Cruise hits the eject button; Tesla recalls nearly all its cars on U.S. roads; and Circuit City as venture-backed startup?

Tesla is recalling nearly all 2 million of its cars on U.S. roads due to regulators' concerns about the company's Autopilot feature. The vehicles will be updated over cellular networks, The New York Times reports.

OpenAI will pay publisher Axel Springer to use content from titles such as Politico and Business Insider to populate answers in ChatGPT and train its AI tools. 

The European Union is backing a deal to reclassify potentially millions of gig workers as employees, a move that could cost the ride-hailing and food delivery companies billions. 

And good news, parents: According to new research from Stanford, AI tools like ChatGPT have not boosted overall cheating rates in schools.

It’s not just us—people are feeling optimistic about investing for the first time in a while. Read Affinity's 2024 Private capital investment predictions report and find out why 700+ investment professionals anticipate higher deal volume and better networking in 2024. Get the report to find out what’s possible for the coming year.

LineNext, a web3 unit of the Japanese messaging app Line, has raised $140 million in funding led by Crescendo Equity Partners, a Peter Thiel-backed private equity firm in South Korea. TechCrunch has more here.

Tome Biosciences, a two-year-old startup based in Watertown, Ma., that is developing gene editing technology that enables the insertion of varying sizes of genetic material anywhere in the genome without damaging or breaking DNA, raised a $213 million round. Investors included Andreessen Horowitz, ARCH Venture Partners, GV Management Company, and Longwood Fund. BioPharma Dive has more here.

Twin Health, a five-year-old startup based in Mountain View, Ca., whose platform and app help patients manage chronic metabolic diseases like diabetes and obesity, raised a $50 million Series C round led by Temasek, with additional participation from previous investors Iconiq Growth, Sofina, Peak XV, and Helena. Tech Funding News has more here.

Andalusia Labs, an Abu Dhabi startup that builds tools to help developers manage risks associated with cryptocurrencies, raised a $48 million Series A round at a valuation “north of $1 billion,” TechCrunch exclusively reports. Lightspeed Venture Partners was the lead, while other investors included Mubadala Capital as well as previous investors Pantera Capital, Framework Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, and Digital Currency Group. The company has raised a total of approximately $51 million. More here.

Dynamic Labs, a two-year-old Palo Alto startup that is rolling out non-custodial wallet tools to give developers the ability to incorporate FaceID and TouchID into web3 wallet design, raised a $16.5 million Series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with Founders Fund also anteing up. The Block has more here.

Freya Biosciences, a three-year-old Copenhagen startup that is developing women’s reproductive immunotherapies, raised a $38 million Series A round co-led by Sofinnova Partners and OMX Ventures, with The Export and Investment Fund of Denmark, Angelini Ventures, Mike Jafar Family Office, CE-Ventures, Corundum Systems Biology, and Indaco Venture Partners also taking part. Pharmaceutical Technology has more here.

Guardz, a one-year-old Tel Aviv startup that says it has created an all-in-one security and cyber insurance service for SMBs, raised an $18 million Series A round led by Gilot Capital Partners, with ClearSky as well as previous investors Hanaco Ventures, iAngels, and GKFF Ventures also pitching in. The company has raised a total of $28 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Pivot, a Paris startup founded this year whose software integrates with existing financial systems and ERPs and helps companies automate procurement workflows, raised a $21.6 million Series A round. Investors included previous investors Visionaries, Emblem, Anamcara, and Oliver Samwer. TechCrunch has more here.

Verve Motion, a three-year-old startup based in Cambridge, Ma., that is fabricating robotic exosuits to protect workers in factories and other potentially hazardous environments, raised a $20 million Series B round led by Cybernetix Ventures, with Construct Capital, Pillar VC, and OUP also investing. The company has raised a total of $40 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Zuper, a seven-year-old Seattle startup whose platform provides automated workflows for field service workers, raised a $32 million Series B round led by FUSE, with Prime Ventures also contributing. The company has raised a total of $46.1 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Certainly Health, a New York startup whose marketplace affords consumers the ability to book doctors with upfront prices, raised a $2.3 million round. Investors included Pacific 8 Ventures and Y Combinator. Vator has more here.

Chalk, a San Francisco startup that is building high-speed data pipelines specifically designed for AI and machine learning projects, raised a $10 million seed round led by General Catalyst and joined by Unusual Ventures and Xfund. Crowdfund Insider has more here.

Encellin, a seven-year-old San Francisco startup that is developing cell encapsulation platforms to treat endocrine disorders, raised a $9.9 million round led by Khosla Ventures, with additional investment from Y Combinator. The Financial Post has more here.

Featureform, a four-year-old San Francisco startup that helps developers manage the features in their AI or machine learning models, raised a $5.5 million seed round co-led by GreatPoint Ventures and Zetta Venture Partners, with Tuesday Capital and Alumni Ventures also backing the company. Featureform has raised a total of $8.1 million. SiliconANGLE has more here.

I-Virtual, a nine-year-old French startup that claims it can measure vital signs through a video selfie, raised a $3.3 million round. Backers included Malakoff Humanis as well as previous investors Elaia and UI Investissement. The company has raised a total of $6.6 million. Tech.eu has more here.

Laredo Labs, a one-year-old startup based in San Jose, Ca., whose generative AI platform can write code based on natural language commands, raised an $8.5 million seed round. Radical Ventures and Horizons Ventures co-led the deal. TechCrunch has more here.

Magma, a one-year-old Austin startup that aims to streamline game development by providing AI-assisted art creation and project management features to keep teams organized and on track, raised a $5 million seed round led by GFR Fund, with 4founders and Supernode Global also taking stakes. VentureBeat has more here.

Metafuels, a two-year-old Zürich startup that aims to produce a viable 100% synthetic jet fuel substitute by 2030, raised an $8.7 million seed round. Energy Impact Partners and Contrarian Ventures were the co-leads. TechCrunch has more here.

Nonco, a startup that operates a digital asset brokerage, raised a $10 million round co-led by Valor Capital Group and Hack VC, with Morgan Creek Digital, CMCC, Lvna Capital, Theta Capital, Bullish, Bastion Trading, and Libra Capital Ventures also piling on. CoinDesk has more here.

Yoii, a two-year-old Tokyo startup that provides revenue-based financing for Japanese SMBs, raised a $5.5 million Series A round led by Emellience Partners, with additional investors including Itochu Technology Ventures and FFG Venture Business Partners. The company has raised a total of $9.5 million. More here.

Circuit City, the former electronics retail chain, is in the market to raise a $25 million round, according to documents filed with the SEC. TechCrunch has more here. 

700+ investors say deal volume is back for 2024. Read the 2024 Private capital investment predictions report for a healthy dose of cautious optimism today.

Andreessen Horowitz has reportedly been planning to raise money for at least three industry-specific funds. They include a fund dedicated to infrastructure startups—the software that powers cloud applications and services, including AI — and a fund focused on “American dynamism,” or companies that support U.S. national interests. The Information has more here.

GV has added Michael McBride as General Partner. McBride, who is based in GV's San Francisco office, will focus on early-stage enterprise startups leveraging open-source technologies and AI. He was formerly the Chief Revenue Officer of GitLab, a GV portfolio company.

The former executive assistant of former Tradeshift CEO Christian Lanng has filed suit against her former boss, accusing him of forcing her to sign a "slave contract" and subjecting her to multiple years of "sexual abuse, torture and assault."

Cruise has sacked nine managers and executives whom an internal investigation determined bore some responsibility for the horrific October 2nd incident in which a San Francisco pedestrian was dragged underneath a Cruise robotaxi. TechCrunch has more here.

Etsy is laying off 11% of its staff in the face of intense competition from companies like Shein and Temu.

The Cybertruck's giant windshield wiper will cost $165 to replace.

Is this how Amazon ends?

Slate digs into FTX cofounder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried's campaign to install an effective altruist in Congress.

Cars that change colors: the latest in auto tech.

No Christmas cheer shortage here: a New Yorker has outfitted his Lower East Side apartment with 12 Christmas trees and 13,000 lights. 

A secret shrine to Monsters Inc.'s Mike Wazowski.

It turns out that just two inches separate a good ski day from a bad one. 

Yoga teachers are dissecting cadavers in order to perfect their practice.

If Ducati and Bentley had a love child, it would apparently look like this.

In-n-Out's ugly sweater.