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This week, I’ve been thinking a lot about how some of the biggest companies in the world have as much, if not more, power than entire countries. Most countries at least have some level of democratic oversight, but that is not the case for companies. My question, then: In a world where the policies of, say, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter become de facto standards around the world, Should we have a higher degree of opinion (TC+) What do these policies consist of?

The other thing that has kept me busy this week is fundraising. Alex spoken with 11 VC (TC+) about how difficult it was for their companies to raise money so far this year. Meanwhile, I spoke with several founders who were In fact struggling to raise money. The truth is, the most struggling founders have three things in common (TC+).

Now let’s take a look at what happened in the world of startups this week.

Notes from the security front

The most popular story on TechCrunch last week was one of mine, which came with a curious backstory: Flipper Devices was founded in Moscow, Russia, in 2020, by a Ukrainian founder and a mostly Russian team. I posted the headline that I had made a “Russian Hacking Device” $80 million in sales, only to have a bunch of PR people get really mad at me for calling the company, which was founded in Russia and whose team is still 90% Russian, Russian. Don’t get me wrong, I understand why a company making a hacking device might not want to partner with Russia, and the company has gone to great lengths to remove any trace of that internet connection. The whole story was pretty bizarre and concluded with me receiving an unsolicited scan of the (Ukrainian) founder’s password in my email inbox. Very curious indeed.

That sounds safe…: In a beacon of “this is what not to do”, Lorenzo reports that an Illinois high school accidentally changed all students’ passwords to ‘Change me!’. The problem? For a moment there, all the students knew the password of all the other students. D’oh.

stupid and meaningless: Prosecutors have asked that the British hacker responsible for the 2020 Twitter breach serve at least seven years. Zack reports that the hacker was sentenced to 5 years behind bars The convicted hacker described his crimes as “stupid and senseless”. Who am I to disagree?

Watching the watchers: Zack reports that the stalkerware developed in Poland LetMeSpy, a phone tracking app, says it was hacked. The leaked data included years of call logs and text messages from the victims dating back to 2013.

News you can touch. Yes, it’s hardware.

A lot of cool stuff happened in the land of startup hardware this week. Uplift Labs signed an exciting deal with Major League Baseball to use the startup’s 3D motion tracking technology to help search for promising players.

Hot on the heels of his previous $14 million fundraiser, Realtime Robotics raised another $10 million or sowhich represents the third closing of what now seems like endless Series A funding for a manufacturing automation start-up.

Speaking of robotics, Brian also told a fascinating story today about how are robots learning to watch YouTube videos. If my YouTube recommendations are any guide, all the robots in the world will soon be experts at carpentry and do stupid things with explosives.

Who is a good bot? That’s right, you’re a good bot: In a “Gee, I feel safer already” moment, Brian reports that the House GOP discussed the use of Robot dogs to patrol US borders.

Fly and count. That’s just what he does: Kate reports that B Garage raised $20 million for her warehouse inventory drones. And since we’re talking about flying inventory drones, Brian reported that Gather AI bought a drone inventory competitor Commodity.

Walking? Feh, look at the webcam: The lazy among us may have pointed a webcam at the oven to keep an eye on a pizza, but Devin reports that Lilz takes the same concept to a whole other level, bringing its caliber observation smart cameras to the US and grossing $4 million.

Startups that are going places

Raise your hand if you saw this one coming (while sitting on my hands, because I really didn’t), but it seems like Tesla’s charging standard is taking hold very quickly. First, texas said that state-funded electric vehicle chargers had to include Tesla plugs (now known as the North American Charging Standards, or NACS), and it appears that Washington state may be following suit.

hahaha: You couldn’t force me on board one of these things with a gun, but Joby Aviation has reason to celebrate as Rebecca Reports that the company received a permit to fly its first eVTOL built on a production line.

pulling the electronic brake: Kate reports that the Singapore ride-sharing company Grab lays off more than 1,100 employeeswhich represents about 11% of its staff, its first big round of layoffs since 2020.

End of the road to Lordstown: It’s been an uphill battle for Lordstown Motors. Rebecca reports that the company is suing Foxconn, alleging fraudulent conduct that “destroyed” the business of the American company. In TC+, Alex reflects on that there are not many SPAC offers left that it did not collapse painfully and spectacularly. canoe, any?

For all its rage, it’s still just a car in a cage.: Even though Lordstown implodes and many of the other EV companies are struggling, Faraday Future raises $90 million to stay alive.

Top Reads at TechCrunch

Foo-wee, it’s been a busy week. My personal favorite was Tim’s story about Forcite launches $1,100 smart helmetfinally making a version of the Skully dream of a decade ago come true.

you are so basic: Netflix decided it had had enough of letting its users get by on the cheap, and Ivan reported that the streaming giant quietly removed their basic plan in Canada.

We have a lot of users, I promise! Some Weird Doubts This Week: Amanda Reported That Social App Unicorn IRL Is Shutting Down after admitting that 95% of his users were fake.

yes i saw it coming: In my very personal opinion, Shein, and other similar purveyors of essentially disposable clothing, is literally the worst thing for the environment. It looks like the company got a well-deserved gloss, as Amanda reports that An influencer’s highly curated journey to a Chinese factory counterproductive

The crowd goes to Vilnius: Europe continues to invest huge sums of money in technology ecosystems, and Paul reports that the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius, is about to invest more than 100 million dollars in “The largest technological campus in Europe”.

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