Friday, June 14, 2024

Happy Friday and welcome to TechCrunch PM. We have a few stories to share with you today, including Meta pausing plans to use EU users’ data to train its AI, Arc releasing a live calendar feature, and Haje tearing down Kinnect’s slide deck. Have a great weekend!

TechCrunch must-reads

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European Union pushes back on Meta: The social media giant said it will pause its plans to train its AI systems using data from its users in the European Union and the U.K. The move comes as several data protection entities in the two regions say their concerns have not been satisfied yet. While Meta is already tapping user-generated content to train its AI in markets such as the U.S., Europe’s stringent GDPR regulations has created obstacles for it — and other companies — looking to improve their AI systems, including large language models with user-generated training material. Read more

Pitch Deck Teardown: Kinnect’s new app is about preserving epic family tales and awkward holiday moments for generations to come, or as Haje Jan Kamps put it, “a digital family scrapbook on steroids.” He takes a look at the startup’s $250,000 angel deck. Read more

If you’re on time, you’re late: Be late no more. The Browser Company’s Arc, a web browser that aims to have a less cluttered user interface, launched a “Live Calendar” feature to ensure you never miss a call or run late to a meeting. It works with Google Calendar and will even give you a fun countdown timer if you’re into that. Read more

Musk drops his OpenAI lawsuit and startups compete with Apple Intelligence: On today’s episode of Equity, the team rounds up key deals of the week, including Raspberry Pi’s public debut, the end — for now — of Musk vs. OpenAI, and how startups can compete with Apple Intelligence. Listen here

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TechCrunch Minute

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LinkedIn offers AI-written cover letters: We all need a little help to stand out in today’s job market, and LinkedIn wants to be your go-to. In addition to the cover letters, the social media network is using AI to make it easier to search for jobs, and it will review your résumé. Hit play and let’s chat!

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Around the web

Why send a cold email when you can send out a hot pizza?: That was Matthew Parkhurst’s idea, and it paid off. CNBC reports the co-founder and CEO of tech startup Antimetal was emerging from stealth and wanted potential customers to know about the company, so he ordered 1,000 pizzas and had them delivered in custom Antimetal boxes. Read more

Do you have Bitcoin?: More importantly, do you know how to access your Bitcoin? Because some experts say that the price is likely to hit $200,000 by next year, and after that could reach $1 million in the next 10 years, CoinDesk reports. Read more

There’s no Magnificent Seven: Just a Magnificent One, and journalist Allan Sloan writes for Barron’s about why Nvidia is it. Read more