Equity Live: Bret Taylor’s $4.5 billion startup and Waymo’s $5.6 billion round

Over the last few years, VC Ben Horowitz has donated at least $7.6 million to fund police department purchases - including the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s new drones from a16z-backed Skydio. Skydio is not the first of a16z’s portfolio companies to benefit from these donations, either.Today, on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Devin Coldewey and Margaux MacColl dug into the implications of Horowitz’s approach and why others in the VC world should maybe hold off on praising the controversial move.Listen to the full episode to hear about:Elon Musk’s new role in the Department of Government Efficiency. The crew wondered how much change Musk and co-lead Vivek Ramaswamy will actually be able to enact. And yes, DOGE jokes were made. Klarna’s plans for a U.S. IPO. Unfortunately, it looks like we’ll have to wait for 2025 before we get another IPO, but Margaux has a theory about what might be behind the slowdown.Vecna Robotics’ $14.5 million raise and the CEO choice that caught Kirsten’s attention. Starfish Space’s latest round and impressive batch of contracts for its full-size Otter spacecraft.Who’s joining the unsolicited bidding war over Cursor-maker Anysphere.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 over at Simplecast. Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.

Today on Equity, TechCrunch Editor Julie Bort is sitting down with Marc Benioff, the CEO of Salesforce and one of the tech industry’s biggest hype men, about his latest work with Time Ventures and Salesforce Ventures, and why he thinks AI agents are the next big thing for enterprise software. Listen to the full episode to hear about: The impact of AI on customer experienceThe application of AI agents in the healthcare space - and what it could mean for data privacyMarc's thoughts on Salesforce competitor Microsoft's CopilotThe range of gadgets that have piqued Benioff’s interest latelyAs always, Equity will be back on Friday with our news round-up!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 over at Simplecast. Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.

A tech regulation shakeup is on the way with President-elect Donald Trump set to take office in January. Trump has made it clear that he plans to dismantle Biden’s AI policies on "day one," aligning himself with those who’ve pushed back against regulation. Today on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Devin Coldewey and Margaux MacColl  dove into what Trump’s win could mean for AI policy and innovation moving forward.While AI is always on the mind these days, there was so much more startup and venture news for the Equity crew to get into this week. Listen to the full episode to hear about:OpenAI’s acquisition of Chat.com, the domain previously acquired by HubSpot co-founder and CTO Dharmesh Shah for a whopping $15.5 million. We’re not sure if this signals a brand change for the AI startup, but users’ trips to ChatGPT just got three letters shorter.DeepRoute’s $100 million raise and the startup’s race to get its automated systems out before Tesla FSD is available in China.Biotech startup Archon’s $20 million effort to power up drug development with its ‘antibody cages’. Of course, we couldn’t talk about the news without a biochemistry lesson from Devin where we learned a new scientific term: thingies.Google’s new AI-focused data center and collaboration with the Saudi Public Investment fund. The move had the team thinking more about tech’s climate commitments at large, and who is walking back their pledges in favor of AI.The election bidding boom - from Polymarket to Kalshi and a potential $450 million payout.Equity will be back next week with a special interview between TechCrunch senior editor Julie Bort and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, 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 over at Simplecast. Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.

Today on Equity, we’re taking you backstage at TechCrunch Disrupt. Rebecca Bellan caught up with  Rebecca Gevalt, Managing Partner at Dcode Capital following their onstage discussion about the boom in national interest startups. Also on the panel was Topher Haddad, CEO of satellite imagery startup Albedo, and Kai Klepfer, CEO of biometric gun startup Biofire. Tune in to hear Bellan and Gevalt dive deeper into how startups can get a foot in the door of government contracts. Check out the full onstage conversation here, and Equity will be back on Friday!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 over at Simplecast.   Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.

As the founder and CEO of Rocket Lab, Peter Beck is a familiar face to anyone in the space industry. But the company's ambitions go far beyond its popular Electron launch vehicle.Today, we're bringing you an interview from TechCrunch Disrupt when Devin Coldewey sat down with Beck to discuss his belief that to thrive, perhaps even to survive, space companies will have to become fully integrated one-stop shops.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 over at Simplecast. Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.

The Equity crew was live at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024! Hosts Kirsten Korosec, Devin Coldewey and Margaux MacColl took over the Builders Stage to kick off day 2 of Disrupt with no shortage of conference highlights, startups deals and venture news to chew through.Listen to the full episode to hear about:Devin’s plans to go to space thanks to his chat with Rocket Lab Founder Peter Beck.What Sierra, the AI startup co-founded by Bret Taylor, plans to do with its fresh $175 million funds.Waymo’s who’s who of Silicon Valley round, and why Kirsten’s routing for the robotaxis over the competition.How General Catalyst is breaking down its latest fund and setting its sights on European startups.Equity will be back with a special interview episode on Friday, 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 over at Simplecast. Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.

It’s no secret that Stripe has doubled down on its crypto offerings, enabling crypto purchases in the EU back in July and announcing a Pay with Crypto feature earlier this month. This week, the fintech giant made its dedication to crypto even clearer with its largest deal to date: its acquisition of stablecoin platform Bridge for an eye-popping $1.1 billion. Today on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha and Devin Coldewey kicked off the show with their thoughts on the deal – mainly how surprising it is to see anyone spending over $1 billion on crypto in 2024.But of course, there was so much more startup and venture news for the crew to get into this week. Listen to the full episode for more about:Mobileye founder and CEO Amnon Shashua’s latest startupA 3D metal printing startup’s $14 million round from Boeing’s AE Ventures and NvidiaAndreessen Horowitz’s plans to provide its portfolio companies with Nvidia GPUsAnd who we’re expecting to see at TechCrunch’s Disrupt 2024.Equity will be live at Disrupt on Tuesday, so we'll see you there! 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 over at Simplecast. Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.

“It's a bit too early to say that the race is over,” said Philippe Botteri when asked about European startups’ AI progress. “I think we're just at the very early innings of this race.” Botteri is a partner at early-stage investment firm Accel with over 13 years under his belt at the firm, leading investments in DocuSign, UiPath and more recently Snyk and Chainalysis. Today on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, host Rebecca Bellan caught up Botteri to dive deep into Accel’s Euroscape 2024 Report. Tapping into Botteri’s experience in Cloud, SaaS security, and enterprise sectors, the pair discuss AI's rising influence, its impact on software and cloud investments, and how European startups can compete with the US. Listen to the full episode for more about:How AI is eating the software market, with AI and cloud funding predicted to hit $79.2 billion by the end of 2024.The challenges faced by traditional software companies as funding growth slows outside of AI.Why Europe’s strong talent pool gives it an edge in the AI race, even as startups on the continent struggle to compete with the ungodly amounts of money U.S. tech giants have.Increased M&A activity globally amid a slow IPO market.Why 2025 will be the year of the “agentic revolution” with AI significantly impacting software development and productivity.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 over at Simplecast. Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.

Today on Equity, Devin, Margaux and Anthony Ha are rounding up the week's startup and venture news, kicking things off with a look at the $400 million raised by Lightmatter, and the importance of fast networking within the fast growing datacenter industry today — not just in years to come — makes the impressive round a little more understandable.Our Deals of the Week continue with Paladin's drone play for first responders and police, and Abel aiming to reduce the substantial paperwork backlog that officers accrue in their everyday duties. Abel Founder Daniel Francis brings a chaotic energy (having landed a Twitter job from Musk after pretending to have been laid off) that could shake things up.Diving deeper, Anthony breaks down the complex back-and-forth that is the WordPress/WP Engine dispute - and we're left wondering why the obligations of and to the "open source community" are not entirely clear. What does it mean for an open source ecosystem when one person (in this case WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg) still seems to exercise tremendous influence? And could we say the same of Meta's Llama or other "open" AI solutions?Last, the "bummer" results from PitchBook showing that although founders are founding and investors are investing, there isn't a huge amount of money being made. Turns out they weren't just in it to change the world after all. What could this lack of liquidity be attributed to? Is it the macroeconomic climate, the sectors being invested in, the VC's strategies changing... or something else? At least defense and AI are doing OK, and Europe seems to be chugging along, so maybe it's specific to America? Check back in a month.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 over at Simplecast. Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.

At Tesla’s robotaxi reveal event last week, several Optimus humanoid robots mingled with guests, pouring drinks and cracking jokes. Impressive technology, but the vocals and some of the gesticulations appear to have been remotely controlled by humans, something Tesla did not disclose. Today on Equity, Rebecca Bellan chatted with TechCrunch’s hardware editor Brian Heater about Tesla’s Optimus bots, the market opportunity for humanoid robots, and other companies that are leading the charge in this industry. We'll dive into:A CBInsights report which found that funding in 2024 already reached new highs for humanoid robots and PitchBook data that suggests funding into humanoid robot companies has reached close to $1 billion as of October. Where we're most likely to see humanoid robot applications in the coming years. Automakers like BMW plan to deploy startup Figure’s robots at their plants, and Amazon, which has been a huge proponent of robotics for over a decade now, has tested Agility’s digit robot at its warehouses. When we could see  humanoid robots enter homes. Some companies plan to have their robots help older folks with household tasks like Kind Humanoid. Equity will be back on Friday with our weekly news roundup, so we'll talk to you then!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 over at Simplecast. Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.