Musk wants out of his $44 billion Twitter deal

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Jet lag and post-COVID fatigue, Haje is back, joining Christine in bringing you some great bits of tech news in this same newsletter. Plus, hearsay (and the timeline) suggests it could be Friday. If this almost unverifiable rumor is in fact true, then have a delightful weekend. — Christina and haje

The TechCrunch top … 4

• Friday Musk news dump: The newsletter was ready to go, but as it comes late on a Friday, there is breaking news. And again, it’s about Elon Musk. The CEO of numerous companies, and the apparent father of a new set of twins with an executive from one of those companies, has decided to end his deal to buy Twitter. But Twitter didn’t really have it and said as much in its one-paragraph, two-sentence response to the news. This is a developing story, so keep your eyes here for the latest.

• Please check: This is a story so well done by Kyle which details the downfall of Butler Hospitality, which raised $50 million last year. Then it ran into several challenges that ended with the company essentially renting the hotel kitchen space to others to operate as a ghost kitchen, laying off hundreds of people and not unable to meet its commitments.

• Well ain’t that a jolt to the senses: There can be many reasons why someone does not invest in an electric car, but TimToday’s story suggests that a large is not trusting enough in the public charging infrastructure. It’s a legitimate fear, really, because this 600-mile journey is going to end badly if there isn’t a reliable, fast place to hook up along the way.

• The hunt for electric vehicle charging is on:Where Tim’s story was about EV chargers in general, another featured story for today was Jaclyn‘s, who wrote that the White House wanted to expand charging capabilities and that Elon Musk was in on it, working to expand Tesla’s Supercharger network.

Startups and VCs

Coalition, a San Francisco-based startup that combines cyber insurance and proactive cybersecurity tools, is preparing to expand outside the US for the first time after a $250 million Series F mega round that boosts its valuation to 5 billion dollars, Carly reports.

We also particularly appreciated the interview Connie done with Sequoia Capital’s Jess Lee, regarding his new Arc program, and whether or not he is a Y Combinator competitor. “We are really looking for founders who want to build long-term, transformational, category-defining businesses…that are carving out a new market for themselves. There’s no one we would exclude, but it’s more about ambition,” Lee shares.

Our money does not tremble, it bends:

The art of pivoting: working closely with investors to improve your chances

Picture credits: Mirage C (Opens in a new window) /Getty Pictures

For her latest TC+ article, we asked veteran investor Marjorie Radlo-Zandi to share her playbook for helping new founders navigate their business through a pivot.

Changing direction is a massive undertaking, but she breaks the process down into several steps that will help entrepreneurs get buy-in from investors (and employees).

“There is no shame in pivoting,” writes Radlo-Zandi. “On the contrary, it is a sign of strength.”

(TechCrunch+ is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams grow. You can register here.)

Big Tech inc.

We focus first on a story taylor gathered this afternoon about a congressional inquiry into rule-tracking apps and related data. With Roe’s repeal, there are concerns that this type of data could pose a threat to those seeking reproductive care.

We can sum up today’s big tech news – well, technically late yesterday – in three words: Twitter, cars, yacht. Not to be confused with gym, tanning, laundry.

Amanda reported on Twitter targeting its talent acquisition team by laying off 30% of that workforce. The company declined to go into specifics, so we don’t know exactly how many people that represents, but it’s safe to say that jobs at Twitter won’t be filled for some time. If that wasn’t enough trouble with Twitter already, taylor follows a report that suggests Elon Musk is no longer interested in buying the company.

But wait, there’s more:

• person driving: Layoffs continue, this time at Argo AI, which is testing driverless technology for automakers like Ford and Volkswagen, Kirsten reports.

• It’s hot: SpaceX is trying to develop a more reliable Internet service for people at sea, Andrew writing.

• Can you hear me?: lauren writes about Netflix’s Spatial Audio feature rolling out across all of its devices to make your home sound like the theater.

• Roofer, we hardly know her: Yes, yes, not that funny as a joke. Christine knows only one person in her neighborhood who has installed a Tesla solar roof, and according to Harrisit was perhaps one of 20 Teslas installed per week in the second quarter, well below the 1,000 per week originally projected.