Cruise cuts 900 jobs as revamp gets underway

Thursday, December 14, 2023

In today’s top story, Kirsten learned exclusively that General Motors’ self-driving car division Cruise was slashing 24% of its workforce. Most of the cuts are being made in non-engineering positions. Get more of the scoop. This follows Kirsten’s coverage yesterday of a number of Cruise managers and executives leaving after an initial safety probe involving a pedestrian that was struck and dragged by one of the company’s robotaxis.

Meanwhile, Ivan writes about a new Instagram feature that enables generative AI–powered editing of photo backgrounds. See it in action.

And Lorenzo has a look at a supply chain attack that targeted Ledger, a company that makes hardware and software for crypto wallets. Learn how it started.

Image Credits: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

More top reads

Mega deal: India’s Udaan, a business-to-business e-commerce startup, scores $340 million in new funding. Read about one of India’s largest funding deals this year.

Not just human, but superhuman: OpenAI thinks superhuman AI is coming and, of course, wants to build tools to control it. Here is the company’s plan.

A dose of their own medicine: Microsoft disrupts a cybercrime operation by selling fraudulent accounts to a notorious hacking gang. Take that!

Mission accomplished: Amazon’s Project Kuiper confirms its super-fast satellite communication tech works in space. Learn more.

Connected home: Google Nest Renew and OhmConnect merge into “Renew Home” with a $100 million boost from Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners. Here’s how it will work.

No strings attached: Meta’s Threads is finally available to users in the European Union. Welcome!

At it again: Apple again targets iMessage-on-Android app Beeper, but the company isn’t taking it lying down. There’s a fix.

A good sign: Paris-based venture capital firm Singular raises $435 million for its second fund. Learn more.

You’ve got email . . . and a calendar: Encrypted email service Proton Mail finally gets its own desktop app. See what you get.

Pivot: Jumia, a Pan-African e-commerce company, discontinues its food delivery across seven markets, instead shifting focus to expanding its physical goods business. Here’s why.

The elephant in the social media room: Mastodon founder touts Threads’ federation, saying it makes his X rival “a far more attractive option.” Get the scoop.

Shop till you drop: Social commerce platform Maka raises $2.65 million to simplify buying fashion and beauty products in Africa. Read more.

Pay for play: Andreessen Horowitz says it will give literally any politician money if they help deregulate tech. Call it optimism.

Even more for your Thursday:

Spotify confirms test of prompt-based AI playlists feature

Temu’s latest lawsuit against Shein is wild (TC+)

Boston Dynamics joins forces with firm behind ‘Avatar,’ ‘Jurassic Park’ animatronics

Linktree acquires link-in-bio platform Koji in its second investment of the year

BoxGroup closes on $425M for two funds to back early-stage startups

Image Credits: Dhiraj Singh / Bloomberg / Getty Images

On the pods

For this week’s episode of Chain Reaction, Jacquelyn interviewed Johann Kerbrat, the general manager of crypto at Robinhood. Johann is leading the application’s effort to expand its crypto exchange business and make digital assets more accessible to retail investors.

We discussed Robinhood’s expansion outside the U.S., how the platform restricted holding and trading of certain crypto assets in June, and where it stands today.

We also talked about:

Appealing to mainstream audiences.
Growing crypto on its platform.
Regulatory concerns.
Robinhood’s 2024 objectives.

Chain Reaction comes out every Thursday at 12:00 p.m. ET, so be sure to subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite pod platform to keep up with the action.