Also: The DOJ wants Google to sell two ad tech products

| View this email online in your browser By Rebecca Bellan Tuesday, May 6, 2025   Welcome to TechCrunch AM! This morning, we’ve got movement in nautical tech; the DOJ’s divestiture wishlist for Google’s ad tech; and DoorDash’s buying spree. We’ve also got notes on Anduril’s latest product and acquisition; Waymo’s Made in America push; robots that cook for you; Pulitzer-winning reporting on Elon Musk, and more. Let’s go!  – Rebecca TechCrunch Top 3 Image Credits: Orca AI 1. AI at the helm: The Automate Everything movement is affecting use cases far beyond the cities. Just take a look at Orca AI, an autonomous shipping company that relies on a Starlink connection to access real-time data for navigating ships. The startup just closed a $72.5 million Series B led by Brighton Park Capital. Read More 2. Too big to escape notice: The DOJ wants Google to sell two of its advertising products to help restore competition in ad tech: its ad exchange product, AdX, and its ad server for web publishers, DoubleClick for Publishers. Read More 3. Emptying the war chest: DoorDash is on a buying spree — it’s buying U.K. rival Deliveroo for about $3.88 billion, giving it access to nine new markets in Europe, and it’s acquiring SevenRooms, a startup that provides CRM software to restaurants and hotels. The Deliveroo deal in particular is a bold move, considering Uber is currently suing DoorDash for anticompetitive behavior across the pond. Read More     A Message from HSBC Innovation Banking HSBC Helps Evolectric Transition Vehicles to 100% Electric Evolectric makes it easy for owners to give their fleets a new lease on life. Discover how HSBC helps connect them to the right investors, resulting in an extended runway and growth plans for both domestic and international markets. Watch Now     Morning Must-Reads Image Credits:  🎨 Stealth mode: TC got the scoop that Recraft, the startup behind a mysterious image model that crushed OpenAI’s DALL-E and Midjourney last year, has raised $30 million in a Series B round led by Accel. Recraft says it builds its own models from scratch, and it excels at generating images for brands. Read More 💥 Built for shocks: Anduril’s acquiring one of its vendors, Dublin-based Klas, which makes ruggedized edge computing equipment for military and first responders. Klas’s tech will go hand-in-fist with Anduril’s latest product, Menace-T, a compact, portable command system for off-grid computing and communications. Read More 🤝 Deals all around: Employer.com has acquired MainStreet.com, making it the latest fintech to be purchased by a workforce management company. Employer.com says the merger would help “simplify business back office solutions” into a single platform. Read More 🚕 More robotaxis! Waymo is ramping up production at a new facility in Arizona as part of a multi-million-dollar investment with Magna to build over 2,000 autonomous Jaguar I-Pace vehicles. The factory’s location is strategic – the Phoenix suburb of Mesa is close to Waymo’s core market, making it easier to go from factory floor to picking up passengers. Read More 😞 Womp: General Fusion has laid off 25% of its staff just days after hitting a key milestone for its latest fusion demo device. The company has raised $440 million, but that hasn’t been enough to attract more capital for this expensive, experimental technology. Read More 🩺 PSA: Here’s your regular reminder that AI chatbots are flawed. A recent Oxford-led study found that people who use chatbots for health advice don’t make better decisions than participants who rely on traditional search or their own judgement. Read More   Around the Web 🏆 The Pulitzers are in, and you ought to take a look at The Wall Street Journal’s winning work, which chronicles the political and personal shifts of Elon Musk – everything from his use of illegal drugs to his secret conversations with Putin. Read More 🍔 Big money: Wonder, the food hall company that owns Grubhub and Blue Apron, has raised $600 million, bringing its total valuation up to more than $7 billion, Bloomberg reports. The deal brings the company closer to creating what CEO Marc Lore calls “a super app for mealtime.” Read More   Before You Go 🧑‍🍳 Made with computer vision: Meet Posha, a startup that builds countertop robots that can cook meals for you using – what else? – AI. Users can scroll through recipes, select what they want, add the right amounts of required ingredients and then, double double toil and trouble, watch as the machine takes it from there. Read More   Featured jobs from CrunchBoard Software Engineer, Revive Health (Boston, MA) IT Finance Assistant, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (Middletown, PA) Technical Business Systems Analyst, Air Line Pilots Association (Tysons, VA) Partnerships Manager, Clearscope (Remote) Sr. IT Security Engineer - Computing Services, Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA) See more jobs on CrunchBoard Post your tech jobs and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $349 per month.   Check out some of our other newsletters: Startups Weekly TechCrunch AI TechCrunch Mobility Got a tip? Get in touch securely. Want to advertise on TechCrunch? advertise@techcrunch.com Has this been forwarded to you? Click here to subscribe to this newsletter.   Update your preferences here at any time Copyright © 2024 TechCrunch, All rights reserved.Yahoo Inc. 680 Folsom Street,San Francisco,CA Privacy Policy |
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