September 2023

Deepfakes of Chinese influencers are livestreaming 24/7

September 19, 2023
Scroll through the livestreaming videos at 4 a.m. on Taobao, China’s most popular e-commerce platform, and you’ll find it weirdly busy. While most people are fast asleep, there are still many diligent streamers presenting products to the cameras and offering discounts in the wee hours.  But if you take a closer look, you may notice…

European carbon accounting startup Plan A raises $27M from VC and corporate heavyweights

September 19, 2023
Plan A, a carbon accounting and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) reporting platform for corporations, has raised $27 million in a Series A round of funding led by U.S. VC giant Lightspeed Venture partners. Technically the funding is an extension of a $10 million Series A round it announced nearly two years ago, meaning for […]

Catch+Release launches an AI-powered search for user-generated content

September 19, 2023
Catch+Release, a startup that lets brands license creator content, said it has launched an AI-powered search that lets users look for user-generated content in natural language queries. The startup helps companies license creator content for their marketing campaigns. While brands can add links from Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok to their collection for potential use, the […]

Material wealth: Scrap metal trading marketplace Metaloop raises $17M

September 19, 2023
European Union (EU) lawmakers this month announced plans to reduce waste and increase recycling across the bloc, with proposals to collect and process 45% of 16 identified “strategic” raw materials by 2030. These include metals such as copper, which is used in everything from computers and TVs, to domestic wiring and electric generators. At the […]

European cyber insurance startup Stoïk raises $10.7 million and expands to Germany

September 19, 2023
French startup Stoïk offers a cyber insurance product to small and medium companies — a bit like Coalition in the U.S. And things have been working well in France. So the company just announced that it plans to expand to Germany as its second country with Franziska Geier heading the team there. The company also raised […]

What the continued UAW strike means for EVs

September 19, 2023
The United Auto Workers’ strike against General Motors, Ford and Stellantis is well into its fourth day, with no deal in sight. The strike comes as all three automakers have made aggressive moves to retool existing factories to build electric vehicles. Delays could set back production and delivery of current and future EV models, while […]

Elon Musk says X will charge users ‘a small monthly payment’ to use its service

September 18, 2023
X owner Elon Musk today floated the idea that the social network formerly known as Twitter may no longer be a free site. In a live-streamed conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, Musk said the company was “moving to a small monthly payment for the use of the X system. He suggested […]

China Just Started Stockpiling Oil — World War 3?

September 18, 2023
China’s recent accumulation of oil reserves has captured global attention and sparked speculation about its intentions. Is China capitalizing on low oil prices, or is it preparing for a potential…