Wednesday, May 29, 2024

Welcome to TechCrunch AM! This morning, we have China committing nearly $50B to make its own semiconductors; a peek behind the scenes of Sam Altman’s firing last year; a rare glimpse of the machinery behind Google’s Search APIs; Apple’s favorite apps; and a company-ending data breach. To work! — Rebecca

TechCrunch Top 3

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1. China goes all in on semiconductors: In response to the U.S. trying to kneecap China’s semiconductor access and awarding subsidies right and left, Beijing has raised a $47.5 billion fund that it will use to boost its domestic chip industry and achieve ‘chip sovereignty.’ Read More

2. ChatGPT goes B2B: Everybody's been using ChatGPT at work for ages now, but OpenAI wants to make some real money from that side of its business. The AI company has signed on consulting giant PwC as a customer, giving its 100,000 workers access to faster, unlimited interactions with the tool, analytics and other tools. PwC will also start peddling OpenAI products to its own customers as part of the deal. Read More

3. How one VC avoided the pandemic bubble: Sometimes, it’s best to chill and hang back while the rest of the world goes crazy. Clean Energy Ventures did just that when the post-pandemic frothiness engulfed the startup world, and its strategy seems to have paid off. Now, the firm has raised a $305 million fund to invest in early-stage climate tech startups. Read More

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Morning Must Reads

Image Credits: Apple

Apple is indie chic at heart: Apple’s list of the Design Awards finalists is out, and the tech giant is celebrating indie apps and startups over bigger tech firms this time around. Not a ChatGPT in sight, actually. Instead, Apple is tipping its hat to recipe app Crouton, creative app Procreate Dreams and reimagined web browser, Arc Search. Read More

How to build an HR search engine: On this week’s episode of Found, TechCrunch dug into enterprise software company Glean with its co-founder Arvind Jain. You’ve probably used Glean (we use it!) to search for answers like how much PTO you have left or upcoming company holidays. Jain talked about going after the gap in the marketplace and the challenge of convincing investors to back such an underdeveloped industry. Read More

pcTattletale breach shuts down business: Spyware app pcTattletale is “out of business” after a data breach over the weekend. This wasn’t just some breach: A hacker defaced pcTattletale’s website and published links with large amounts of data from the company’s servers, including databases of customer information and victims’ stolen data. Read More

Venture funding isn’t a necessity: Solutions by Text, which gives people a way to pay bills and apply for loans via text messaging, has been around for a decade, processes about 150 to 200 million messages a month, and is even EBITDA positive — and it managed that all on its own. Now, it’s secured $110 million to grow more, showing that bootstrapping is still a viable strategy. Read More

SMBs need cash flow clarity, too: It’s hard to get funded as a small business — banks might turn you away, saying you’re too risky, and not every kind of business can get venture funding. That’s why Relay just raised $32 million to offer banking and money management services to small- and medium-sized businesses. Read More

More deets on the EU’s new AI Office: As part of the bloc’s AI Act, the EU has revealed more about the structure of its new AI Office, an ecosystem-building and oversight body that will start operations from June 16. The EU hopes its office will exert a wider influence on the global stage of AI governance. TC’s Natasha Lomas breaks it down for us. Read More

Spotify passes tax charges on to customers in France: Unsurprisingly, in response to a 1.2% levy that France imposed on music-streaming companies, Spotify has hiked its subscription plan prices by the same amount. Read More

Around the Web

Google’s SEO is leaking: A treasure trove of leaked Google Search API documents made its way into the hands of SparkToro co-founder Rand Fishkin earlier this month, and it provides a rare glimpse into how Google’s ranking algorithm might work. One annoying insight? Content can be demoted if a link doesn’t match the target site. Read More

Ex-OpenAI director speaks out about Altman’s firing: On the “TED AI Show,” Helen Toner, a former director on OpenAI’s board, revealed how the board learned of ChatGPT’s launch in 2022 on Twitter. Toner also spoke about the need for AI safety, and reiterated that the purpose of that board was to ensure the ‘nonprofit’ stayed committed to public good rather than profits. Read More

Will food delivery apps ever be profitable?: DoorDash, Deliveroo, Delivery Hero and Just Eat Takeaway have racked up $20 billion in combined operating losses since they launched, reports The Financial Times. And it’s not for lack of trying to squeeze their gig workers dry. Read More

Before You Go

Image Credits: Frank Ramspott / Getty Images

AI models have favorite numbers, too: Is this an early sign of AGI?! Probably not, but it is interesting nevertheless ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini all seem to have favorite numbers. TC’s Devin Coldeway explains why these models seem to have "favorites," and the risks of anthropomorphizing learned AI behavior. Read More