Apple unveiled several new products today, and our team was on the ground and virtual for it. Catch all the action from the Apple Fall Event 2023, including a quick rundown of everything you need to know about all of the gadgets announced, including:

• Apple’s iPhone 15 is here.
• Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro arrives in titanium.
• Apple ditches the Lightning connector in favor of USB-C after exactly 11 years.
• Apple Watch Series 9 is official.

While we were preparing to take a bite out of Apple, the California Senate voted to ban driverless autonomous trucks. The bill now goes to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk. Find out whether Newsom is in favor of this bill.

And after months of testing, the TikTok Shop officially launches in the U.S. Also, watch these TikTokers make “Get Ready With Me” videos in Spanish to connect with their roots.

More top reads

This 3D home could be yours, if the price is right: Mighty Buildings raises $52 million to build 3D-printed prefab homes. Surprisingly, they are easy to assemble.

Security!: Ascento is addressing the security guard shortage with autonomous security patrolling robots called Ascento Guards. See how cute they are.

It’s all in the logistics: Amazon’s new Supply Chain by Amazon expands on its logistics network, which includes restocking physical stores. Never get boxed in again.

From day to night: Spotify’s latest personalized playlist, called daylist, adapts to your mood throughout the day. And the beat goes on.

Good conversation: Druid, a conversational AI platform for enterprises that integrate with ChatGPT, raises $24 million. Read more.

No men allowed: Lyft’s newest feature could convince more women to drive for the ride-hailing app. Find out more.

What’s up with Salesforce: Today at the Dreamforce customer conference, Salesforce announced Einstein Copilot Studio, a tool that lets customers customize the Salesforce base Einstein GPT and Einstein Copilot offerings.

Learning language: English learning platform ELSA lands $22.5 million in Series C funding and launches an AI Tutor feature. Read on.

I SQream, you SQream: Israeli startup SQream raises $45 million to expand its GPU-based big data analytics platform. See why investors like it.

More for your Tuesday:

E-bike subscription service Dance reaches 10,000 active subscribers

Enfabrica, which builds networking hardware to drive AI workloads, raises $125M

Klaviyo could be the rare startup to defend a late-stage 2021 valuation (TC+)

Institutional crypto adoption in Asia is growing as the US market remains a question mark (TC+)

TC Opinion: Will batteries usher in a new era of global energy sovereignty?

The ongoing transition from fossil fuels can’t come fast enough, but since we can’t build EVs without batteries, developing nations and superpowers alike are moving to protect and secure natural resources like lithium.

“Will electrical energy, and in particular, stored energy in batteries, be subject to the same global economic and geopolitical forces that shaped fossil fuels?” asks Dr. Nadim Maluf, co-founder and CEO at Qnovo.

If you’d like to submit an opinion column to TechCrunch, please read our new editorial guidelines.

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Here’s how we raised a Series B for our AI startup during a downturn

“For founders trying to raise a Series B for their AI startups in the next six to 12 months, a more challenging fundraising environment likely awaits,” says Isaac Madan, CEO and co-founder of Nightfall AI.

Last August, his cloud data loss prevention services startup raised a $40 million Series B round when many CEOs were desperately searching for ways to extend their runway.

In a post for TC+, he outlined strategies his team used to find follow-on funding “when AI is everywhere.”

Going well beyond basic best practices, this post includes a list of questions investors are likely to ask, along with detailed advice on go-to-market strategy.

“It’s no secret that AI is the darling of the VC world right now,” says Madan, “but the winds of change are swift.”

TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack. You can sign up here. Use code “DC” for a 15% discount on an annual subscription.

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On the pods

This week’s episode of Found focuses on Jaleh Bisharat, the co-founder and CEO of NakedPoppy, an e-commerce site that helps users find the makeup shades best suited to them and offers a marketplace of clean beauty products.

Bisharat talked about her personal journey toward launching the company after a long career working in marketing for companies such as Amazon and Eventbrite. She also talked about the benefits of launching a company when you are a little older and what it has been like building a company in a space where public perception has changed so much in five years.

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• Head of Product, Cars24 Australia at CARS24 (Melbourne VIC, Australia)
• Lead Policy Researcher, Technology and Work Program (Associate/Full Specialist) - UC Berkeley Labor Center at University of California Berkeley (Berkeley, CA, USA)
• Computational Researcher at SITU (Brooklyn, NY, USA)
• C#, .Net Software Engineer at Dekker Perich Sabatini (Albuquerque, NM, USA)
• Systems Programmer Analyst at Delta Dental of South Dakota (Pierre, SD, USA)

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