The World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davosfelt 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 CEOsweren’tholding 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 roundwith no producton the market, just a vision for “social intelligence” AI and a team of ex-Anthropic, Google, andxAIemployees.
Today on TechCrunch’sEquitypodcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O’Kane discuss why raising hundreds of millions before building a product isapparently thenew 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 meansthe end for the metaverse, andwho’sdefending Meta’s VR investments
- Serve Robotics’ acquisition of Diligent,a startupbringing delivery bots into hospitals
- OpenAI’s rumored earbudsand what we expect to see from the AI company’s first hardware product.
Subscribe to Equity onYouTube,Apple Podcasts,Overcast,Spotifyand all the casts. Youalso canfollow Equity onXandThreads, at @EquityPod.
Theresa Loconsolo is an audio producer at TechCrunch focusing on Equity, the network’s flagship podcast. Before joining TechCrunch in 2022, she was one of 2 producers at a four-station conglomerate where she wrote, recorded, voiced and edited content, and engineered live performances and interviews from guests like lovelytheband. Theresa is based in New Jersey and holds a bachelors degree in Communication from Monmouth University.
You can contact or verify outreach from Theresa by emailing [email protected].
Anthony Ha is TechCrunch’s weekend editor. Previously, he worked as a tech reporter at Adweek, a senior editor at VentureBeat, a local government reporter at the Hollister Free Lance, and vice president of content at a VC firm. He lives in New York City.
You can contact or verify outreach from Anthony by emailing [email protected].
Kirsten Korosec is a reporter and editor who has covered the future of transportation from EVs and autonomous vehicles to urban air mobility and in-car tech for more than a decade. She is currently the transportation editor at TechCrunch and co-host of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast. She is also co-founder and co-host of the podcast, “The Autonocast.” She previously wrote for Fortune, The Verge, Bloomberg, MIT Technology Review and CBS Interactive.
You can contact or verify outreach from Kirsten by emailing [email protected] or via encrypted message at kkorosec.07 on Signal.
Sean O’Kane is a reporter who has spent a decade covering the rapidly-evolving business and technology of the transportation industry, including Tesla and the many startups chasing Elon Musk. Most recently, he was a reporter at Bloomberg News where he helped break stories about some of the most notorious EV SPAC flops. He previously worked at The Verge, where he also covered consumer technology, hosted many short- and long-form videos, performed product and editorial photography, and once nearly passed out in a Red Bull Air Race plane.
You can contact or verify outreach from Sean by emailing [email protected] or via encrypted message at okane.01 on Signal.