Rivian secures 68,000 R2 reservations in one day

Good afternoon, and welcome to Friday’s TechCrunch PM. We made it through another week. Today was another busy news day. We’ve got a lot of car talk, led by your favorite electric vehicle maker Rivian. And Russian spies keep hacking Microsoft. Meanwhile, Fortnite is coming back to iOS in Europe, there were some layoffs at Inscribe.ai and one company is doing so well it doesn’t need investor money. So it’s giving it back. Have a great weekend!  — Christine

TechCrunch PM Top 3

Everybody wants you: Well, not “you,” but a Rivian. Over 68,000 people put down a $100 (refundable) deposit to reserve their spot in line to get the electric vehicle maker’s new R2 SUV. This comes just a day after the reveal. Then, in “what else will they think of next?” news, Rivian has a new treehouse rooftop tent. With a movie projector! Who saw that coming?

Russian spies keep hacking Microsoft: Russian government hackers continue to break into Microsoft’s systems using information obtained during a hack last year. This time, the Russian hackers, dubbed Midnight Blizzard, have targeted Microsoft’s source code and other internal systems. Read what the company had to say about it.

Layoffs at Inscribe.ai: Fraud detection software startup Inscribe cut nearly 40% of its staff, which equates to dozens of employees. Sources say Inscribe’s board recommended the job cuts after current market conditions caused the startup to miss its revenue goals for over a year.

More top reads

More car talk: General Motors resumed the sales of the all-electric Chevy Blazer three months after stopping sales when early customers reported problems with the SUV’s infotainment screen and charging at DC fast-charging stations. And the prices get cheaper. Meanwhile, troubled EV startup Faraday Future has issued its first recall, covering all 11 vehicles it built last year. More here.

Fortnite is coming back to iOS in Europe: For real! After terminating Epic Games’ developer account a few days ago, Apple said it will reinstate the Fortnite maker’s access to publish iOS apps in Europe. Here’s what CNN had to say on the matter.

Artemis Fund closes second fund: The Artemis Fund, which invests in underrepresented founders, closed on $36 million in capital commitments to invest in economic problems its general partners say other VCs write off too quickly.

Turo-ing toward an IPO: Turo, the venture-backed, peer-to-peer car rental service, reported its fourth-quarter and full-year financial performance this week in an updated IPO filing. Alex read it so you don’t have to and dives into how well the company did in 2023.

Throne returns investor money: Not because it is doing badly, but because it is doing so well. The website, which lets fans gift items to creators from their wish list, decided to go back to bootstrapping.

New Reddit tools: Ahead of Reddit’s initial public offering, the community network announced a suite of free tools called Reddit Pro to help businesses grow an organic presence on the platform. This is the first time they have offered free tools to help businesses with their social strategy, and we think it’s a move to get more brands on the platform and possibly convert them into paying advertisers.

Spyware sanctions aftermath: Spyware makers have some concerns after peers Tal Dilian and Sara Aleksandra Fayssal Hamou were sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury after claims were made that they developed and sold spyware that was then used to target Americans.

Pitch Deck Teardown: Astek Diagnostics wants to solve the problem of antibiotic sensitivity and let Haje have his way with its $2 million seed-round deck.

Just when Threads thought it was out of politics, it gets pulled back in: Meta’s app tried to stay out of politics. However, while testing a trends feature, the app found that three of the top five search trends on Threads were related to President Biden’s State of the Union address, including people’s reactions to the speech itself, as well as the Republican response and the heckling from Marjorie Taylor Greene.

DMA gatekeepers speak: The European Union’s Digital Markets Act is live, and Natasha goes through the first set of gatekeeper compliance reports, pulling out the juicy bits.

Women in AI: Meet Sarah Kreps, a political scientist, U.S. Air Force veteran and analyst who focuses on U.S. foreign and defense policy. Kreps’ recent research explores both the potential and risks of AI tech such as OpenAI’s GPT-4, specifically in the political sphere.

Apple Vision Pro’s Personas get less creepy: Brian takes the Persona feature out for a spin. See what happens.

Before you go

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On the pods

On the Friday episode of Equity, Mary Ann and Alex dug into a whole mess of news, including Mews’ massive new round, who’s taking on Carta, Deel’s purchase of Africa’s PaySpace and venture capital musical chairs. Listen here.

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