In my column this week, I wrote about how a former colleague posed as an AI-powered spam bot and almost fooled me. Bottom line: AI is being used for clever purposes, but it’s also increasingly being used for nefarious purposes. Of course, AI-driven spam is going to get very interesting, very quickly: some of the generative AIs are smart enough to pass themselves off as humans. So what happens when each spam message is personalized and differentiated from all other spam messages?Things are about to get really bad, hopefully before they get better.
Let me take you on a tour of the global startup’s strengths and weaknesses over the past week.
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Last month, Alex wrote that layoffs in the tech sector were pretty much a thing of the past. I told you, my friend, that you had a rough patch.
Despite the signs of economic recovery and forecasts to avoid a recession, tech corporations continue to lay off staff. In October, Nokia announced it was laying off 14,000 workers after a quarter in which its profits fell 69%, and other major tech corporations such as Qualcomm, Qualtrics and LinkedIn also announced major layoffs. Experts recommend that although the economy is improving, the recovery process is slow, leading many businesses to prepare for a longer era of economic downturn. In addition, the shift in investors’ mindset from expansion to powerhouse has led to cost-cutting measures, adding layoffs. These trends, combined with tighter purchasing budgets and slower sales cycles, may continue to have an effect on the tech sector through 2024. Ron has everything you want to know about TC in “What’s Behind the New Round of Tech Layoffs?”
Product Hunt is drastically cutting its staff: Product Hunt, a discovery for startups, apps, and generation tools, has laid off about 60% of its team, adding positions in design, product, and sales. The cuts were made for “strategic reasons,” Sara reports.
The stack is overflowing: Stack Overflow, a developer networking site owned by Prosus, has announced a 28% relief in its component of its drive toward profitability. The company did not disclose the exact number of workers affected. “It’s to blame,” Ivan writes.
Don’t miss our full advisor: the tech industry faced a major blow in 2023, with task losses exceeding 240,000, up 50% from last year. Big tech giants like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Yahoo, Meta, and Zoom. , as well as many startups, have announced significant reductions. Here’s our full advisor.
Image Credits: Tesla
The 2023 Rebelle Rally, a 2,120-kilometer women-only festival of boating and off-roading, features a test track for production vehicles in addition to electric vehicles. Of the 65 groups that competed in the eighth annual edition of the Rally, 10 were electrified vehicles, adding 4 Rivian R1T pickup trucks, marking significant EV access to this historically non-tech event. A Rivian team took first place in the 4×4 category, marking the first time an all-electric vehicle has been on the podium.
Meanwhile, Tesla released its third-quarter earnings report. And it wasn’t pretty: The report showed a decline in gross margin to 17. 9%, up from 25. 1% last year. This led to a 44% drop in profits (yes). The long-awaited Cybertruck is expected to begin its first deliveries, and Elon Musk has warned that it will take 18 months for the truck to become profitable.
It was also stormy days for driverless taxis, as Cruise’s license to operate as a robotaxi was added: The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) suspended Cruise’s licenses to operate and bill for his robotaxi service in San Francisco, following a similar resolution through the DMV. The DMV suspension came after Cruise allegedly concealed footage from an investigation into an incident in which a pedestrian struck and dragged one of his autonomous vehicles. Cruise has denied the allegations. The suspension comes just three months after granting the company the mandatory permits to qualify the trips. This led to increased resistance against robotaxis in Los Angeles.
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All aboard the Tesla standard: Toyota and Lexus have announced plans to adopt Tesla chargers (NACS) for their electric cars starting in 2025. The major automakers that have yet to adopt NACS are VW and Stellantis, but with the push toward the Tesla standard, their conversion may be imminent, Harri reports.
On the road: Pebble has unveiled a prototype of its flagship product, Pebble Flow, an all-electric camper designed for virtual nomads. The 25-foot trailer, which seats up to 4 people, can be reserved for a refundable $500. , with an initial cost of $109,000. An upgraded version, with dual-motor transmission, is available for $125,000, Kirsten reports.
More Tesla Legal Troubles: Tesla Is Back Under U. S. Justice Department ScrutinyIn the U. S. , regarding the company’s announced range of electric vehicles, staffing decisions and benefits. This comes after an investigation reported that Tesla had inflated its EV diversity estimates, Kirsten reports.
Image credits: Getty Images
I Own My Data (IOMD), a startup founded by former PayPal executive Rohan Mahadevan, aims to revolutionize online grocery shopping by eliminating the need for consumers to create new accounts with every purchase, reports Mary Ann. IMD’s Node platform allows consumers to manage and purchase all of their online interactions, purchases, and profiles on their own devices. Node came out of stealth with $2. 75 million in seed funding. The startup emphasizes that it is not a payments company, but a data company that stores user data. personal data on your devices for instant transactions.
Navan (formerly TripActions), a fintech startup specializing in expense management, has partnered with Citi to provide a common branding and spending formula for Citi business cardholders, reports Mary Ann. This partnership is a huge deal, especially given Citi’s prestige as the third-largest U. S. bank. The U. S. is a global leader in more than 25,000 ad card formulas and 7 million cardholders, all of whom will likely soon be able to say goodbye to expense reporting. By the way, Darrell did his RV spending this week and actually enjoyed it. Actually, he’s a strange human.
FFS, It’s Not Even a Rounding Error: Black Founders in the U. S. U. S. companies raised just 0. 13% of all capital allocated to startups in the third quarter, a significant drop from the $1 billion they raised in the third quarter of 2022. The trend has been consistent since 2020 despite efforts, Dominic-Madori reports.
Back: OMG, arguable former Fox News host Tucker Carlson is making plans to launch a media startup called Last Country, following a $15 million investment, Rebecca reports.
That’s a big bag of money, y’all: Global investment company KKR has announced the latest from its third-generation expansion fund with around $3 billion in capital commitments. The organization targets corporations with strong long-term expansion prospects, writing checks ranging from $50 million to $250 million, Connie reports.
Creating personal AIs: ZenML, an open-source AI framework, is helping corporations build their own personal AI models, reducing their reliance on API providers like OpenAI and Anthropic. The Munich-based startup has raised $6. 4 million since its inception.
Hell, let’s build our own: For TC, Ron took an in-depth look at why Monday. com, a company that offers a suite of flexible business tools, developed its own database solution, MondayDB, to meet customer needs.
The Web Summit drama continues: Paddy Cosgrave, co-founder and CEO of Web Summit, has resigned due to controversy over his comments about Israel and Palestine. Despite his resignation, Cosgrave owns 80% of the company. The conference organisers have shown that the 2023 web summit in Lisbon and the February 2024 summit in Qatar will go ahead as planned.