The AI industry’s ‘next big bet,’ and should we just buy Chrome?

The AI race is taking a detour as developers consider a new path to super-intelligent systems: test-time compute. Not sure what that means? Don’t worry, the Equity pod team breaks it down. Today, on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Devin Coldewey and Margaux MacColl dig into the week’s tech and startup news, including what the new scaling method could mean for AI startups if it works and for chip providers if it fails.

Listen to the full episode to hear about: DOJ’s proposal for Google to divest its Chrome browser. While we wait for a break in the monopoly case and a better search alternative to arise, the Equity crew thinks that Wiz might’ve been on to something when they said no to Alphabet. Dual-use drone startup Tekever’s $74 million raise and its part in the European defense tech boom How Converge Bio plans to build an ’everything store’ for biotech LLMs .



While on the subject of LLMs, Kirsten took us deeper into ServiceTitan’s S-1 , including its boilerplate warning about AI. Network states 2.0 .

Margaux had the latest on Praxis’s unusual $525 million raise and the regions its founder is eyeing for a new city. Equity will be back next week, so stay tuned! Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday. Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts , Overcast , Spotify and all the casts.

You also can follow Equity on X and Threads , at @EquityPod. For the full episode transcript, for those who prefer reading over listening, check out our full archive of episodes over at Simplecast ..