Rivian’s spinoff company, Also, has won one of the biggest contracts – with Amazon. They will deliver thousands of electric pedal-assist cargo bikes. This partnership is the biggest breakthrough yet for the company. No wonder, given how desperately it wants to become a player in the cutthroat electric vehicle market. The name “Also” has gotten some press for being the most extreme example of naming something that’s impossible to say out loud.
In a separate development, Sesame, a conversational AI startup founded by former Oculus creators, has raised an impressive $250 million in funding. Sesame has made a considerable bet. Unfortunately, the product it hopes to deliver remains mostly a mirage, and not yet manifested in the marketplace.
Recent events have shed light on the fragility of the technology development ecosystem. A recent extreme example is the AWS outage that temporarily took out a third of the internet. As a result, this unfortunate incident interrupted hundreds of services. It even transformed Eight Sleep mattresses into “temperature nightmares,” underscoring how deeply we depend on robust internet infrastructure for our daily comforts. The outage has opened up conversations about the growing fragility of our internet in general.
Against this unusual backdrop, many pro-privacy and pro-user alternatives web browsers are soaring. Some users are gravitating towards privacy-centric options such as DuckDuckGo and Brave, while others are exploring “mindful” browsers like Opera Air. These options are either doubling down on or pushing back against this accelerating tide of AI incorporation into the public’s daily web experience.
Back in the media world Anthony Ha on the move as TechCrunch’s new weekend editor. At the same time, great work by our senior reporter, with AI, Maxwell Zeff. Theresa Loconsolo is an audio producer making Equity at TechCrunch. To follow up with Maxwell Zeff, email him at zeff@techpolicy.press. For questions about Theresa Loconsolo, please reach out to her at theresa.loconsolo@techcrunch.com.