Today, on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Max Zeff and Anthony Ha are breaking down the week’s biggest stories, including the Optifye.ai controversy, the wider concerns about AI in labor, and why this demo could be a glimpse of what's coming next.

Listen to the full episode to hear about:

• Amazon’s Alexa unveiling this week in NYC, and why an AI-enabeled Alexa+ could make the competition sweat
• Why the departure of Lucid Motors' CEO Peter Rawlinson is raising concerns about the company's future
• Bridgetown Research’s $19 million raise to automate due diligence
• Figure AI’s new funds and Helix plans. When asked if they’d want the humanoid assistants in their home, Kirsten was skeptical, but Max prefers the softer side of robotics. 

Equity will be back next week, so stay tuned!

Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday. 

Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. For the full episode transcript, for those who prefer reading over listening, check out our full archive of episodes here.

Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. We’d also like to thank TechCrunch’s audience development team. Thank you so much for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.

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

Today on Equity, Mary Ann Azevedo sits down with Eylul Kayin, a partner at Gradient Ventures, to dive into the evolving AI startup landscape. The pair dig into what makes a successful AI startup, the importance of quality product offerings, and the fast-moving nature of AI innovation. 

Listen to the full episode to hear more about:

• Key challenges founders face, from building strong customer relationships to navigating technical hurdles.
• Gradient Ventures’ approach to funding and supporting AI startups, especially how to strike a balance between vertical expertise and rapid product development.
• Eylul's experience as a judge for TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield 2024, and tips for entrepreneurs pitching their ideas to investors. And if you’re a founder interested in applying, the TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 200 applications are officially open — so be sure to check it out!

Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday. 

Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. For the full episode transcript, for those who prefer reading over listening, check out our full archive of episodes here.

Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. We’d also like to thank TechCrunch’s audience development team. Thank you so much for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.

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

Humane’s AI Pin, which promised to replace your smartphone with a sleek wearable device, is officially dead. After a rocky launch, negative reviews, and returns outpacing sales, the startup is shutting down and selling its assets to HP for $116 million – less than half of what it raised. But what’s next for Humane’s tech?

On today's episode of Equity, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Max Zeff and Anthony Ha are breaking down the week’s tech and startup headlines, including what HP might do with Humane’s resources and talent and how, as Max put it, the AI Pin was clearly ahead of its time.

Listen to the full episode to hear about:

• The people in Elon Musk’s DOGE universe, the AI behind it, and the potential future of AI-powered government initiatives
• The new AI lab contenders, Safe Superintelligence and Thinking Machines Lab, and whether VCs are putting more stock in talent than actual results
• The Uber v. DoorDash lawsuit over “anti-competitive tactics” 
• And why Duolingo’s mascot getting killed off in a Cybertruck crash is oddly working in the brand’s favor

Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday. 

Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. For the full episode transcript, for those who prefer reading over listening, check out our full archive of episodes here.

Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. We’d also like to thank TechCrunch’s audience development team. Thank you so much for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.

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

Last week, the team at early-stage VC firm Slow Ventures launched its new $60 million fund entirely focused on investing in content creators.Today on Equity, Rebecca Bellan sits down with Lightcap to dive into YouTube remains the dominant platform for serious creators,how niche community trust translates into scalable businesses, and what this new fund means for the creator economy.

Listen to the full episode to hear more about:

• How this new asset class has the potential to scale.
• The firm’s success stories so far, including Marina Mogilko’s baby snack company and other ventures.
• The parallels between backing creators and traditional seed-stage founders.
• The “key man risk” and how investors navigate the challenge.

Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday. 

Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. For the full episode transcript, for those who prefer reading over listening, check out our full archive of episodes here.

Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. We’d also like to thank TechCrunch’s audience development team. Thank you so much for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.

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

Tensions are running high in the AI world this week after Elon Musk made a staggering $97.4 billion bid to buy OpenAI, a move that would mark one of the largest tech acquisitions in history – if it actually happens. Sam Altman shut the notion down fast, even going so far as to fire back with a post suggesting he’d buy X for a tenth of the price. But Musk’s bid itself does raise questions about potential roadblocks ahead for OpenAI.

Today, on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Max Zeff and Anthony Ha are breaking down the offer, the response, and what it means for the AI company’s future, plus other headlines from the week.

Listen to the full episode to hear about:

• What you missed from the Paris AI Action Summit: who’s backing global AI opportunity and who’s calling it a missed opportunity.
• BNPL startup Tabby’s massive raise and $3.3 billion valuation, as well as its IPO ambitions in a turbulent fintech market.
• Archer Aviation’s $300 million boost, and why its eVTOL development is leaning into defense.

Equity will be back with a new interview on Wednesday, so stay tuned!

Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday. 

Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. For the full episode transcript, for those who prefer reading over listening, check out our full archive of episodes here.

Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. We’d also like to thank TechCrunch’s audience development team. Thank you so much for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.

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

“The fintech market is hot again,” said Sheel Mohnot, fintech investor and founder of Better Tomorrow Ventures (BTV). “And we are going to see some more exits in the near future.” 

According to recent reports, fintech funding is on the rise, with global investment hitting $60 billion in the first half of the year alone, marking a significant rebound from the previous year’s dip. 

Mohnot – whose X account you’ve likely come across if you follow fintech – has invested in over 100 deals throughout the years, primarily in fintech, and co-founded the accelerator program The Mint. On today’s episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Mary Ann Azevedo is catching up with Mohnot to discuss why he thinks fintech is “poised to have a lot of outcomes in the near future,” the potential of AI in fintech, particularly in accounting and underwriting, and highlights the impact of DeepSeek on the AI landscape.

Listen to the full episode to hear more about:

• Mohnot’s journey from founder to investor after co-founding companies like FeeFighters, which sold to Groupon in 2012.
• Who’s getting it right in 2025? Mohnot highlights players in the accounting automation space such as Basis, Layer, and InScope
• The optimistic outlook for fintech, with potential IPOs from companies like Chime, Klarna, and Stripe.
• How Sheel built his impressive online following, and what a Taco Bell metaverse wedding and Justin Bieber have to do with it.

Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday. 

Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. For the full episode transcript, for those who prefer reading over listening, check out our full archive of episodes here.

Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. We’d also like to thank TechCrunch’s audience development team. Thank you so much for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.

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

Humanoid robotics company Figure raised eyebrows this week when it announced it would be stepping away from a partnership with OpenAI in favor of building its own in-house AI models. Figure CEO Brett Adcock alluded to a “major breakthrough” in their own process and plans to unveil “something no one has ever seen on a humanoid” in the coming month. 

Figure isn’t the only company experimenting with non-OpenAI solutions either. Just last week, researchers from Stanford and the University of Washington demonstrated that it’s possible to train a highly capable “reasoning” model for under $50 in cloud compute credits, a stark contrast to the costs often associated with OpenAI’s models.

TechCrunch’s Kirsten Korosec, Margaux MacColl, and Max Zeff are diving into the biggest news on today’s episode of Equity, including how the tide could be changing for OpenAI. 

Listen to the full episode to hear about:

• Notable new hires in startups and venture, from Stripe’s new lead for ‘startup and VC partnerships’ to Andreessen Horowitz’s controversial pick for its American Dynamism team lead.
• Two space startups teaming up to build the next generation of telescopes. 
• Elon Musk’s latest play, and how Silicon Valley is reacting to the tech bros taking over the federal government.

Equity will be back next week, so don’t miss it!

Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday. 

Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. For the full episode transcript, for those who prefer reading over listening, check out our full archive of episodes here.

Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. We’d also like to thank TechCrunch’s audience development team. Thank you so much for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.

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

As the interest in both space and solar grows, one startup aims to merge the two industries. By tapping into the momentum of the commercial space industry and the increasing demand for renewable energy, Robinhood co-founder Baiju Bhatt is on a mission to make space-based solar power a reality with his latest startup: Aetherflux.

Today on Equity, Rebecca Bellan caught up with Bhatt to talk about his transition from fintech to deep tech and why he believes now is the right time to scatter solar power-collecting satellites across the skies. 

Listen to the full episode to hear more about:

• How Aetherflux approached funding as a bootstrapped startup (for now), and what investor interest in space-based solar looks like.
• The challenge of scaling tech that’s literally out of this world.
• And Bellan and Bhatt’s idea for a Burning Man light show.

Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday. 

Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. For the full episode transcript, for those who prefer reading over listening, check out our full archive of episodes here.

Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. We’d also like to thank TechCrunch’s audience development team. Thank you so much for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.

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

Today, we’re bringing you a bonus episode zeroing in on DeepSeek, the Chinese AI lab that’s recently taken over the news and the app stores, beating out OpenAI's ChatGPT. Max Zeff is talking about it all with Ion Stoica, Professor of Computer Science Division at UC Berkeley and the cofounder and executive chairman of software startup Databricks.

Listen to the full episode to hear more about:

• Why Stoica believes the future of AI lies in "doubling down on open source."
• Microsoft's decision to host DeepSeek on Azure.
• What the U.S. can do to foster accelerated innovation – with a look back at SB-1047 and a look ahead to 2025.
• The controversy surrounding claims that DeepSeek used OpenAI’s models to train its own.

Equity will be back next week, so stay tuned!

Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday. 

Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. For the full episode transcript, for those who prefer reading over listening, check out our full archive of episodes here.

Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. We’d also like to thank TechCrunch’s audience development team. Thank you so much for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.

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

DeepSeek, DeepSeek, DeepSeek. We couldn’t escape the headlines around the Chinese AI lab this week. The startup -- which claims to have built its models more efficiently and at a fraction of the cost of competitors -- lit a fire under Silicon Valley after releasing its R1 “reasoning” model and displacing ChatGPT as the App Store’s top app.

Today, on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Margaux MacColl and Max Zeff are digging into the latest news, including the reactions from both tech giants and the U.S. government, which is increasingly concerned that China is pulling ahead in the AI arms race.

Listen to the full episode to also hear about:

• Tesla earnings -- from promises made to robotaxi updates, and questions left unanswered. Don’t worry, Kirsten brought her bingo board if you want to play along.
• Nucleus Genomics’ $14 million raise for DNA sequencing and analysis.  
• The demand for fusion, and Helion’s $425M raise to build its own fusion reactor for Microsoft.

Equity has a special DeepSeek deep dive on the way for those who want more, so stay tuned!

Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday. 

Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. For the full episode transcript, for those who prefer reading over listening, check out our full archive of episodes here.

Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. We’d also like to thank TechCrunch’s audience development team. Thank you so much for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.

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

You might have noticed in your time online that a lot of the services and the websites that you’re using are kind of getting…worse. The good news, though, is that this means that there are different sectors that are ripe for disruption. 

On today’s episode of Equity, Rebecca's joined by Ed Zitron —CEO of EZPR, host of the Better Offline podcast, and author of Why Everything Stopped Working—to dig into why this shift is happening and what it means for startups.

Listen to the full episode to hear the pair discuss:

• Why it’s time to ditch ‘founder mode’ for what Ed calls ‘customer mode’ – a more sustainable, customer-first approach that beats the growth-at-all-costs mentality.
• The opportunities Ed sees for startups in what he sees as a declining market
• The long-term outlook for generative AI companies like OpenAI. (Note: this interview was recorded before the DeepSeek news broke, but don’t worry – Equity will have that update for you later in the week.)

Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday. 

Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. For the full episode transcript, for those who prefer reading over listening, check out our full archive of episodes here.

Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. We’d also like to thank TechCrunch’s audience development team. Thank you so much for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.

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