Ventures. More here.

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Flourish Ventures, a four-year-old early-stage venture firm that was spun out of Omidyar Network in 2019 and invests exclusively in fintech companies, has secured $350 million in fresh capital from its sole LP, Pierre Omidyar. The outfit now has $850 million. TechCrunch has more here.

The House Fund, a pre-seed and early-stage venture capital fund focused on UC Berkeley startups, specifically AI startups, today announced that it has closed its third fund with $115 million in capital commitments. It also says that Ken Goldberg, the UC Berkeley professor and prolific roboticist, is joining The House Fund as a part-time partner. TechCrunch has more here.

Roche Holding has agreed to buy the developer of a bowel-disease treatment from Roivant Sciences, a company started by Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, and Pfizer in a deal worth more than $7 billion. (As of earlier this year, Ramaswamy remained the sixth largest shareholder of Roivant.) The WSJ has more here.

Google DeepMind founder and CEO Demis Hassabis sings AI's praises but also admits to The Guardian that the new technology poses an existential risk to humanity. "We must take the risks of AI as seriously as other major global challenges, like climate change,” he said.

Stability AI’s general counsel and human resources chief have left the AI startup, according to Bloomberg, in what it notes is just the latest sign of upheaval at the one-time Silicon Valley darling.

Auto manufacturers like GM and Mercedes-Benz are having a hard time moving EVs. "This is a pretty brutal space," Mercedes-Benz CFO Harald Wilhelm told analysts. 

A restaurateur hoping to outsmart Google named his new business Thai Food Near Me. Now there is a Dentist Near Me, Notary Near Me, Plumber Near Me, and the list just keeps growing. 

FX just released a trailer for the upcoming season of "Fargo." 

The NBA put on a fashion show last night. Here are the hottest looks. 

Six months ago, Expensify opened a lounge that offered employees free cocktails and a daily Champagne sabering. CEO David Barrett says it still didn't get workers back to the office. 

A Romanian village (price: $788K).

SpaceX pocket knives. 

Robin Williams' former San Francisco home just hit the market.