エピソード

  • Uber puts another chip on the self-driving roulette table

    Uber puts another chip on the self-driving roulette table
    2026/01/30
    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
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    31 分
  • The SpaceX IPO could finally happen (and it's a big deal)

    The SpaceX IPO could finally happen (and it's a big deal)
    2026/01/28
    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
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    29 分
  • AI CEOs transformed Davos into a tech conference

    AI CEOs transformed Davos into a tech conference
    2026/01/23
    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
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    31 分
  • Build Mode: Capital is a commodity (but your investor relationships aren’t)

    Build Mode: Capital is a commodity (but your investor relationships aren’t)
    2026/01/21
    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
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    45 分
  • OpenAI and Anthropic are making their play for healthcare, and we're not surprised

    OpenAI and Anthropic are making their play for healthcare, and we're not surprised
    2026/01/16
    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
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    33 分
  • The multibillion-dollar AI security problem enterprises can't ignore

    The multibillion-dollar AI security problem enterprises can't ignore
    2026/01/14
    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
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    31 分
  • CES 2026 was all about “physical AI” and robots, robots, robots

    CES 2026 was all about “physical AI” and robots, robots, robots
    2026/01/09
    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
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    34 分
  • Investing in the consumer AI products OpenAI ‘won’t want to kill’

    Investing in the consumer AI products OpenAI ‘won’t want to kill’
    2026/01/07
    Vanessa Larco, partner at Premise and former partner at NEA, thinks 2026 will finally be the year of consumer AI. Larco, who's been investing in consumer and prosumer for years, thinks we're about to see a shift in how consumers spend time online, with AI powering “concierge-like” services. The question is, will legacy consumer products like WebMD and TripAdvisor continue to exist as standalone apps, or will they just get absorbed into ChatGPT or Meta AI? And where can startups carve out an AI-powered niche for themselves? Today on TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan sat down with Larco to talk about why consumer is back, what OpenAI won't kill, and where the real opportunities are hiding. Listen to the full episode to hear about: Why Larco thinks OpenAI won't build marketplace businesses that require managing real humans. Larco’s take on "disposable software" and why AI apps “should be treated like Word docs.” How Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses turned Larco into a believer in voice interfaces (and why she thinks screens are optional for most tasks). More predictions for 2026, including another huge year for M&A. What new business models stablecoins could unlock. 00:00 - Introduction 00:53 - Why founders are excited about consumer again 04:40 - The moat against OpenAI: Managing real humans 09:22 - Apps as disposable as Word docs 12:48 - Social media in the AI era 18:48 - Meta Ray-Bans and why wearables are actually good 23:35 - Stablecoins and consumer fintech opportunities 26:54 - M&A predictions for 2026 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
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    32 分