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Equity

Black founders are tailoring the ChatGPT experience, and crypto makes a comeback

Equity

TechCrunch

Founders, Silicon Valley, Finance, Ipo, Vc, Technology, Business News, Startups, Business, Venture Capital, News, Stock Market, Entrepreneurship, Techcrunch

4.2365 Ratings

🗓️ 17 June 2024

⏱️ 13 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week on Equity, we discussed some big news that really matters: How Black founders are addressing the diversity gap in AI chatbots. We’ve all noticed how OpenAI’s ChatGPT and other AI chatbot tools struggle with cultural nuance, often coming up with answers that reflect a largely Euro-centric worldview. Now, a handful of Black-owned chatbots and ChatGPT versions – like Latimer.AI, ChatBlackGPT and Spark Plug – have cropped up to ensure Black POVs are included in the AI conversation, and that Black founders get a cut of this trillion-dollar industry. That’s not all Rebecca talked about on Monday’s show. We also looked at how different social media companies are playing around with what’s real and what isn’t, an increasingly salient topic in the age of AI. On the one hand, we’ve got TikTok’s introduction of generative AI avatars, which creators and brands can use to speed up ad campaigns and spread them out to a global audience. And on the other hand, YouTube is experimenting with a “Notes” feature that lets users add context to videos. It’s an attempt to combat misinformation as AI threatens to inundate us all with deepfake and misleading political content in the lead up to the 2024 presidential election. In IPO Land, Rebecca touched on Tempus’s 9% rise and $441 million raise on its Nasdaq debut last Friday. The genomic testing and data analysis company, started by Groupon’s founder, need have only hinted at its future genAI integrations for investors to throw money at it. Meanwhile, Chinese e-commerce giant Shein is struggling to get Beijing to approve its London IPO, reports the Financial Times. Shein’s executive chair reportedly angered Chinese regulators last month by saying its corporate values meant it “could be considered a US company,” so now the retailer is trying to walk back on those comments. Shein is trying to raise £50 billion (US$64 billion) from its London IPO, and it needs Beijing on its side to do so. Haje closed out today’s show with a teardown of Kinnect’s $250K angel deck. Founded just last year, the digital archive startup is already making waves with $100,000 in funding from Techstar’s Rising Stars program. Hit play to hear how they did it!

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hello and welcome back to Equity, Tech Crunch's flagship podcast about the

0:14.3

business of startups. This is our Monday show where we take a look at the

0:17.3

weekend and get you ready for the week ahead. Today is June 17th,

0:20.7

2024 and I'm Rebecca Belan a senior reporter at Tech Crunch.

0:24.0

It's a beautiful morning now, although we are getting ready for an incredibly hot week in New York,

0:28.0

just the thing to get us all hot and bothered for today's tech news.

0:32.0

Let's get caught up. On today's show we have how

0:34.3

black founders are creating tailored chat gepity experiences, Tik-T talks AI actors,

0:39.7

IPO news from Tempest and Sheen, the return of crypto, and to close out today,

0:44.4

High is back with a pitch deck tear down for Connect.

0:47.0

Let's get started.

0:48.0

Let's dive into the big news that matters.

0:52.8

For our first story today, Black founders are creating tailored chat geeptees for a more personalized

0:57.4

experience.

0:59.0

As you may have noticed, chat geepeet and other AI chatbot tools sometimes struggle with cultural nuance, often spitting

1:04.4

out answers that largely reflect a Eurocentric worldview. A handful of black-on chatbots and chat-gPT versions like Latimer.

1:12.1

AI, chat black geep t and spark plug have cropped up to

1:16.3

ensure black points of view are included in the AI conversation and that black

1:20.6

founders get a cut of this trillion dollar industry.

1:23.2

As Tamara Huggins, founder of Canada-based Sparkplug,

1:25.9

told Tech Crunch, we are the keepers of our own stories and experiences.

1:30.1

We need to create systems and infrastructure

...

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