Friday, August 2, 2024

Image Credits: Winni Wintermeyer for The Washington Post / Getty Images

Welcome to TechCrunch PM! This afternoon you'll read about how Google employees will soon start seeing a familiar face in the halls, how cloud infrastructure is doing, a problem with Yelp, and what a diode is and how it's being used by home builders. Have a great weekend!

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Afternoon must-reads

Image Credits: IR_Stone / Getty Images

💼 Big move: Character.AI co-founder and CEO Noam Shazeer is returning to Google after leaving the company in October 2021 to found the a16z-backed startup. His co-founder, Daniel De Freitas, is also joining Google with some other employees from the startup. Meanwhile, Dominic Perella, Character.AI's general counsel, is becoming Character.AI's interim CEO. Google signed a non-exclusive agreement with Character.AI to use its tech. Read more

🌤️ What a difference a year makes: The cloud infrastructure market, in spite of last year's hiccups, is showing little sign of slowing down. The sector had another big quarter, fueled mainly by interest in artificial intelligence. New data shows revenue totaled $79 billion for the quarter, up $14.1 billion or 22% from last year. Read more

🗯️ Lack of transparency: Some indie developers were none too happy with how Yelp communicated its new policy that required them to switch to paid accounts due to high API usage. To make matters worse, it also didn't tell developers there were other options. Yelp has since said some developers are still using the free option. But the damage is already done. Read more

♨️ Steam heat: Homes and offices used to "breathe" through cracks and crevices that were missed during construction. But in the quest for greater energy efficiency, builders are sealing things up. Tight buildings keep indoor temperatures more consistent, but they can also trap humidity. That's where Adept Materials is coming in with its diode-utilizing, dehumidifying paint. Read more

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Around the web

🏀 Shareholders react to DraftKings revenue: Shares of the online sports betting company were down 10% on news that it didn't meet revenue expectations, MarketWatch reported. And Crain's Chicago reported that DraftKings was implementing a surcharge for customers in high-tax states, including Illinois and New York. Read more here and here

🥤 Coca-Cola owes the IRS $6B: A U.S. tax court judge ruled that the beverage maker owes around $2.7 billion, or about $6 billion including interest, to the Internal Revenue Service. The Wall Street Journal reported this decision comes after a decade-long battle between the Atlanta company and the IRS, which alleges Coca-Cola "avoided paying some federal taxes by shifting too much of its profits to overseas subsidiaries." Read more

⭐ Elon Musk will soon have more friends in Texas: Chevron said it is relocating to Houston from its headquarters in San Ramon, California, Axios reported. This shouldn't come as that big of a surprise given Houston's well-known status as an energy capital. And the fact that Chevron previously compensated employees willing to move to the Lone Star State. Read more