It’s not every day we get to talk to hackers. In today’s top story about MGM Resorts’ now fourth day of outages, a representative for the hacking group, known as Scattered Spider, told TechCrunch that it was behind the MGM cyberattack. Here’s how it’s going. Also, Caesars Entertainment now says a cyberattack resulted in stolen customer data. Scattered Spider is denying involvement in that one.

Meanwhile, if you didn’t know venture capital rounds went up to Series I, then buckle up. Today, Databricks announced $500 million in a Series I round that values the company at $43 billion. But that’s not all: The company did this amid a late-stage venture slump. Get the scoop.

And where do you go when your startup-focused bank implodes? Well, if you are some former First Republic employees, you take that show on the road to another bank. Find out what they are doing.

More top reads

It’s like riding a credit card with wheels: Well, that’s what it looks like, but according to our esteemed managing editor Darrell Etherington, “Honda’s new Motocompacto e-scooter is stolen straight from my dreams.” See why.

It’s an AI world after all: Pixis, an AI-powered full-stack marketing platform, raises $85 million. Get your assets in there.

The end of the road: LastMile AI closes a $10 million seed round to “operationalize” AI models. Read why the CEO thinks this will be a developer’s delight.

Here’s what’s at “stake”: Defense AI startup Helsing breaks the record for European AI, raising a $223 million Series B. Here’s how Helsing will use it.

Taking it overseas: OpenAI to open its first European Union office as it readies for regulatory hurdles. Get the scoop.

These are challenging times: Amazon has some new visual search and AR search updates that will give Google and others a run for their money. Read more.

Triumphant return: China’s Honor returns to the Indian smartphone market. Learn what prompted it.

Repair affair: Mecho Autotech raises $2.4 million and ventures into wholesale spare parts distribution. See how they are accelerating.

Smooth operator: The U.K.’s deep tech scene gets another boost with new $100 million SCVC fund out of Bristol. Read more.

Shop till you drop: Pinterest’s Gen Z–focused Shuffles app has now inspired a new Pinterest feature. Get the deets.

Charmed, I’m sure: Patronus AI conjures up a large language model evaluation tool for regulated industries. AI at the ready.

It keeps going and going: Chromebooks, those released in 2021, will get updates for 10 years. What if you have an older one . . . 

More for your Thursday:

The very memeable ‘Trombone Champ’ is coming to Nintendo Switch

Former DCG, Blockchain Capital investors launch $20M early-stage fund at crypto advisory firm Reverie

Arm after the IPO

8 Latin American VCs share why they’re brimming with optimism about the region’s startups (TC+)

Your B2B leads are going to waste

Everyone wants to be the hero who saves the day, but it’s hard to hit a home run in B2B sales.

Instead of allowing customer data to gather dust in your CRM (customer relationship management), sales teams should develop a segmented strategy to reach out to lapsed leads, says TC+ columnist Jonathan Martinez.

“It’s possible to accomplish this goal, even with limited resources, by having automations and a complete strategy in place.”

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

On today’s episode of Chain Reaction, Jacquelyn is sharing a panel she moderated live at Avalanche House while she was in Seoul, South Korea, for Korea Blockchain Week.

The panel focused on the biggest opportunities and challenges facing web3 enterprise and included the following speakers:

• Dan Sun, startup success manager for web3 APAC lead at Google Cloud
• Gagan Mac, head of product and senior director of web3 services at Circle
• Johann Eid, chief business officer at Chainlink Labs
• Lihan Lee, co-CEO and founder of Xangle

We discussed the state of web3 enterprise adoption today compared to past quarters and years and dove into the ripple effects that catastrophic events from 2022 had on the space.

Read More

• Product Manager, Platform Integrations at Black Kite (Boston, MA, USA)
• 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)

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