Meta released Glimmer this week, an open-weight AImodelanyone can download and run on their own hardware— a contrast toMuseSpark, the company’s more powerful model that stays locked behind its own APIs. The release landed alongsidea letter from Mark Zuckerbergarguing AI should be “for everyone” rather than controlled by a handful of labs, but as Equity’s hosts point out, the vision comes withsome asterisks.
On this episode of TechCrunch’sEquitypodcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Rebecca Bellantake a lookat Glimmer,Zuckerberg’s 6,500-wordmanifesto, and more of the week’s headlines,from thetrue cost ofthe AI industry’s energy needstoa $250Macquisition gone very wrong.
Listen tothefull episode to hear more about:
- Who’son the market fora $300 cocktail robot?
- Why Anthropic isadding watermarksto its generated text, and users are not happy.
- Thepotential costAmazon’s planned data centerin Texasandthestartups racing to fixthegrid, includingForm Energy’s $750M raisefor 100-hour batteries,Reservoir’s $8M beton smarter water heaters, andDiscoveredMaterials’hunt for cooler chips.
- WhyJoby Aviation’s $500M acquisitionof a defense contractor reminds Kirsten of its Blade deal last year — and whatthe2028 LA Olympics have to do with it.
- How a $250M deal between video-clipping startupVideoVerseand sports publisher Minute Mediacollapsedamidst allegedlyforged documents, multiple lawsuits, and a CEO nobody can reach.
Subscribe to Equity onYouTube,Apple Podcasts,Overcast,Spotifyand allthecasts. 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].
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.
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].
Rebecca Bellan is a senior reporter at TechCrunch where she covers the business, policy, and emerging trends shaping artificial intelligence. Her work has also appeared in Forbes, Bloomberg, The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, and other publications.
You can contact or verify outreach from Rebecca by emailing [email protected] or via encrypted message at rebeccabellan.491 on Signal.