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לפני 3 ימים

What a16z is actually funding (and what it's ignoring) when it comes to AI infra

Andreessen Horowitz just raised a whopping new $15 billion in funding. And a $1.7 billion chunk of that is going to its infrastructure team, the one responsible for some of its biggest, most prominent AI investments including Black Forrest Labs, Cursor, OpenAI, ElevenLabs, Ideogram, Fal and dozens of others. A16z general partner with the infra team Jennifer Li (who oversees such investments as ElevenLabs – just valued at $11 billion); Ideagram and Fal, has a clear thesis on where the team is looking to spend it’s latest chunk of cash. Today on TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Venture and Startups editor Julie Bort talked with Li about where a16z sees this AI super cycle going next, including the talent crunch hitting AI-native startups, why search infrastructure matters more than people think, and what kinds of companies are actually getting funded right now. Listen to the full episode to hear about: Where Li thinks the gaps still are when it comes to startups building an AI stack What makes the most successful AI portfolio companies different How tools like voice AI are rising in importance (yet still a bit uncomfortable to witness) The AI startups she's still searching for and is ready to fund Chapters: 00:00 Intro 01:01 Andreessen Horowitz's $1.7B infrastructure fund 05:00 Crossing the uncanny valley in AI-generated content 07:14 Agents finally becoming real in 2026 09:30 Building your first productivity agent 11:56 Why email agents aren't quite there yet 15:00 Which jobs will agents replace first? 18:05 The most unhinged opinion: Creativity belongs to humans 20:21 The limits of LLMs and the rise of world models 22:13 AI-designed chips are coming 24:00 The truth behind those viral ARR numbers 26:10 Hiring at AI speed: The talent shortage problem 28:47 The pricing mistake that became a big deal 29:21 The future of search for AI agents 30:45 Outro Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

לפני 3 ימים

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33 דק׳
30 בינו׳

Uber puts another chip on the self-driving roulette table

Self-driving truck startup Waabi's billion-dollar fundraise isn't just about trucks. The deal, for $750 million up front plus another $250 million from Uber tied to deployment milestones, marks a major expansion into robotaxis for the company founded by former Uber AI chief Raquel Urtasun. It also feels like another chip from Uber on the autonomous vehicle roulette table. With more than 20 AV partners worldwide, the question isn't just whether Waabi can deliver on its plans to deploy over 25,000 robotaxis, but whether Uber's bet-on-everything strategy actually works. Today on TechCrunch's Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Sean O'Kane and Anthony Ha discussed Uber's AV partnership strategy, why Waabi's "simulation-first" approach might be different, and more of the week's headlines. Listen to the full episode to hear about: Anduril's drone race recruitment stunt and whether it's the future of hiring or just good PR Phia’s $35M raise for an AI shopping assistant as brick-and-mortar stores close their doors Northwood Space's $100M Series B and the booming space infrastructure market Who’s really winning in TikTok's messy US ownership deal, and the competitors trying to capitalize The IPO window cracking open, and how SpaceX plans to go through it Chapters: 00:00 Intro 02:13 Palmer Luckey's bold recruiting strategy 04:04 Phia raises $35M for sustainable shopping 06:27 Browser extensions & the privacy problem 09:59 Northwood Space's $100M Series B & Space Force contract 12:17 The rise of dual-use space companies 14:01 Waabi's $1B valuation & beyond trucking 16:36 Uber's strategy: Betting on every AV partner 19:12 TikTok's US deal & immediate outage 21:46 TikTok competitors gain ground 24:03 IPO window opening: Ethos, Serve, and SpaceX 27:57 Will Elon actually take SpaceX public this time? 29:11 Outro Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

30 בינו׳

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31 דק׳
23 בינו׳

AI CEOs transformed Davos into a tech conference

The World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos felt different this year, and not just because Meta and Salesforce took over storefronts on the main promenade. AI dominated the conversation in a way that overshadowed traditional topics like climate change and global poverty, and the CEOs weren't holding back. There was public criticism of trade policy, warnings about AI bubbles popping, and a lot of talk about what comes next for the industry. Meanwhile, back in Silicon Valley, AI startup Humans& raised a $480 million seed round with no product on the market, just a vision for "social intelligence" AI and a team of ex-Anthropic, Google, and xAI employees. Today on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O'Kane discuss why raising hundreds of millions before building a product is apparently the new norm, which conversations took over Davos this week, and more. Listen to the full episode to hear more from the week, including: Whether Meta's 10% layoffs at Reality Labs means the end for the metaverse, and who’s defending Meta's VR investments Serve Robotics' acquisition of Diligent, a startup bringing delivery bots into hospitals OpenAI’s rumored earbuds and what we expect to see from the AI company’s first hardware product. Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

23 בינו׳

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31 דק׳
28 בינו׳

The SpaceX IPO could finally happen (and it's a big deal)

SpaceX is reportedly lining up four major Wall Street banks for a 2026 IPO that could provide the reset the market needs. The company just completed a tender offer at an $800 billion valuation, and secondary market demand is through the roof. If SpaceX goes public anywhere near its rumored $1.5 trillion valuation, it could trigger an IPO cascade for other late-stage unicorns like OpenAI, Stripe, and Databricks. Today on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan spoke with Greg Martin, Managing Director at Rainmaker Securities, to discuss why this IPO feels different, how tech employees are cashing out through secondary markets before companies go public, and what investors are actually looking for in pre-IPO shares. Listen to the full episode to hear: Which other late-stage unicorns are seeing the most secondary trading action right now. Why SpaceX is ready to go public, despite previously saying it “wouldn't IPO until rockets were flying to Mars regularly” (and why Martin doesn’t think SpaceX will continue on its debut path if the market tanks) The "Elon halo effect" and how much of SpaceX's valuation is based on Musk himself What happens when SpaceX employees want to sell shares before the IPO Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:39 The Booming Secondary Market for Pre-IPO Shares 04:06 SpaceX as an IPO Bellwether 06:31 Why Elon Musk Changed His Mind on Going Public 10:04 The Race to a Trillion-Dollar Valuation 12:27 The Elon Halo Effect on Valuations 15:17 What Signals an Upcoming IPO? 17:50 How Secondaries Drive Better Price Discovery 20:47 How SpaceX Secondaries Actually Work 24:03 What Investors Want from Pre-IPO Companies 25:11 The Have and Have-Not World of Secondaries 26:42 Outro Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

28 בינו׳

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29 דק׳
14 בינו׳

The multibillion-dollar AI security problem enterprises can't ignore

AI agents are supposed to make work easier. Instead, they're creating a whole new category of security nightmares. As companies deploy AI-powered chatbots, agents, and copilots across their operations, they're facing a new risk: how do you let employees and AI agents use powerful AI tools without accidentally leaking sensitive data, violating compliance rules, or opening the door to prompt-based injections? Witness AI just raised $58 million to find a solution, building what they call "the confidence layer for enterprise AI." Today on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan was joined by Barmak Meftah, co-founder and partner at Ballistic Ventures, and Rick Caccia, CEO of Witness AI, to discuss what enterprises are actually worried about, why AI security become an $800 billion to $1.2 trillion market by 2031, and what happens when AI agents start talking to other AI agents without human oversight. Listen to the full episode to hear: How enterprises accidentally leak sensitive data through "shadow AI" usage. What CISOs are actually worried about right now, how the problem has evolved rapidly over 18 months, and what it will look like over the next year. Why traditional cybersecurity approaches don't work for AI agents. Real examples of AI agents going rogue, including one that threatened to blackmail an employee. Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

14 בינו׳

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31 דק׳
16 בינו׳

OpenAI and Anthropic are making their play for healthcare, and we're not surprised

AI companies are clustering around healthcare and fast. In just the past week, OpenAI bought health startup Torch, Anthropic launched Claude for Health, and Sam Altman-backed MergeLabs closed a $250 million seed round at an $850 million valuation. The money and products are pouring into health and voice AI, but so are concerns about hallucination risks, inaccurate medical information, and massive security vulnerabilities in systems handling sensitive patient data. Today on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O'Kane dig into why the AI world is suddenly obsessed with health care, what other products can expect an AI-makeover, and more. Listen to the full episode to hear: How Anthropic's co-work tool could threaten Salesforce and other enterprise software giants Bandcamp’s move against AI, banning AI-generated music from its platform Why fusion energy is heating up, with startups like Type One Energy suddenly raising hundreds of millions The latest on Luminar's bankruptcy and a potential bidding war overits LIDAR assets Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction 00:29 - Waymo testing in New York City? 02:13 - Bandcamp bans AI-generated music 04:57 - Luminar's bankruptcy and LIDAR fire sale 10:28 - Type One Energy's fusion funding frenzy 16:10 - AI's healthcare land grab 23:28 - Voice AI deals heat up 25:26 - Anthropic's co-work tool threatens enterprise software Subscribe to Equity on ⁠YouTube⁠,⁠ Apple Podcasts⁠,⁠ Overcast⁠,⁠ Spotify⁠ and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on⁠ X⁠ and⁠ Threads⁠, at @EquityPod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

16 בינו׳

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33 דק׳
2 בינו׳

How AI is reshaping work and who gets to do it, according to Mercor's CEO

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2 בינו׳

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25 דק׳
9 בינו׳

CES 2026 was all about “physical AI” and robots, robots, robots

After years of chatbots and image generators, AI is finally leaving the screen. At CES 2026, that shift became impossible to ignore. The annual tech showcase in Las Vegas was dominated by "physical AI" and robotics, from Boston Dynamic's newly redesigned Atlas humanoid robot to AI-powered ice makers (yes, really). The companies in attendance clearly want consumers to know: AI isn't just capable of answering questions anymore. It's ready to movecar parts in factories, catchcatching drones with net guns, and dance in automaker booths. Today on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O’Kane break down everything we saw at CES 2026 and more deals from the week that caught our eye. Listen to the full episode to hear about: Discord’s rumored IPO, years after shutting down a Microsoft acquisition xAI's massive $20 billion raise and the dark side of Grok's content moderation failures How Mobileye is getting into the humanoid robotics game with its acquisition of Mentee Robotics OpenAI's potential shift toward audio-first, screenless AI experiences Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 00:38 - Discord's surprise IPO filing 03:24 - xAI's $20B raise amid CSAM controversy 11:06 - Mobileye's pivot to humanoid robotics 14:41 - Physical AI takes over CES 18:31 - Why humanoid robots still don't make sense 24:26 - OpenAI's war on screens and ambient computing 29:56 - Wrap-up Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

9 בינו׳

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34 דק׳
26.12.2025

Equity's 2026 Predictions: AI Agents, Blockbuster IPOs, and the Future of VC

TechCrunch's Equity crew is bringing 2025 to a close and getting ahead on the year to come with our annual predictions episode! Hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Rebecca Bellan were joined by Build Mode host Isabelle Johansson to dissect the year's biggest tech developments, from mega AI funding rounds that defied expectations to the rise of "physical AI," and make their calls for 2026. The group tackles everything from why AI agents didn't live up to the hype in 2025 (but probably will in 2026), to how Hollywood will push back against AI-generated content, to why VCs are facing a serious liquidity crisis. Listen to the full episode to hear: Why world models are the next big thing in AI and how they're different from large language models The death of "stealth mode" for AI startups and the rise of alternative funding sources Predictions on regulatory chaos around AI policy and what Trump's recent executive order means for startups Hot takes on IPOs: Will OpenAI and Anthropic actually go public in 2026? Rapid-fire predictions including Johnny Ive and Sam Altman's inevitable public breakup, the return of dumb phones, and why everyone will be calling themselves "AI native" What's coming in Build Mode season 2: A deep dive into team building, hiring, and finding co-founders Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction 01:43 - Rating our 2025 predictions 04:19 - Funding in the bubble era 06:35 - World models and the future of AI 09:05 - The year of AI agents (for real this time) 11:58 - Physical AI everywhere 15:19 - AI meets Hollywood 16:25 - Regulatory chaos and federal preemption 18:34 - The liquidity crisis and LP direct investing 22:19 - IPO predictions for 2026 23:57 - Startup trends for 2026 27:06 - Buzzwords we're sick of hearing 28:15 - Rapid fire predictions 32:50 - What's next for Build Mode Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

26.12.2025

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35 דק׳
21 בינו׳

Build Mode: Capital is a commodity (but your investor relationships aren’t)

Today on Equity, we're teaming up with our newest podcast, Build Mode. In this interview, Build Mode host Isabelle Johannessen sits down with Ross Fubini of XYZ Ventures and Leslie Feinzaig of Graham & Walker Ventures to pull back the curtain on how VCs build their own go-to-market strategies. They dig into what it’s really like raising a first fund, why founder-market fit applies to investors too, and how the best investor relationships start years before you ever need the money. Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

21 בינו׳

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45 דק׳

TechCrunch podcasts cover the business of technology, startups, venture capital funding, crypto, and the humans behind it all.

אתר אינטרנט

TechCrunch

תכניות מובילות

What a16z is actually funding (and what it's ignoring) when it comes to AI infra

Uber puts another chip on the self-driving roulette table

AI CEOs transformed Davos into a tech conference

The SpaceX IPO could finally happen (and it's a big deal)

The multibillion-dollar AI security problem enterprises can't ignore

OpenAI and Anthropic are making their play for healthcare, and we're not surprised

How AI is reshaping work and who gets to do it, according to Mercor's CEO

CES 2026 was all about “physical AI” and robots, robots, robots

Equity's 2026 Predictions: AI Agents, Blockbuster IPOs, and the Future of VC

Build Mode: Capital is a commodity (but your investor relationships aren’t)

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