Welcome to Startups Weekly. Sign up <\/em>here<\/em><\/a> to get it in your inbox every Friday afternoon.<\/em><\/p>\n The event horizon for when we can expect to end up in (literal) hot water when it comes to climate has come a lot closer. You wanna know how close? The climate deadline is close enough that it is interesting to VCs again. VC is an asset class with a 10-year cycle. In other words: Some of the most powerful money people believe they will see a return on their investments in the next 10 years. In a nutshell, as I wrote in my TC+ column this week, that scares the crap out of me<\/a>.<\/p>\n I\u2019m sure Twitter is relieved to see that Reddit is taking many of the headlines this week. The Reddit leadership team seems to have hit the slow-mo button and taken control of a couple of trains before hitting the \u201cfull steam ahead\u201d button and pointing the trains at each other.<\/p>\n This slow-motion train crash is quite a thing, and it\u2019s all related to Reddit\u2019s new API pricing. Popular third-party Reddit app Apollo announced it was shutting down<\/a>, and Reddit\u2019s CEO wasn\u2019t a big fan of how that went down, giving the Apollo developer both barrels in a drama-filled AMA<\/a>. Reddit goes down<\/a> briefly, subreddits and moderators were protesting<\/a> \u2014 thousands of them, in fact<\/a> \u2014 and it seems like a lot of them are planning to stay shut down<\/a> indefinitely. Good heavens, that\u2019s a one-way ticket to Yikes City all around.<\/p>\n Elon shouldn\u2019t be too relieved, though; the bird sanctuary got its own headlines, and most of them were \u2026 not super encouraging. On the bright side, Elon didn\u2019t have to CEO anymore, as\u00a0 Linda Yaccarino officially took the big chair as Twitter CEO<\/a>. The very next news story was Twitter is being evicted from its Boulder office over unpaid rent<\/a>. Whoops. Alex broke down how far Twitter\u2019s advertising revenues have fallen<\/a>. TL;DR: It ain\u2019t pretty.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Bryce Durbin\/TechCrunch<\/p>\n<\/div>\n AI keeps dominating our news coverage, as there\u2019s a lot of movement in that space.<\/p>\n France\u2019s Mistral AI blows raised a $113 million seed round<\/a> to take on OpenAI. It may prove to have an advantage in the notoriously privacy-focused EU \u2014 but, not gonna lie, I also raised an eyebrow at the company\u2019s $260 million valuation \u2014 that\u2019s a lot of equity to give up in a seed round.<\/p>\n There was a whole bunch of corporate AI news, not all of which is relevant to startups, but the recap is that Meta open sources an AI-powered music generator<\/a>, while Itoka wants to license AI-generated music via the blockchain<\/a>. I have made little secret of my disdain for blockchain tech in general (and the painful irony of blockchain for climate in particular<\/a>), but that one seems like a particularly potent nonstarter. Prove me wrong, Itoka, prove me wrong.<\/p>\n Apropos potent \u2014 Morgan argues that Blush, the AI lover from the same team as Replika, is more than just a sexbot<\/a>. I\u2019m kind of into it, actually \u2014 sexting is fun, and I\u2019m intrigued by the creative possibilities of getting saucy with a robot. As long as I don\u2019t get a textually transmitted infection. Ahem.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Blush<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Carvana was on an incredible share-price rally, until it hit the guard rails. Harri and Alex pick apart the soaring heights, the crushing depths and the weird, in-between bounce-back the company seems to find itself in<\/a>. The used-car platform saw an epic stock surge where the shorted stock surged 56%, as the company predicts record profits<\/a>. Sucks if you were one of the WallStreetBets bros sure of the company\u2019s demise, but I\u2019m sure the startup itself was relieved.<\/p>\n The other big story that\u2019s been on our radar is Tesla and its charging standard. We reported that GM and Ford could help spark a charging standards war<\/a>\u00a0and concluded that EV charger networks are turning to the Tesla standard, as support for it accelerates<\/a>. On TC+, Tim wonders whether Tesla\u2019s Supercharger network will strain under the weight of GM and Ford deals<\/a> \u2014 but also that Tesla has a winner on its hands<\/a>. Back in February, Google added EV chargers<\/a> to its Google Maps product, and this week, Apple followed suit \u2014 Apple Maps will show open spots near you<\/a>.<\/p>\n Also this week, I lamented that EVs are going backward<\/a>, in that they are getting bigger, heavier and stupider \u2014 only for Harri to report on two counterpoints: Telo bets America is ready for a dreamy little pickup<\/a> and Fiat\u2019s little Topolino concept that looks totes adorbs<\/a>. Yass.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> SAUL LOEB\/AFP \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Not exactly<\/em> startup news, but worth keeping on your radar as a startup founder in this space:<\/p>\n That\u2019s it, folks! If you want to send me news tips, here\u2019s what I cover<\/a> and how to reach me. And if you love a good pitch deck, here\u2019s the full list of my Pitch Deck Teardowns on TechCrunch+<\/a>\u00a0and how you can submit your own<\/a>.<\/p>\n Peace, see you next week!<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nSocial media dramaaaaaaaaaa<\/h2>\n
![\"Image](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/linda-yaccarino-twitter-ceo.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe robots are coming! The robots are coming!<\/h2>\n
![\"Structured](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Blush.png\")
<\/p>\nDude, where\u2019s my \u2026 do we even call \u2018em cars anymore?<\/h2>\n
![\"Teslas](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/GettyImages-1247197625.jpg\")
<\/p>\nTop reads on TechCrunch this week<\/h2>\n