Equity

The SpaceX IPO has finally arrived 12.06.2026 20мин

The biggest IPO in history dropped this morning on the Nasdaq — a debut so big, our team thought it deserved its own bonus Equity podcast episode. On this special bonus episode, Senior Reporter Sean O'Kane called up our AI Editor Russell Brandom to help him break down the $2 trillion valuation, Elon Musk becoming the world's first trillionaire, and what it all means for Anthropic and OpenAI still waiting in the wings. Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You can also follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s hot IPO summer, and the MANGOS are ripe 12.06.2026 33мин

The IPO market is back, and it's not the same companies leading the charge. FAANG had a good run, but a new acronym is taking over: MANGOS — Meta (or Microsoft, depending on who you ask), Anthropic, Nvidia, Google, OpenAI, and SpaceX. Half of that bunch is heading to public markets in the same window, and it's a stress test for investors, for valuations, and for what we can even expect from a public tech company in 2026. On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O'Kane break down what this IPO moment actually means beyond the headline numbers, and who stands to benefit. Listen to the full episode to hear: Why Apple's biggest WWDC announcement might matter less than how they showed it, and what a $250M settlement had to do with the change How Waymo just turned Apple's abandoned self-driving dream into its next big proving ground What a $920 million-per-month compute deal between Google and SpaceX says about who's leading the AI infrastructure race How Sam Bankman-Fried's pardon request and a new Zuckerberg biopic somehow ended with the Equity team getting cast by ChatGPT 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

Andrew Yang on Noble Mobile, UBI, and why he's done waiting for policy to catch up 10.06.2026 29мин

Andrew Yang’s 2020 presidential campaign was based on a warning that automation and AI would hollow out the labor market and concentrate wealth in the hands of a few. At the time, ideas like Universal Basic Income felt fringe. Now Dario Amodei, Sam Altman, and Bernie Sanders are all saying versions of the same thing. An entrepreneur at heart, Yang has found a new way to put money back into the hands of the people — one phone bill at a time. On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan talks to Yang about his startup Noble Mobile, which pays you to use your phone less, ways to combat the “attention economy,” and what startups can do when the government won't move. Listen to the full episode to hear: Why Yang thinks the $100 billion gap between what Americans and Europeans pay for wireless is a startup opportunity. How a partnership with the Light Phone fits into the growing "together tech" movement, and why Yang has been throwing no-phone parties in LA and NYC. What he actually thinks of Bernie Sanders' proposed AI sovereign wealth fund, and why he's skeptical the money should flow through government at all. Why UBI isn't a salary replacement but a "landing pad,” and what Noble Mobile's $600-a-year savings has to do with it. 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

The 'together tech' wave might be the most intriguing startup bet of 2026 05.06.2026 33мин

While the AI fundraising machine keeps breaking its own records, some founders are building in the other direction. Mirror founder Brynn Putnam just raised money for Board, a startup focused on bringing people together through in-person games and social experiences. Cyberdeck creators are going viral crafting whimsical DIY computers that literally encourage users to touch grass. Unlike the AI-free browser crowd, this doesn't just feel like backlash, but also people genuinely gravitating toward things that feel a little more human. On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O'Kane dig into the week's headlines, from the "together tech" wave to what Anthropic's confidential IPO filing means against the backdrop of Alphabet's $80 billion AI raise, and whether the money is all flowing back to the big guys anyway. Listen to the full episode to hear: Why ex-Meta CTO Mike Schroepfer raised $250 million for climate tech specifically, at a moment when almost nobody else is How rocket engine startup Impulse raised $500 million — and is loudly emphasizing that those funds will be spent on people, not AI A look inside Anthropic's S-1, and what the team is looking forward to once we can finally compare the AI labs' financials What two YouTube directors cracking the box office tells us about creator economy power Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Chapters: 00:00 Intro 01:45 YouTubers are taking over the box office 02:46 Everyone's fleeing climate tech — except this $250M fund 07:03 Impulse Space raises $500M and is hiring humans 13:03 Anthropic quietly files for IPO as Alphabet drops $85B on AI 21:52 The token bubble is starting to burst 26:08 From Board games to DIY cyberdecks, founders are betting on IRL 33:09 Outro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every defense startup wants to be the next Anduril. Here's what one of its earliest backers is looking for now. 03.06.2026 38мин

Defense tech is red hot right now, with a proposed 40% increase to the federal defense budget, Anduril doubling its valuation to $61 billion, and a wave of startups chasing government contracts. But according to Ross Fubini, the venture investor who wrote Anduril's first check, most of them won't make it. The valley of death between a prototype contract and a real production deal is about to claim a lot of companies. On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan asks Fubini — the founder and managing partner of XYZ Venture Capital, built on the Palantir alumni network and now approaching $2B AUM — what separates the survivors from the rest. Listen to the full episode to hear: Why Ukraine and Iran have become live testing grounds for US defense startups, and which companies are getting in the field How other countries are building their own defense tech ecosystems, and what that means for where startups build and sell The sustainment problem nobody wants to talk about, and why autonomous logistics is the real moat Where Fubini is writing checks next, from AI-driven US manufacturing to government software for health and human services 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

Does your CEO have AI psychosis? Aaron Levie thinks most of them do. 29.05.2026 38мин

The people deciding that AI can replace your job are also the ones least likely to understand what your job truly involves, according to Box founder Aaron Levie, who pointed to this as an example of "AI psychosis.” Indeed, ClickUp recently cut 22% of its workforcefor AI agents, tech layoffs in 2026 are already nearly matching all of 2025, and DuckDuckGo installs are climbing from users who want Google to stop forcing AI into search and just give them links. On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O'Kane dig into what happens when the AI-pilled and the AI-skeptical are both right at the same time, plus three deals worth knowing about and Waymo's new robotaxi hitting the road. Listen to the full episode to hear: Kirsten's first look at Waymo's new Ojai robotaxi in Phoenix, and the crew's thoughts on the company's path to profitability Cloud data storage giant Snowflake’s $6 billion five-year agreement with AWS Why Stord, the "anti-Amazon" fulfillment startup, just raised $250 million at a $3 billion valuation What OpenRouter's $113 million raise says about the picks-and-shovels layer, and how long that interest lasts How the AI agent wave is actually reshaping hiring, not just headcount Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Chapters: 00:00 Intro 01:18 Waymo's new Ojai robotaxi 06:41 Stord raises $250M to take on Amazon fulfillment 12:46 Snowflake signs $6B deal with AWS 15:39 OpenRouter raises $113M Series B 20:07 The AI divide & anti-AI backlash 27:31 AI psychosis & how AI is reshaping headcount and hiring 37:04 Outro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Your SEO strategy is optimized for a search engine that no longer exists. 27.05.2026 30мин

Google I/O made it official: AI-generated answers are now front and center in search, and most brands have almost no visibility into how AI is describing them to their customers. For anyone who has spent years building a strategy around 10 blue links, the rules just changed in a pretty significant way. On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan caught up with Matt Thompson, VP of partnerships at Scrunch, a startup positioning itself at the center of the AI search shift, to talk about what Google’s changes mean and marketers and founders should actually do about it. Listen to the full episode to hear: Why AI referrals are converting at 400% higher than traditional organic search, and what that means for how to think about traffic. How ChatGPT still has the lion's share of AI search traffic, and why optimizing only for Google means missing most of the market. Why Google's own SEO best practices might be leading marketers in the wrong direction. What it actually means to make your website "agent ready" and why most enterprise sites aren't. 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

Elon Musk can't hear you over the sound of his $1.75 trillion IPO 22.05.2026 34мин

The SpaceX S-1 is finally here, and the story it tells goes way further than rockets. The filing runs to 36 pages of risk factors alone, and the numbers inside match the ambition: a $28 trillion total addressable market, a pay package tied to establishing a Mars colony, and a valuation target that would make it the largest IPO in American history. On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O'Kane dig into what the filing actually says, what it leaves out, and whether any of this math connects to reality. Listen to the full episode to hear about: Why NanoCo turned down a $20 million buyout to raise a $12 million seed instead Anthropic’s acquisition of SDK startup Stainless, and why taking a tool off the table matters as much as the $300 million price tag What happened when commencement speakers started talking up AI in front of graduating classes, and why the students weren't having it Google’s I/O announcements claiming search as you know it is over, and what the AI makeover could mean for the open web 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

How Lucra raised $20M as an eSports play when every VC only wants AI 20.05.2026 32мин

Slapping "AI" on your startup’s pitch deck is basically table stakes right now. When a founder raised $20 million from Cathie Wood's ARK Invest for an eSports gamification loyalty startup without those two letters in the spotlight, it got us wondering how the conversation even started — especially when ARK had already been burned by a company operating in the same space. On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Julie Bort sits down with Dylan Robbins, founder and CEO of Lucra, the white-label platform turning friendly competitions into loyalty programs for brands like golf courses, arcades, and pickleball clubs. Listen to the full episode to hear about: How Dylan met his ARK connection over a game of darts at a New York City bar Why pitching a non-AI company in peak AI fundraising season meant addressing it head-on, even when it had nothing to do with his business How being honest with investors about what wasn't working yet actually helped him close the round Why Lucra pivoted from consumer to B2B in 45 days (and why that pivot is what convinced ARK they weren't looking at another Skillz). 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

Well, do you trust Sam Altman? 15.05.2026 40мин

The Musk v. Altman trial came to a close this week, and the final arguments kept circling back to one question: can we trust the people in charge of AI? All of this is playing out as SpaceX charges toward what could be one of the largest IPOs in American history, with a whole generation of founders already spinning out of the Musk empire. On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O'Kane break down the trial's closing stretch and what the growing Elon Musk founder ecosystem actually looks like on the ground, and the other deals that caught our eye this week. Listen to the full episode to hear about: How Anduril landed a $5 billion Series H, more than doubling the valuation it landed just under a year ago Why investors just can’t say no to RJ Scaringe, who’s raked in over $1 billion for Rivian spinout Mind Robotics How voice AI startup Vapi beat out over 40 other companies to secure a contract handling all of Ring's customer support What an Anthropic report about an AI agent blackmailing its own developers says about where the industry actually is 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

Amazon's Steve Schmidt on why your AI agents are your biggest security risk (Live at HumanX) 13.05.2026 21мин

AI may be changing how companies build, but it's also changing how they get attacked, often by their own tools. Amazon Chief Security Officer Steve Schmidt has watched threat actors at every skill level get sharper, faster, and harder to contain. The risk he's most focused on, however, isn't coming from outside the firewall. On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, we're bringing you a conversation Rebecca Bellan had with Schmidt at the HumanX conference in San Francisco. The two dug into what AI is already doing to the threat landscape and how Amazon is rethinking identity, containment, and human oversight to keep agents in check. Listen to the full episode to hear about: Why shadow AI inside your own organization may be a bigger liability than the hackers trying to get in What agentic identity means in practice, and how Amazon traces every agent action back to a human How startups with five people (and no CISO) can manage their AI security, and why containment is becoming the defining security challenge of the agentic era 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

The 'people’s airline,' SpaceXAI, and the Enterprise AI Race 08.05.2026 32мин

Everyone wants a piece of the enterprise AI pie, and this week, we saw a string of companies making their moves. From Anthropic and OpenAI announcing new joint ventures targeting enterprise AI deployment to SAP dropping $1B on German AI startup Prior Labs, it's becoming clear that if you're a startup building enterprise tools, you're likely an acquisition target. On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O'Kane dig into the week's enterprise AI deals, the xAI-Anthropic compute arrangement, and what it all means ahead of what could be a big IPO season. Listen to the full episode to hear about: Why a TikToker is trying to crowdfund the purchase of Spirit Airlines, and whether anyone really loves Spirit enough to make it work Why Katie Haun's venture fund and Andreessen Horowitz are both raising billions to back a crypto comeback Aurora Innovation's milestone commercial trucking contract with a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary, announced shortly after we caught up with Aurora’s CEO, Chris Urmson, at HumanX The Pentagon's latest AI spending spree, inking deals with Nvidia, Microsoft, and AWS Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:31 Spirit Airlines & the crowdfunded "people's airline" 03:25 xAI x Anthropic deal: is xAI becoming a NEO cloud? 13:47 Haun Ventures & a16z's crypto comeback 17:48 Aurora Innovation lands a commercial trucking contract 19:27 A big week for enterprise AI: who's actually making money? 26:45 The Pentagon's AI spending spree 31:04 Outro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aurora's Chris Urmson on why self-driving trucks are finally ready (Live at HumanX) 06.05.2026 32мин

Self-driving has been "almost here" for over a decade. But somewhere between DARPA challenges and a handful of driverless trucks hauling freight between Dallas and Houston, Aurora co-founder and CEO Chris Urmson’s story changed. The self-driving truck company started commercial driverless operations last April and is now scaling from a handful of trucks to hundreds this year. On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, we're bringing you a conversation Rebecca Bellan had with Urmson at the HumanX conference in San Francisco. The pair dug into the long road from lab to highway and how physical AI differs from the LLM boom everyone else is chasing. Listen to the full episode to hear about: Why long-haul trucking may crack the autonomy business case before robotaxis ever do What "verifiable AI" means and why Urmson thinks end-to-end systems are a liability when lives are on the line The surprisingly common-sense solution to the driverless truck safety triangle problem What Aurora's roadmap looks like beyond trucking, and which companies in the autonomy space have Urmson genuinely excited 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

Did you know you can't steal a charity? Don't worry. Elon Musk will remind you. 01.05.2026 39мин

Elon Musk spent the better part of three days on the witness stand this week in his lawsuit against OpenAI, and it's already getting messy. Emails, texts, and his own tweets are surfacing in court, and there are plenty more witnesses to come. Musk's argument against OpenAI? By converting the company to a for-profit model, Sam Altman betrayed the “nonprofit for the benefit of humanity” mission Musk signed up to fund. As Musk keeps reminding the courtroom: “You can't steal a charity.” On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec and Sean O'Kane break down what's actually at stake in the courtroom and what to watch for as Altman and others take the stand, plus deals, defense tech, and what Big Tech's earnings week revealed about the limits of the AI spending era. Listen to the full episode to hear about: Why cloud was the winner of earnings week, and what AWS, Google, and Microsoft's numbers say about where enterprise AI spending is actually landing The scholarship app founder taking Sallie Mae to court after they acquired his startup…and began selling its student data to ad networks and universities BMW i Ventures new $300 million fund with its sights set on AI How defense tech startup Scout AI is pitching “military AGI” using vision-language-action (VLA) models 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

Is AI video just a prequel? Runway's CEO thinks world models are next 29.04.2026 31мин

AI-generated video has gone from novelty to creative tool in AI-generated video has gone from novelty to creative tool almost overnight, and Runway has a front-row seat to the shift. The New York-based company has raised close to $860 million at a $5.3 billion valuation, and its models are going toe-to-toe with the most well-funded labs in the world, including Google and OpenAI. And the technology goes way beyond making videos: it's now pushing into general world models with applications in gaming, robotics, and maybe something closer to general intelligence. On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, host Rebecca Bellan sits down with co-founder and CEO Cristobal Valenzuela to talk about where video generation goes from here, and why Runway's ambitions now reach well beyond Hollywood. Listen to the full episode to hear about: Why Valenzuela thinks the real constraint on filmmaking has never been technology, and what changes when it is How Runway thinks about world models differently than Google and other labs building in the space What "nonlinear media" means, and why real-time video generation opens up use cases way beyond content creation Why Valenzuela pushes back on the idea that AI companions are “inherently dystopian” Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:56 Can AI really replace Hollywood? 04:18 Why "AI slop" fears miss the point 08:23 Research lab, software company, or creative studio? 13:42 From video generation to world models, explained 17:36 Omni models and multimodal training 17:50 The three pillars: linear media, non-linear media, physical AI 19:31 Real-time video and the "Characters" product 22:33 Are AI companions inherently dystopian? 25:59 Physical AI and robotics 28:35 Where growth is coming from: enterprise and prosumer 29:31 Outro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apple's new CEO, and why Elon Musk wants to buy Cursor for $60B 24.04.2026 37мин

A new era is on the way for Apple as Tim Cook plans to step down from his CEO role in September, handing the reins to hardware chief John Ternus. Ternus may be inheriting one of the most durable businesses in tech, but he’s also stepping into a very different ecosystem than the one Cook spent decades shaping. The App Store’s 30% cut is under pressure, the behind-the-scenes power Apple once held over developers is being challenged, and AI-native apps are changing what it means to build on Apple’s platform. On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O’Kane dig into what this transition means for startups and a closer look at some of the week’s biggest deals — including SpaceX's $60B option on Cursor. Listen to the full episode to hear about: Why Anthropic’s Mythos model is raising questions about both safety and marketing The $5 billion Amazon-Anthropic deal that looks a lot like every other circular AI infrastructure play What the SpaceX-Cursor agreement (and that $10 billion breakup fee) says about Elon Musk's AI strategy post-xAI merger Why fintech Revolut and AI chip startup Cerebras' public market plans have us wondering whether this is actually the year the IPO market reopens Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:26 Anthropic's Mythos accessed by “unauthorized groups” 04:28 Is Amazon's $5B Anthropic investment just another circular deal? 09:53 SpaceX and Cursor’s $60B option 18:25 Is this finally the year of the IPO? 21:38 SpaceX, Revolut, and Cerebras: the IPOs to watch 26:41 Tim Cook's retirement plans 29:15 What a new Apple CEO means for startups and the App Store 35:59 Outro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fusion doesn't have a normal startup timeline, and investors are fine with that 22.04.2026 34мин

Fusion energy has been "20 years away" for decades, but has the science finally caught up? Private investment in fusion companies surged from $10 billion to $15 billion in just months, and the money is coming from places you wouldn't expect. On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan and guest host Tim De Chant sit down with Rachel Slaybaugh, general partner at DCVC, to break down why serious investors are finally treating fusion as a real asset class, and what the return thesis actually looks like when no one expects a power plant in their fund lifetime. Listen to the full episode to hear about: Why the investment thesis for fusion looks less like traditional VC and more like biotech or SpaceX, and what "fusion euphoria" has to do with it What the Q value milestone actually means, and how close leading startups are to hitting the number that could trigger a public market opening How superconducting tape and AI-assisted plasma physics are quietly doing as much work as the big headline science breakthroughs Why one fusion company merging with Trump Media and Technology Group had Tim doing a double-take at his inbox 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

Tokenmaxxing, OpenAI's shopping spree, and the AI Anxiety Gap 17.04.2026 38мин

The gap between AI insiders and everyone else is widening, and the spending, suspicion, and even new vocabulary are starting to show it. While OpenAI is busy buying up everything from finance apps to talk shows, a certain shoe company just rebranded as an AI infrastructure play, and Anthropic unveiled a model it says is too powerful to release publicly ...but apparently not too powerful to demo to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O'Kane dig into what's actually being built in AI infrastructure, who's winning the enterprise battle between OpenAI and Anthropic, and more of the week's headlines. Listen to the full episode to hear about: Why chipmakers AMD, Arm, and Qualcomm just piled $60M into UK self-driving startup Wayve, and what Uber's $300M milestone bid says about who's winning the AV race How data center startup Fluidstack is positioning itself for the frontier labs, including a reported $50B agreement with Anthropic What Claude Code's moment at the HumanX conference reveals about where the OpenAI vs. Anthropic rivalry is actually playing out Why tokenmaxxing, and Meta's leaked internal leaderboard, might say more about optics than actual productivity Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:25 Allbirds is now an AI company, apparently 04:48 Why chipmakers are betting on Wayve 12:01 Fluidstack wants $1B to build AI data centers 16:24 OpenAI buys a finance app and a talk show 21:27 Anthropic vs. OpenAI in enterprise 24:15 The Anthropic model they won't release to the public 26:47 Why AI feels so distant to everyone else 30:47 What even is tokenmaxxing? 34:49 Parasail's $32M bet on cheaper AI inference 36:39 Outro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The musician-turned-biotech-founder waiting to fundraise 15.04.2026 29мин

When Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Aloe Blacc got COVID despite being vaccinated and boosted, he tried to fund research for a better solution. What he quickly found out? You can't just write a check in biotech. Regulators require a commercialization plan, and philanthropy doesn't move science through clinical trials or get you a license on university IP. Now, he's bootstrapping a cancer drug platform targeting pancreatic cancer, a disease that kills 90% of its patients, and intentionally waiting to raise from his network until peer-reviewed papers can make his case. On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan sits down with Aloe Blacc to talk about what happens when a creator decides to build instead of just invest, how Aloe is watching AI reshape both the biotech and music industries in real time, and his thoughts on who actually wins. Listen to the full episode to hear: How he’s navigating a world where credibility is earned in data, not fame How a University of Houston molecule discovery platform could cut years off drug development timelines Why he thinks record labels, not artists or AI companies, will ultimately control the economics of AI-generated music What Suno taught him about prototyping, and why his next album will still be recorded with live musicians 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

Luma AI's Amit Jain on why most world model companies are getting it completely wrong 10.04.2026 21мин

LLMs may have kicked off this AI boom, but the ceiling is closer than the hype suggests. As models run out of text data to train on, the companies and investors paying attention are already moving on. The next wave isn't better chatbots; it's machines that can understand the physical world. Luma AI, the Bay Area lab that raised over $1.4 billion from a16z, Nvidia, and Amazon, is betting on exactly that. On episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, we’re bringing you a conversation Rebecca Bellan sat down with Amit Jain, co-founder and CEO of Luma AI, at Web Summit Qatar. Together, the pair dug into where the next trillion-dollar AI opportunity actually gets built, and whether the companies chasing it even know what they're building yet. Listen to the full episode to hear about: Why video, audio, and images are the real frontier for AI training data, not text What an "intelligent world model" actually is, and why Jain thinks most companies building them are getting it completely wrong The case for why AI won't kill creative jobs, and why Jain thinks studio heads are the real problem How the path from video generation to robotics to AGI is simpler than anyone's making it sound Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. Chapters: 00:00 Intro 01:13 Why LLMs are hitting a ceiling 02:43 The data problem & what comes after LLMs 04:30 What actually makes a world model a world model 06:05 Why 3D data is a dead end 07:39 What Luma is building next 09:08 How much humans stay in the loop 10:00 Near-term use cases for agentic video 11:22 Will AI kill jobs in film & production? 13:30 Why the entertainment industry is already dying 15:27 Why we actually need more content, not less 17:46 Luma's roadmap: generation, understanding, and robotics 19:54 Outro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices