Solwd

The Angels open their 2023 season in Oakland and close it against the Athletics at home. Here are some highlights from their newly released schedule.

…read more

https://www.latimes.com/sports/angels/story/2022-08-24/angels-schedule-blog

Former Attorney General Bill Barr and his deputies concluded that then-President Donald Trump couldn’t be charged with obstructing the Russia probe because there wasn’t any underlying conspiracy between his campaign and Russia, breaking with special counsel Robert Mueller’s views on the question, according to a newly unredacted memo released by the Justice Department. …read more

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/24/politics/barr-mueller-report/index.html

Elon Musk hasn’t taken kindly to recent criticism of Tesla FSD beta software — the soon-to-be $15,000 upgraded version of its advanced driver assistance system that the CEO promises one day will deliver full autonomous driving capabilities.

When a Tesla owner publicly criticized the latest update of the FSD beta software, Musk clapped back via Twitter.

“Unfortunately I have to say I’m still having to intervene to correct #FSDBeta 10.69 in my area,” James Locke, a Tesla owner, tweeted Tuesday. “Still lots of work to go. I know this is probably not a popular opinion but the focusing on the ‘Chuck’ complex left is getting ahead of the needs of some more basic control issues.”

Locke also tweeted that FSD was still struggling with right turns and other basic tasks. Musk recently announced an increase in cost for the FSD software, from $12,000 to $15,000, effective September 5, a hike that Locke said was “now a little premature given the ongoing issues across so many situations.” The customer wrote that he’s spent more than $32,000 paying for the system multiple times.

“10.69 is in limited release for a reason,” replied Musk. “Please do not ask to be included in early beta releases and then complain.”

Tesla’s FSD, aside from apparently not being great at right turns, is not actually a fully self-driving system. It still requires drivers to stay alert and be prepared to take over the vehicle at any time. The California Department of Motor Vehicles has accused Tesla of falsely advertising its ADAS systems, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is currently investigating several crashes, some of which were fatal, involving Tesla’s Autopilot system, a less advanced driver assist system.

A lot hinges on the success of Tesla’s FSD system, which Musk has said will mean the difference between the company “being worth a lot of money or worth basically zero.” Musk said last month that the service was “ridiculously cheap” given how good of a service it is, and that he expects to “solve full self-driving” by the end of this year.

Musk has an active presence and following on Twitter, with plenty of loyal reply guys ready to drag anyone (including journalists) who dare to criticize him or Tesla. To preempt any backlash, Locke’s thread also included faith that Tesla will solve these issues.

“I just know I get some angry comments off my comments like this,” tweeted Locke. “Honored to be a Beta tester for this amazing product.”

Locke did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for further information.

…read more

https://techcrunch.com/2022/08/24/musk-claps-back-at-customer-criticism-of-tesla-fsd-beta/

Rex Ryan is about to get hit with a dose of reality — TV, that is. …read more

https://nypost.com/2022/08/24/ex-jets-coach-rex-ryan-a-contestant-on-the-amazing-race/

Image Credits: MirageC (opens in a new window) / Getty Images

If you want to break even, go APE.

Cloud companies generally rely on efficiency metrics like CAC payback and LTV-to-CAC, but “they feel more like financial metrics than operational ones, and it is difficult for employees to execute against these concepts,” according to Neeraj Agrawal, Brandon Gleklen and Jack Mattei of Battery Ventures.

Using data from Capital IQ and Battery’s research, this post contains key benchmarks for public companies and privately held SaaS businesses, along with recommended targets for companies with different ARR ranges.

“APE is an extremely simple metric we think could serve as your north star as you navigate these volatile times.”

To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3 p.m. PDT, subscribe here.

Didya know that we’ve got all sorts of really awesome newsletters on TechCrunch? Robotics, transportation, fintech, crypto, space and much more. You can subscribe here to keep your finger on the pulse of the topics you care the most about. Just, er, please don’t unsubscribe from the Daily Crunch, yes? We do ever so enjoy your company every weekday! — Christine and Haje

The TechCrunch Top 3

• Fake outKyle spoke with Stability Diffusion about 4chan getting ahold of its artificial intelligence art model and then to some deepfake experts about what this means and who might be at risk.
• Peloton rides into Amazon: That Amazon box just became more diverse. Peloton has started selling its equipment on Amazon, which opens up a whole new strategy shift and revenue stream for the beleaguered company, Brian writes.
• Spammed: A bug caused by a configuration change was to blame for some Facebook users getting strange celebrity fan posts. It’s since been fixed, but Ivan and Manish have the skinny on what happened.

Startups and VC

We published a really fascinating piece written by Battery Ventures’ Neeraj Agrawal, Brandon Gleklen, and Jack Mattei on TechCrunch Plus (our premium subscription site) today, about how ARR per employee (APE) is one of the most meaningful efficiency metrics for startups. It makes sense; for a lot startups, the number of employees is one of the biggest cost bases — more, even, than customer acquisition. It’s a fresh take on how to measure company success, and well worth a read.

Okay, fine, have a few more:

• Keine Handy für Sie!: Chinese smartphone company Oppo stopped sales in Germany, even though the country is its operational hub. It claims it is still committed to Europe, reports Rita.
• What’s the beef?: Fake or lab-grown meat is sizzlingly hot these days, so it’s a rarity to see new startups wanting to improve the “real” meat industry. One of these companies is Lumachain, which is using computer vision to transform meat production. Christine reports the company raised $20 million or so to keep an eye on things.
• Okay, fine, you can have a mortgage: As more traditional finance products and services find their way into web3, there are some crypto startups emerging with a focus on adding decentralization to old-school practices. Jacquelyn reports that Spectral raised $23 million to bring some web3 juice to credit scoring.
• Putting writers out of businessCatherine reports that Scalenut raised $3.1 million to get AIs to write a first draft of marketing copy.
• Stay focused!: Hardware tag …read more

  https://techcrunch.com/2022/08/24/daily-crunch-4chan-users-exploit-ai-image-generators-ability-to-create-realistic-nude-deepfakes/

The troubled retailer is finalizing a loan of close to $400 million from Sixth Street Partners, people familiar with the matter say, while facing slumping sales. …read more

https://www.wsj.com/articles/bed-bath-beyonds-challenges-linger-after-loan-deal-11661378955?mod=pls_whats_news_us_business_f

The NFL playing on Monday nights helped transform football. Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy hope it does the same for golf. …read more

https://nypost.com/2022/08/24/tiger-woods-rory-mcilroy-launching-tgl-virtual-golf-league/

The show will be broadcast live from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, but he’ll bring the heat from The Bronx. …read more

https://nypost.com/2022/08/24/bad-bunny-nabs-historic-first-with-vmas-performance-from-yankee-stadium/

Former Trump Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and his then-chief of staff repeatedly lied to federal investigators about conversations they had with lobbyists, a US senator and Interior officials regarding granting permits for two Indian tribes plans to build and operate a New England casino, according to a new report from Interior’s inspector general. …read more

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/24/politics/ryan-zinke-interior-secretary-investigation/index.html

Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic will be sending its CubeRover platform to the moon under a new award from NASA. The company will use CubeRover to test technologies for surviving the lunar night and communicating across greater distances on the moon’s surface.

Lunar night survival is trickier than one might think. Nights on the moon are long — up to 14 days of darkness at a time — and frigid, with temperatures dropping under –200 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures that low pose a major threat to power components like batteries, and effectively put a stop to many lunar missions before they can even begin.

It’s a big problem for NASA, which has ambitions of conducting extended lunar missions with uncrewed landers and rovers through the rest of the decade. Eventually, the space agency intends to establish a permanent presence on the moon through its Artemis program. But in order to do that, thermal systems will need to work around the clock.

To solve this problem, CubeRover will be testing thermal systems capable of lasting through extended darkness and extremely low temperatures. Astrobotic will also demonstrate this technology, which it is developing as part of a subcontract with Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc. on the Peregrine and Griffin landers.

CubeRover will also demonstrate the ability to communicate with satellite relay systems. Many existing rovers rely on the host lander to act as a relay to communicate with Earth, using existing protocols like Long Term Evolution (LTE). But such systems depend on a continuous line of sight between the rover and the lander. That places a major handicap on how far the rover can travel.

“This mission has the potential to usher in a new era of robust lunar robotics where instruments and payloads can survive months to even years on the Moon’s surface,” Mike Provenzano, Astrobotic’s director of lunar surface systems, said in a statement. “CubeRover will survive longer and drive farther than any lunar rover in its class with this flight, taking Astrobotic a major step forward in opening the Moon to sustained long-term robotic operations.”

The contract is funded through NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Sequential Phase II program. The space agency’s SBIR program is designed to fund small businesses, entrepreneurs and research programs, and it has three phases; the third and final phase provides the opportunity for awardees to commercialize their technology with NASA or in the private sector. Astrobotic did not disclose the amount of the award.

Astrobotic’s two landers will also be heading to the moon under contracts with NASA. Peregrine will go to the moon this year under a $79.5 million Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program award; a larger lander, Griffin, will be sending a NASA rover called VIPER to the moon in 2024, also under the CLPS program. The mission was originally scheduled to launch in 2023, but the agency announced in July it was delayed by one year due to requiring more testing on the lander.