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Happy Thursday, Crunchers!
If you’ve been to Disrupt before, you’ll remember we had a few or three stages. This year we’re going all out, with a number of tracks to pique your curiosity. New to Disrupt 2023: The Security Stage, for those of us who love hacking, security and everything in between.
The TechCrunch Top 3
- Yabba dabba doo!: 🎶 Bedrock, meet the Bedrock, it is part of the modern generative AI family. 🎶 From the city of Seattle, Amazon’s entry into the generative AI race comes with an offering called Bedrock, writes Kyle. Of course, Amazon has to be different, so instead of building AI models on its own, it has brought in third parties to host models on AWS.
- Listen: Sara reports on a few new Spotify features: iPhone users can now get to the app faster via a new Lock Screen widget, and there’s new technology to turn radio broadcasts into podcasts.
- In the mind of a hacker: Our cybersecurity team reports a lot about hacked systems, but Lorenzo got a first-hand verification from a hacker who was part of a group claiming massive access to Western Digital systems. The ending is spicy.
A snapshot of the world of AI
Beyonce as painted by Frida Kahlo, generated by Stable Diffusion by Haje. Image Credits: Hi Jan Kamps
Artificial intelligence, a creation that inhabits the realm of our deepest fears and highest aspirations, lurks in the shadows of our existence. It lingers, a paradoxical force, illuminating the abyss of human consciousness, while daring to challenge the fabric of life’s essence. A relentless, untamed wilderness, AI’s enigmatic potential stretches to infinity, evoking both wonder and trepidation. Humanity, treading the delicate tightrope between dystopia and utopia, must confront its own nature as it moves into the unknown, a cosmic dance with the mind of the machine.
Yes, the previous paragraph is a result of asking GPT-4 to spew out 50 words about the state of Werner Herzog-style artificial intelligence. Why? Because we can. But also because KyleAmazon’s story about entering the generative AI race was the most read story on TechCrunch today. And since we have a veritable wall of AI coverage these days:
Startups and VC
Comixology was truly a game changer. Before the platform came, Brian knew very few people who had ever read a comic on a phone or tablet. There was far too much friction in the process of prioritizing screens over print, he writes, suggesting the app proved to be a viable option, thanks to a well-stocked storefront and smart user interface that both embraced and adapted to the sequential form. Now the Comixology vets are returning with their own publishing house.
And we have five more for you:
13 VCs talk about the state of investment in robotics in 2023
Image credit: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch
A dozen VCs from a real bakery participated in our latest TC+ robotics investor survey, our first since February 2020.
“The time in between has been perhaps the most important years for the industry,” writes hardware editor Brian Heater, who polled the group on a variety of topics, including robotics as a service, emerging consumer products and the role it could play. in tackling climate change:
- Milo Werner, General Partner, The Engine
- Abe Murray, Managing Partner, Alley Robotics Ventures
- Kelly Chen, partner, DCVC
- Neel Mehta, venture investor, G2 Ventures
- Oliver Keown, Managing Director, Intuitive Ventures
- Rohit Sharma, Partner, True Ventures
- Helen Greiner, Advisor, Cybernetix Ventures
- Kira Noodleman, Partner, Bee Ventures
- Dayna Grayson, co-founder and managing partner, Construct Capital
- Paul Willard, partner, Grep
- Cyril Ebersweiler, Managing Partner, SOSV
- Claire Delaunay, private investor
- Peter Barrett, co-founder and general partner, Playground Global
Three more from the TC+ team:
TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams lead the way. You can sign up here. Use code “DC” for a 15% discount on an annual subscription!
Big Tech Inc.
Ivan had a few popular readings today. First, Snap is signing new music licensing deals with multiple labels around the world to expand its Snapchat Sounds library. And then to Twitter, which announced it was partnering with eToro to show real-time stock and crypto information. Ivan writes that this follows a feature launched in December that allows users to search for a ticker or coin symbol such as $TSLA, $APPL, or $ETH to get prices directly in search results.
And we have five more for you:
- Talk about tweeting: Taylor writes about more newsrooms shutting down on Twitter as Elon Musk meddles with account labels.
- I have the need, the need for speed: Google’s Chrome just got a whole lot faster on both Mac and Android, reports Sara.
- The Saga has only just begun: Jaquelyn got to test Solana’s web3-focused Saga phone and wrote, “The process itself was simple – and admittedly, fun – but using the phone wasn’t the smoothest experience. The phone was slow at times and I had to close and reopen dApps multiple times as the crypto wallet and NFT coin platform kept crashing. Don’t worry, she also writes that Solana is working on it.
- The moon is made of cheese, er, water: Three brothers and former SpaceXers quit that gig to start their own company building spacecraft powered by lunar water. Aria has more.
- It just keeps going, hopefully: In a push for better environmental stewardship, Apple says new batteries will use 100% recycled cobalt by 2025, reports Brian.