Meta released Glimmer this week, an open-weight AI model anyone can download and run on their own hardware — a contrast to Muse Spark, the company’s more powerful model that stays locked behind its own APIs. The release landed alongside a letter from Mark Zuckerberg arguing AI should be “for everyone” rather than controlled by a handful of labs, but as Equity’s hosts point out, the vision comes with some asterisks.
On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Rebecca Bellan take a look at Glimmer, Zuckerberg’s 6,500-word manifesto, and more of the week’s headlines, from the true cost of the AI industry’s energy needs to a $250M acquisition gone very wrong.
Listen to the full episode to hear more about:
- Who’s on the market for
- Why Anthropic is
adding watermarksto its generated text, and users are not happy.
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The potential cost Amazon’s planned data centerin Texas and the startups racing to fix the grid, includingForm Energy’s $750M raisefor 100-hour batteries,Reservoir’s $8M beton smarter water heaters, andDiscovered Materials’hunt for cooler chips.
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Why Joby Aviation’s $500M acquisitionof a defense contractor reminds Kirsten of its Blade deal last year — and what the 2028 LA Olympics have to do with it.
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How a $250M deal between video-clipping startup VideoVerse and sports publisher Minute Media collapsed amidst allegedly forged documents, multiple lawsuits, and a CEO nobody can reach.
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