Apple's AI research, Hyperloop One meets its end, and that ski trial musical is a hit: "Winter in Deer Valley"

A UK teen who leaked footage of Rockstar Games' upcoming Grand Theft Auto VI and hacked into Nvidia's and British Telecom's servers has been sentenced to spend an indefinite amount of time in a mental hospital because of his complex autistic-spectrum disorder.

Apple releases AI research that could "completely transform your iPhone."

Worldcoin is pulling back from India, Brazil, and France without explaining why. TechCrunch has the exclusive.

Substack will not remove or demonetize Nazi content. "We believe that supporting individual rights and civil liberties while subjecting ideas to open discourse is the best way to strip bad ideas of their power," said Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie in a blog post.

What can a partnership with TechCrunch do for your company? Plenty. At TechCrunch Early Stage 2024 — in Boston on April 25 — you’ll gain access to an engaged, targeted audience of more than 1,000 founders and investors. Get in touch to discover exceptional opportunities to make connections with impact. Generate new leads, meet with founders in person, issue an announcement, launch a product and present your brand in a big way. Get in touch.

Dandelion Health, a three-year-old New York startup that is assembling a de-identified dataset from millions of patient records to enable developers to test for potential bias in their healthcare algorithms, raised a $15 million seed round led by Primary, with Sharp HealthCare, Moxxie Ventures, Phoenix Venture Partners, and Floating Point also contributing. Forbes has more here.

EVCS, a five-year-old startup based in Arcadia, Ca., that operates a subscription-based EV charging network of charging stations primarily located across California, Oregon, and Washington, is raising a $20 million round and has so far raised $7.5 million of this amount, according to a TechCrunch review of SEC filings. TechCrunch has more here.

Podimo, a four-year-old Copenhagen startup that operates a subscription-based service offering access to a range of podcasts and audiobooks, raised a $48 million round led by The Danish Export and Investment Fund (EIFO), with HighlandX and Augustinus Fabrikker also participating. The company has raised a total of $220+ million. TechCrunch has more here.

Addressable, a six-year-old Los Angeles startup that specializes in analyzing blockchain data to identify and categorize cryptocurrency wallet owners for targeted advertising and marketing campaigns, raised a $6 million seed extension led by BITKRAFT Ventures, with participation from Karatage as well as previous investors Viola Ventures, Fabric Ventures, Mensch Capital Partners, and North Island Ventures. The company has raised a total of $13.5 million. CTech has more here.

Backer, a six-year-old San Francisco startup that says its platform is designed to help parents and families easily invest in 529 college savings plans, raised a $9.5 million Series A round from WndrCo. FinTech Global has more here.

Cloudline, a six-year-old Cape Town startup that is developing development of carbon emissions-free, autonomous airships designed for cargo transportation in Africa, raised a $6 million seed round from Eric and Wendy Schmidt's Schmidt Futures as well as Raba Partnership, Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures, and 4Di. TechCrunch has more here.

DTE, a 10-year-old Reykjavik company that is developing software to optimize energy usage and reduce costs for commercial and industrial buildings, raised a $6 million Series A2 extension from Eyrir Vöxtur and EIC Fund. More here.

Helin, a six-year-old Dutch startup that uses advanced data analysis to improve operational efficiency in industrial settings, focusing on optimizing production processes and equipment performance through real-time data monitoring and management, raised a $3.3 million seed round from FORWARD.one. Tech.eu has more here.

Intrinsic, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that is developing software tools designed to enhance online safety and trust, specifically for use by digital platforms' trust and safety teams, raised a $3.1 million seed round. Investors included Urban Innovation Fund, Y Combinator, 645 Ventures, and Okta. TechCrunch has more here.

Kosmik, a five-year-old Paris startup that has created a digital workspace integrating a visual canvas with a built-in PDF reader and web browser, raised a $3.7 million seed round led by Creandum, with participation from Alven, Kima Ventures, and Betaworks. TechCrunch has more here.

Standard Biocarbon, a three-year-old startup based in Portland, Me., that produces biochar, a form of charcoal that captures carbon, raised a $5 million round from Nexus Development Capital. Waste 360 has more here.

Equity is a TechCrunch Podcast Network show that unpacks the nuance and numbers behind the business of startups. In part two of our series looking back at 2023, TechCrunch+ Editor in Chief Alex Wilhelm and TechCrunch senior reporter Mary Ann Azevedo are joined by TechCrunch reporters Jacquie Melinek and Devin Coldewey to chat through some of the year’s biggest events: the fall of SVB, SBF's long and tedious trial, and what's next for OpenAI. Listen here

Lennar, second-largest home construction company in the United States, has assumed control of Veev, an Israeli startup in the home construction space that was valued at $1 billion in March of last year. Veev produced fully cladded walls complete with mechanical, electrical, and plumbing, but the company was hit hard by the rise in interest rates and the resulting decline in home construction. 

Networking giant and previous investor Cisco has acquired Isovalent, a six-year-old San Francisco startup that specializes in enhancing the security and networking capabilities of cloud-based applications. Terms were not disclosed. Crunchbase reports that Isovalent has raised a a total of $69 million from investors like Microsoft, Google, and Andreessen Horowitz. TechCrunch has more here. 

Hyperloop One, the nine-year-old startup that raised $450 million to shoot people from place to place in a metal tube, is going under. 

Nicolas Puech, 80, a fifth-generation descendant of the founder of French luxury goods company Hermès, reportedly plans to cut ties with his charity and leave half his $13 fortune to his gardener.

U.S. parents spend about $500 billion every year on their 18- to 34-year-old children --  double what they put towards retirement, according to estimates in a Merrill Lynch and Age Wave study.

Sequoia Capital partner Shaun Maguire recently tweeted, "Should I go public with the story about the time I was told I can’t be promoted for being a white man?”, triggering a firestorm of support from DEI haters including ('natch) Elon Musk. Is DEI in tech's crosshairs, TechCrunch's Dominic-Madori Davis wonders?

Compared to Instagram, topics such as Tibet, Hong Kong protests and the Uyghur population are underrepresented on TikTok, a research report finds, raising the question of whether China is censoring TikTok's content.

The lasting social-media imprint of 2023 may not be the self-immolation of Twitter but rather that short-form videos—on TikTok, Instagram, and other platforms—have tightened their choke hold on the internet.

From the Dept. of Life Imitating "Art": the Lawrence Livermore National Lab is studying whether an Armageddon-style nuclear asteroid deflection could actually work.

America's cheapest places to live.

"Gwyneth Goes Skiing" is a hit.

Celebrated chef Thomas Keller did not appreciate it when a cannabis producer named its latest strain after one of Keller's restaurants. Now the company has a new name for its weed: “FKAFL” or “Formerly Known as French Laundry.”

GQ's "hottest sneaker of 2024."

Ten gifts for adrenaline junkies. 

You can now buy residency in Hong Kong for $3.8 million.

Cousin Greg's dog mascot costume from the first episode of "Succession." (H/T: Alexis Ohanian.)