Equity

Tech companies are racing to build data centers in space, pitching orbital compute as the next frontier for AI infrastructure, even as the technical and economic realities remain far from clear. Add in OpenAI’s massive $122 billion round and Bluesky’s latest AI backlash, and the message is clear: The future of AI is being shaped as much by ambition and hype as it is by real-world constraints. 

On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O’Kane unpack these massive capital bets, user backlash, and off-world compute plans along with Whoop’s major valuation and the literal downfall of robot Olaf.  

Listen to the full episode to hear about: 


OpenAI’s $122 billion fundraise and what its near-trillion-dollar valuation says about expectations for AI.  


Whoop’s $575 million raise and the shift toward “wearables 2.0” (and what happens to all that data).  


Bluesky’s AI-powered feed builder and why it triggered a major user backlash.  


The rise of data centers in space and whether they are financially or physically feasible.  

Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. 

Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:20 A humanoid Olaf robot collapses at Disneyland Paris 03:30 OpenAI raises $122B at an $852B valuation 11:30 Whoop lands $575M and bets big on wearable data 

18:50 The risks (and value) of personal health data 23:00 Bluesky’s AI feed builder sparks backlash 30:00 Can Bluesky keep growing — and compete with X? 36:30 The race to build data centers in space 44:30 SpaceX, Starlink, and the business of orbital compute 49:30 Outro 
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The VC middleman is getting cut out faster than anyone expected. Family offices and private wealth firms are going direct: writing checks, taking board seats, even incubating companies from scratch. And more founders are starting to notice. In February alone, family offices made 41 direct investments, including one Midwest-based firm that led a $230 million Series B into an AI chip startup. 

 

On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan caught up with Mitch Stein and Ari Schottenstein, founder and head of alternatives at ARENA Private Wealth, to find out what this shift means for founders, cap tables, and the future of AI investment. 

 

Listen to the full episode to hear: 


How Arena landed the lead on Positron's $230 million Series B, and why the CEO specifically wanted them on his cap table 


How Arena does due diligence on technical companies 


What "tourist capital" actually looks like, and the red flags founders should watch for as family offices flood into AI deals 


Why some VCs are quietly unhappy about this trend (and why Arena thinks that's their problem) 

Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. 

 

Chapters: 

00:00 Intro  

03:13 Why family offices are going direct now 

06:03 The gen 2 & gen 3 family office shift 

07:22 Is this strategic or just AI FOMO? 

10:17 How Arena got into the Positron deal 

14:30 Why founders want private wealth on their cap table 

18:31 Due diligence on technical companies 

21:56 Red flags founders should watch for 

25:04 Are VCs threatened by this trend? 

27:47 Taking board seats & level of involvement 

34:17 Outro 
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When an 82-year-old Kentucky woman was offered $26 million from an AI company that wanted to build a data center on her land, she said no. Sure, that same company can try to rezone 2,000 acres nearby anyway, but as AI infrastructure stretches further into the real world, the real world is starting to push back. 

That tension is everywhere this week, from OpenAI shutting down its Sora app to courts finally starting to hold social platforms accountable. On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O'Kane dig into what it looks like when the AI hype cycle meets reality. 

Listen to the full episode to hear about: 


Why rival prediction market CEOs of Kalshi and Polymarket are co-investing in a $35M VC fund 


How drone startups like Zipline, Lucid Bots, and Brinc are finding real traction where other robotics plays have stalled 


What Kleiner Perkins' $3.5B raise says about where the biggest VC firms think the next AI wave is going 


Why two separate court verdicts against Meta in the same week could be the “tobacco moment” for social media 

Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. 

Chapters: 

00:00 Intro 

00:30 Would you turn down $26M for your farm? 

03:56 Rivals Kalshi & Polymarket CEOs are investing together 

10:28 Deals for drones: Zipline, Brinc & Lucid Bots 

18:17 Kleiner Perkins goes all-in on AI with $3.5B raise 

22:52 OpenAI shuts down Sora 

28:04 Meta gets hit with dual verdicts 

34:56 Outro 
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Over the past few years, a new category of mobile apps has quietly exploded into a multi-billion dollar business. They're called “micro dramas” — short-form, mobile-first scripted shows designed to be watched vertically on your phone. Think soap opera meets TikTok, complete with secret billionaire romances, disapproving werewolf mothers-in-law, and cliffhangers engineered to keep users tapping. The leading app, ReelShort, made $1.2 billion in consumer spending last year alone.  

On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan and TechCrunch senior reporter Amanda Silberling sit down with Henry Soong, founder of Watch Club, who thinks the micro drama industry is still "in its MySpace era." He has a vision for what the Facebook moment could look like.  Listen to the full episode to hear: 


Why micro dramas took off in China while Quibi burned through $2 billion and failed in the U.S., and what that gap reveals about content, product, and business model. 


How Watch Club is targeting a completely different audience than ReelShort and Drama Box. 


The tension between building an intentional social experience and optimizing for engagement the way TikTok does. 


Whether AI is coming for the werewolf billionaire romance script. Amanda has thoughts.  

Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. 

Chapters: 

00:00 Intro 

01:11 Why micro dramas, and why now? 

04:25 What makes Watch Club different 

07:29 The monetization model problem 

18:52 Optimizing for intentionality, not engagement 

24:23 Why Quibby failed (content, product & business model) 

28:22 Defensibility: tech company or studio? 

31:36 AI, the WGA, and the future of storytelling 

33:44 Outro 
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Jensen Huang took the stage at Nvidia's GTC conference this week in his signature leather jacket to deliver a two-and-a-half-hour keynote, projecting $1 trillion in AI chip sales through 2027, declaring that every company needs an “OpenClaw strategy,” and closing with a rambling Olaf robot that had to get its mic cut. The message was hard to miss: Nvidia wants to be foundational to everything, from AI training to autonomous vehicles to Disney parks. 

On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O'Kane break down what Nvidia's growing web of AI infrastructure partnerships actually means for startups, and more of the week's headlines. 

Listen to the full episode to hear about: 


Travis Kalanick’s return building a "wheelbase for robots" with his new startup Atoms, and the crew has questions about Kalanick’s acquisitions along the way 


Rivian’s partnership with Uber to build robotaxi versions of its R2 in a deal worth up to $1.25 billion, while pushing back its EBITDA target to do it 


Frore landing a $1.64 billion valuation for its AI chip cooling systems 


xAI rebooting, again, with only two of its original eleven co-founders still standing 


Garry Tan's Claude Code setup went viral at SXSW (Spoiler: the crew is not impressed). 

Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. 

 

Chapters: 

00:00 Intro 

00:20 Garry Tan's Claude Code setup goes viral at SXSW 

03:37 Travis Kalanick is back with a new startup 

12:51 Uber and Rivian's $1.25B RoboTaxi deal 

20:54 Chip cooling startup Frore becomes a unicorn 

22:56 Nvidia GTC recap: $1 trillion in sales projections 

31:42 Elon Musk is rebooting xAI...again 

36:37 Outro 
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