Friday, June 7, 2024

Welcome to TechCrunch AM! Hello! It’s me again, Dom, guest-writing this newsletter while Rebecca is out. Today, we have some terrible news about Byju’s, slightly bad news about Carta, good news about Boeing (for a change), a cool story about a data privacy snafu in Bangladesh, and notes on Apple’s developer conference next week. Let’s dive in! — Dom

TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: Carta

1. Carta gets a hell of a haircut: Cap table management platform Carta is exploring a secondary sale that may value it at about $2 billion, sources tell TechCrunch. That would be half what Carta wanted, since it was initially seeking a $4 billion valuation, and even the $2 billion number is drastically lower than the company’s previous valuations, which touched $8.5 billion at one point. Read More

2. Bangladesh agents accused of selling citizen data: TechCrunch’s crack cybersecurity team has the low down on allegations that two senior Bangladeshi police officers were selling the private information of citizens on Telegram. The data being sold included identity details, phone call records, and other classified information, according to documents seen by TechCrunch. Read More

3. Byju said to now be worth nothing: HSBC is estimating that the edtech giant, once worth $22 billion and India’s biggest startup, is now worth nothing, nada, zilch. The company has had a rough year, seeing its revenue fall dramatically, in addition to various governance issues, a lawsuit from investors, and a failed fundraise. Read More

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Morning Must-Reads

Image Credits: NASA

Some (good) Boeing news: Two astronauts have arrived safely at the International Space Station, astride a Boeing Starliner spacecraft. Boeing and NASA are testing the spacecraft so that it can be used regularly for space missions, and this was its maiden voyage out in space. Still, even this trip saw some technical difficulties, like helium leaks. Read More

Rivian takes the safer route: With two new, improved and more affordable versions of its consumer cars, and a toned down plan for the future, Rivian is striking out on a safer path as it scales up production and heads towards the consumer market. Still, the company is facing some financial difficulties and might need to raise more money to see out the next few years. Read More

Shopify buys Threads: No, not that Threads you’re thinking of. This is a Slack alternative that was launched in 2019 and got quickly overshadowed when Meta gave its Twitter alternative the same name. Threads’ team will now join Shopify. Meta may now have a chance of finally getting the Threads.com domain. Read More

Bain takes PowerSchool private for $5.6B: Private equity firms were uncharacteristically quiet during the past couple of years, but they’ve jumped back into action again recently, picking up a slate of companies. The latest is PowerSchool, which provides K-12 education software to schools, and it’s being taken private for a whopping $5.6 billion. Read More

iOS 18 is going to bring so much AI: Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference next week may just be the company’s most important event in recent history. On the slate are a slew of massive updates to the iPhone’s operating system, and TechCrunch has a full list of what’s said to be coming right here. Read More

Around the Web

Another AI company gets money: The Wall Street Journal reports that Greylock is leading a $36 million round raised by cybersecurity company SevenAI. The company is using, as you might have guessed, AI to help companies improve their cybersecurity. Read More

Are IPOs coming back? South Korean travel app Yanolja is eyeing a $400 million IPO in the U.S. that could value it at $7 billion to $9 billion, Bloomberg reports. The company is backed by Softbank, and Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have reportedly been tapped as lead advisors for the listing. Here's hoping other firms follow Yanolja. Read More

Canada wants to join the AI rat race: Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sat down with the New York Times to discuss his plans for helping make Canada a leader in the so-called “AI revolution.” If only world leaders would care so much about eliminating food scarcity. Read More

Before You Go

Image Credits: Apple

Siri and Google Assistant’s second act: Much has already been said about the pressure Tim Cook is under to maintain Apple’s position as a leading player in tech. But the game has been stolen by OpenAI and its ilk. Now, Apple and Google are betting on AI smarts to make their respective voice assistants relevant again. Will they be able to pull it off? Read More