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Equity

Ilya Sutskever's new AI venture, and time to BeReal about bankruptcy

Equity

TechCrunch

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

4.2365 Ratings

🗓️ 21 June 2024

⏱️ 34 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week, co-hosts Mary-Ann Azavedo and Haje Kamps were joined by the ever-insightful Kirsten Korosec to dive into the latest and greatest happenings in the startup world. Kicking things off, our trio of hosts break down three major deals of the week. First, there's Waabi, an autonomous trucking startup that just closed a whopping $200 million Series B round. Kirsten Korosec provides an inside look into how Waabi's AI-first approach is setting it apart in the crowded autonomous vehicle space and why investors are still willing to back big bets in this field despite the market's ups and downs. Next, they explore the intriguing case of Gynger, a fintech company that has raised $20 million led by PayPal Ventures. Mary-Ann explains how Gynger is shaking up the way startups handle tech purchases with its buy-now-pay-later model, working both with buyers and sellers to offer flexible payment terms. Kirsten and your trusty correspondent weigh in on the potential risks and rewards of this unique business model, especially in today's volatile economic environment. The third deal takes us into the realm of artificial intelligence with Safe Superintelligence. I'm delving into the story of OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever’s new venture, which aims to develop general AI with a focus on safety. We discuss the ambitious goals of this startup and the challenges of balancing rapid advancement with the ethical considerations of creating superintelligent AI. After dissecting these deals, the conversation shifts to a sobering topic: the wave of bankruptcies that have hit the startup world in 2024. Kirsten provides a detailed analysis of the factors leading to these failures, with a spotlight on high-profile cases like EV startup Fisker and fintech service Synapse. The team discusses the common pitfalls that led to these companies' downfalls and what other startups can learn from their mistakes. But it's not all doom and gloom—our hosts wrap up with an exciting discussion about the future. They dive into Voodoo's acquisition of social media startup BeReal for $537 million. Mary-Ann explores the reasons behind this bold move, how Voodoo plans to integrate ads into BeReal's platform, and what this could mean for the landscape of social media. Kirsten and myself debate the potential success of this strategy and the broader implications for user engagement and authenticity in the age of digital advertising.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hello and welcome back to Equity Tech Runches flagship podcast about the business of

0:15.7

startups today is June 21st 2024 I'm Marianne Asavado and joining me as

0:20.8

senior TC reporter,

0:22.6

Haya Camps, Haya, how's it going?

0:24.9

You know what, I'm doing great.

0:26.6

It's a summer solstice and I feel an incantation or two coming on

0:30.1

and you know, maybe I have to go dance naked on a beach somewhere it seems like that kind of day

0:34.9

well let us know if that happens hey we're also joined by Tech Crunch senior reporter and editor

0:40.2

Kirsten Korsett Kirsten how's it going in your world?

0:43.6

And welcome back, by the way, we missed you.

0:45.8

Yeah, I've been all over the place and I just want to make a note,

0:49.1

Hia.

0:49.9

Today is, I think it's an unofficial,

0:52.6

I don't think it's actually a true national holiday,

0:54.8

but it is hike naked day.

0:56.9

So instead of going to the beach,

0:58.2

maybe hit the trail instead.

0:59.9

One way or the other, I'm not gonna be wearing any clothes

1:02.0

is what I'm hearing.

1:03.0

Have fun with that.

1:05.0

Hopefully my kids aren't listening to this episode.

1:08.0

Yeah, no.

...

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