Navigating the AI Startup Landscape: Definitions and Humor

This is our Friday show, and we’re talking about the week’s biggest startup and tech news. Mary Ann and Alex ran as a pair this week, and here's what they got into:

• Deals of the Week: Allara raised $10 million for women's hormonal health, Agnikul raised $26.7 million for its orbital launch technologies.
• Beef in the (leased) boardroom: WeWork is irked by Codi, which is hammering the well-known shared-office giant in an advertising campaign. Meanwhile, Anyplace raised more capital to fund its digital-nomad friendly home rental business.
• Plaid wants to get Paid: News that Plaid hired a CFO kicked off a predictable cycle of speculation that it will go public. Yes, but when is the question, and our view is not for a while.
• Finally, ChatGPT is online, and VCs are pretty darn bullish about the current AI wave.

In case you missed it, we had a great chat with a Crunchbase analyst earlier this week about all things Q3 VC! As always, Equity is back on Monday, but you can keep up with us in the meantime on X and Threads.

For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website.

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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.

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