Wednesday, June 12, 2024

Welcome to TechCrunch AM! This morning, we have notes on how FTC Chair Lina Khan plans to deal with Big Tech, why Elon Musk decided to drop his lawsuit against OpenAI, lots of news on consolidation and funding in the AI chip space, and Apple’s approach to building AI that may be boring, but is actually useful. To work! — Rebecca

TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: Saul Loeb-Pool / Getty Images

1. Lina Khan vs. Big Tech Mob Bosses: Tech moves fast, and antitrust law needs to adapt to keep up. FTC Chair Lina Khan said at TechCrunch’s Strictly VC event last night that the agency is going after the players that are doing the biggest harm, the mob bosses rather than the henchmen. Didn’t Al Capone say something about capitalism being the legitimate racket of the ruling class? Read More

2. Apple Intelligence is boring, but that’s a good thing: Apple was late to the AI party, and it didn’t come out the gate swinging. Apple Intelligence brings AI to the iPhone in a practical, less overwhelming way than we’re used to since ChatGPT graced our lives. Think features like writing and proofreading help, AI summaries and transcripts, photo editing and a smarter, more useful Siri. Read More

3. South Korean chip makers consolidate: Rebellions and Sapeon, two of South Korea’s top fabless AI chip startups, have agreed to merge in order to take on global rivals like Nvidia. The merged entity could go public in the next two to three years and hopes to bring Korea into a golden age for chipmaking. Read More

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Morning Must Reads

Image Credits: Black Semiconductor

Speaking of chips… Germany also wants a piece of the chip sovereignty that other countries are going on about, and has poured money into startup Black Semiconductor. The company raised €254.4 million to further develop its graphene-based chip-connecting technology in one of the largest rounds for a European semiconductor company so far. Read More

The apps Apple Sherlocked: Apple’s known to “borrow” features from apps that people have been using for ages, and we’ve got a roundup of all the apps the company has now “Sherlocked,” from its password manager, call recording and transcription, to window tiling, off-road maps and custom emojis. What was it I was saying before about antitrust law needing to shift to keep up with fast-moving tech? Read More

Why Apple’s small-model approach works: Most generative AI is fueled by a “bigger is better” approach, but Apple is taking a smaller model strategy that puts a frictionless user experience at its core. And that makes a lot of sense for a smartphone. Read More

Biden administration might give $24M to Rocket Lab: The startup is poised to snap up the federal funding to boost production of its compound semiconductors, also known as solar cells, which provide power to satellites and spacecraft. Read More

DC knows nothin’ about accelerators: Y Combinator is looking to raise its profile in D.C., where apparently the lawmakers who are meant to regulate tech big and small don’t know much about Silicon Valley's most prominent accelerator program. Read More

Helping the energy sector crunch big data: Gorilla, a Belgian startup that works with energy providers to process and analyze energy data so they can use insights on consumption patterns and project energy requirements, has now raised about $25 million in a Series B. Read More

Hop aboard the Apex space bus: Los Angeles-based satellite manufacturer Apex closed a $95 million round to scale its Aries spacecraft and invest in a bigger and better model, Nova. The startup’s goal is to productize satellite buses, which have historically been subject to bespoke engineering processes with long lead times. Read More

Fisker recalls Ocean SUV: As if it didn’t have enough going wrong already, Fisker is now issuing its first recall for the Ocean SUV due to problems with the warning lights. The startup is near bankruptcy and has laid off almost all of its staff at this point. Read More

The solar panel industry needs consolidation: It’s been 20 years and there’s still too much fragmentation in the residential solar panel market. Most are installed by smaller companies, so customer experience can be a mixed bag. That’s why Civic Renewables says it’s buying smaller installers and rolling them up. Hopefully, such consolidation won’t lead to worse outcomes for customers. Read More

We’re all family here: Friends & Family Capital, a fund by ex-Palantir CFO and the son of IVP’s founder, has unveiled its third fund, coming in at $118 million. The VC firm’s pitch is that they are experts in helping build all things finance, a type of advice that appears to be in high demand. Read More

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Around the Web

Musk drops OpenAI lawsuit: Just as quickly as Elon sued OpenAI for betraying its non-profit mission to build AI for the good of humanity, the billionaire has now dropped the suit, reports CNBC. Perhaps he realized that those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones — Musk has just raised $6 billion for his very for-profit AI startup, x.AI. Read More

GameStop to the moon: GameStop raised $2.14 billion from a share sale program, raking in the cash from a stock rally fueled by Keith Gill’s return to YouTube and retail investors driving the (meme) stock higher, reports Bloomberg. Read More

Amazon is building little villages: The e-commerce giant is adding $1.4 billion to a fund to preserve or build more affordable housing in regions where it has major offices, reports AP. You know, because its business model has decimated small businesses, thus reducing demand for housing and the ability for people to afford homes… Read More

Before You Go

Image Credits: Getty Images

A startup that doesn’t want to steal content to train AI: Spawning AI’s latest project, Source.Plus, curates “non-infringing” media for AI model training so that artists can have more control over how their works are used online. Not all heroes wear capes. Read More