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Insider is seeking nominations for angel investors in the creator economy. Courtesy of Position Ventures; MaC Venture Capital; Behind Genius Ventures; Signal Fire; Sydney Bradley/Insider Insider is compiling our 1st annual list of the top angel investors in the creator economy. We want to hear from you about who the standout angels and solo investors are in 2023. Please submit your ideas through this form (or below) by August 10. From Hollywood celebrities to startup founders to influencers, the creator economy has been bootstrapped by many famous angel investors . Typically high-net-worth individuals, angel investors provide startups with funding using their own money, unlike venture capital firms. For instance, Grammy-winning electronic music duo The Chainsmokers have invested in several creator-economy startups, including a recent investment into the digital-goods marketplace Whop. And Jack Conte, CEO and cofounder of Patreon, has also invested in several up-and-coming...

The Chevrolet Blazer EV, a battery electric SUV that is part of GM’s bid to surpass Tesla in U.S. EV sales by 2025, is headed to dealerships. The automaker said Monday that the first 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EVs have started shipping from GM’s factory in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico. GM also released details on pricing and range estimates for a few of the SUV’s trim models. The upshot? Prices are higher than expected. The Blazer EV follows the behemoth GMC Hummer pickup and Cadillac Lyriq in the new Ultium architecture — the modular electric platform that includes a new battery design and software and is at the heart of the automaker’s EV strategy . The vehicle will initially be available in three trims: luxury (LT), rally sport (RS) and super sport (SS). The 2LT front-wheel drive version will be the entry-level option. The company said it’s also making a “police pursuit” vehicle available to law enforcement early next year. GM, like most other automakers, has launched with its more pricey ...

GM and other automakers recently blamed the battery supply chain for EV delays and increased costs. Nic Antaya/Getty Images The chip shortage has ailed the auto industry since early in COVID, but a bigger issue is surfacing. Automakers are starting to see the impacts of the electric vehicle battery crunch. EV battery constraints and more are affecting the bottom lines of companies like Ford. It's official: The battery crunch is the new chip shortage. The chip shortage is still impacting vehicle supply , experts say, but automakers are now having to reckon with the battery supply chains as an even bigger headwind. Challenges surrounding electric vehicle production and the battery supply chain are finally materializing for legacy automakers and impacting their bottom lines. Ford, GM, and Porsche pointed to delays, constraints, and expenses related to EVs and their batteries in recent financial results. These issues are not only causing them to fall short of their ambitiou...

Dollar vs. Yuan ByoungJoo/Getty Images China's yuan is expanding its foothold in South America as Bolivia reduces its reliance on the dollar. The country's yuan transactions from May to July accounted for about 10% of its foreign trade in that span. Bolivia has been hit by dollar shortages recently as lower natural gas production hit exports. Bolivia is reducing its reliance on the US dollar and turning to the yuan, marking the latest sign that China's currency is expanding its growing foothold in South America. The country made financial transactions totaling 278 million Chinese yuan ($39 million) from May through July, or about 10% of its foreign trade in that span, Bolivia's economy minister said Thursday. "We're already using the yuan. It's a reality and a good start," Marcelo Montenegro said at a news conference, according to the Associated Press . "Banana, zinc, and wood manufacturing exporters are conducting transactions in yuan,...

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink Spencer Platt/Getty Images Bitcoin could hit a new record high now that Blackrock's Larry Fink is a believer, Mike Novogratz said.  "The most important thing that happened this year in bitcoin is Larry Fink," he said on Bloomberg TV. Bitcoin's current all-time high is $69,000 set in 2021, and it's now hovering below $30,000. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink's conversion into a bitcoin devotee is this year's headline event for the token and could send it to a new record high, crypto bull billionaire Mike Novogratz said. "I think the most important thing that happened this year in bitcoin is Larry Fink," the Galaxy CEO said in an interview on Bloomberg TV with David Rubenstein . "He got 'orange-pilled,' as we say — orange-pilled is when you take a non-believer and you make him a believer in bitcoin  — and Larry was a non-believer, now he says, 'hey, this is going to be a global currency.'" The...

John Dingell. AP Photo/Paul Sancya The late Rep. John Dingell played a major role in the rise of the NRA's lobbying operation in DC. In the 1970s, Dingell advocated for the NRA, in an era where many Democrats backed the group. The New York Times examined a trove of documents which outlined Dingell's relationship with the NRA. The late Democrat Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, an institution in US politics who served in Congress from 1955 to 2015, played a significant role in enacting countless pieces of legislation over the course of generations, with his eye always on the constituents that he represented in his Detroit-area district. But a trove of documents recently examined by The New York Times also reveals the role that Dingell played in the rise of the National Rife Association's political influence beginning in the 1970s, with the congressman's efforts playing a major role in the development of the organization's lobbying outfit. "An organizati...

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, left, and former President Donald Trump. AP Photo Republican Alan Pincus told WaPo that DeSantis may have tanked his political future in Florida over his 2024 bid. DeSantis once led Trump in earlier Florida surveys of the Republican presidential primary. But Trump has continued to dominate the GOP race and DeSantis has had to reboot his campaign. Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida is at a major crossroads in the 2024 presidential race. He entered the race in May as the top challenger to former President Donald Trump, hoping to carve out a lane among Republicans who wanted to see a nominee who was laser-focused on conservative policies and had the results to back it up. But his campaign has stalled in recent weeks, forcing him to lay off staffers and recalibrate his message as he faces an emerging threat from the candidacy of Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina. But at DeSantis' core is his political appeal in Florida, where he won reelection last No...

Republican New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu. Jemal Countess/Getty Images for TIME GOP Gov. Chris Sununu said Trump doesn't have the energy from past campaigns. Trump's latest speeches have been "droning" and unfocused, Sununu told ABC News . Sununu said Trump's incumbent advantage balances his lack of favor among Republican politicians. Donald Trump may be leading the GOP polls, but he's not the same person he was during his last two campaigns.  "This is not the Donald Trump of 2016. Don't fool yourself," said New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who says he's doing everything he can to keep Trump from becoming the 2024 GOP presidential nominee.  On Sunday's "This Week" on ABC News, Sununu said Trump lacks energy and enthusiasm at some events, like at the GOP's Lincoln Day Dinner in Iowa on Friday. Trump and several other GOP candidates took turns addressing the audience, making a pitch for themselves. The Iowa caucu...

Arnold Schwarzenegger's childhood home, with an inset of him as a child. sommthink/Shutterstock; Netflix Arnold Schwarzenegger, who turns 76 on July 30, was born in Thal, Austria. His family's apartment overlooked a castle and farmland but had no running water or electricity. Schwarzenegger revisited the home in the 2023 Netflix docuseries "Arnold." Arnold Schwarzenegger's incredible story — from bodybuilder to Hollywood actor to American politician — all began in Thal, Austria. After his birth 76 years ago on July 30, 1947, he lived in a one-floor apartment that overlooked a castle and surrounding forests and farmlands in the village. "It was absolutely beautiful," Schwarzenegger said in "Arnold," a 2023 Netflix docuseries about his life. But it was also where he experienced a "tough" childhood at the hands of his "tyrant" father , who would beat him and his older brother, he said. In the series, Schwarzenegge...

Soldiers Vitalii Orlich and his bride Kristina were wed last year in a joint ceremony with two other soldiers. Wartime weddings have continued throughout the Russian invasion in quiet ceremonies. Scott Olson/Getty Images Two soldiers on the frontline of battle in Ukraine paused their military duties to get married. The wedding was donated and arranged by a charity that provides supplies to women soldiers. After a short honeymoon, the pair will return to fight in Donetsk, as they dream of growing old together. Taking a brief pause from their frontline duties as they fend off Russian soldiers in Donetsk , two Ukrainian soldiers wed in a private ceremony to celebrate their love before returning to war. The New York Times reported on the wartime nuptials of Maksym Merezhko and his bride, Yuliia Dluzhynska, who met prior to the invasion and enlisted in the Ukrainian army after the war began to stay as close to one another as possible — Merezhko as a soldier and Dluzhynska as a me...

Poirier will look to repeat his knockout performance against Gaethje at UFC 291. Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images When you buy through our links, Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more. You'll want to know how to watch the UFC 291 live stream tonight, July 29. The Octagon will move to the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, for this stacked card. Dustin Poirier will meet Justin Gaethje for a second time. With these fighters being seeded second and third, respectively, Poirier vs. Gaethje 2 will set a pivotal tone for the future of the lightweight division.  The two last fought in 2018 when Gaethje lost via TKO to a flurry of masterful Poirier punches. Both are former lightweight champions, but there's no divisional championship on the line tonight. Instead, the winner's waist will be adorned with UFC's ceremonial "BMF" title, a pretty nice consolation. The fight will come after the co-main event, Jan Blachowicz vs. Alex Pe...

A boat sails past wind turbines north of Pingtan Island, opposite Taiwan, in China's southeast Fujian province on April 10, 2023. GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images China recently switched on a 16-megawatt offshore wind turbine in the Taiwan Strait. It's the largest, most powerful turbine in the world, at 499 feet tall with 404-foot blades. That dwarfs the size and capacity of American and European wind turbines currently in use. China now has the most powerful wind turbine in the world. The MySE-16-260 was connected to the grid on July 19, IFLScience reported . The China Three Gorges Corporation behind the monstrosity says the 16-megawatt turbine should generate enough electricity to power 36,000 households a year. For comparison, the Block Island Wind Farm  off the coast of Rhode Island has five wind turbines capable of generating 30 megawatts of electricity combined , which the company behind it says can power 17,000 homes . Workers install the world's first 1...

Hey, friends, welcome to Week in Review (WiR) , TechCrunch’s roundup of the week in tech news. Life getting in the way of your daily TechCrunch habit? Not to worry. WiR will get you caught up in no time. This week, WiR covers the improving quality of AI porn generators and the ethical dilemmas they raise; Twitter rebranding to “X”; and hackers infecting Call of Duty with self-spreading malware. Elsewhere, we dive into a North Korean hacking group, foreign Chinese visitors’ newfound ability to go cashless, and the rollout of Sam Altman’s Worldcoin eyeball-scanning crypto project. As always, it’s a lot to get to, so let’s not delay. But first, a reminder that if you haven’t already, sign up here  to get WiR in your inbox every Saturday. Most read Twitter rebrands to “X”: This week, Twitter removed its iconic bird logo and adopted “X” as its new official branding. The move, which Elon Musk announced over the weekend , is a harbinger of the platform’s shift — perhaps more asp...

F-150 pickup trucks sit in a lot. David Zalubowski/AP Ford is recalling thousands of F-150 trucks over a potentially dangerous parking brake malfunction. At least 19 drivers said the parking brake activated while they were driving, the company said. The company recalled 870,000 of its 2021 to 2023 model F-150 pickups. Ford is recalling hundreds of thousands of its iconic F-150 trucks after customers reported malfunctions with the brakes. Some said the parking brake activated while they were driving their trucks, the Associated Press reported on Friday. The company is recalling over 870,000 of its 2021 to 2023 model F-150 pickups with single exhaust systems, according to a  Safety Recall Report from Ford publicized by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Ford's F-series trucks have been the top-selling vehicles in the US for decades. The company said the recalled trucks have an issue with the "rear axle wiring harness bundle" rubbing against ...

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida speaks with patrons at the Red Arrow Diner in Manchester, New Hampshire, on May 19, 2023. AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty Ron DeSantis has sought to paint himself as a conservative without Donald Trump's political baggage. But DeSantis remains mired as Trump's distant second-place competitor in most national polls. Trump strategist Chris LaCivita told the Washington Post DeSantis' candidacy was like New Coke. When Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida entered the GOP presidential primary , his candidacy was widely seen as the one with the most potential to dethrone former President Donald Trump's frontrunner status. Three months later, DeSantis is still Trump's most direct competitor, but he's facing a rising threat from Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina. And as DeSantis has seen his numbers in early-voting states remain relatively stable in recent weeks, his campaign has sought to reboot his candidacy in an effort to chip away at Trump...

This photo provided by the North Korean government, shows what it says attack drones during a military parade at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea Thursday, July 27, 2023. Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP North Korea unveiled two new aircraft this week that very closely resemble US military drones. Pyongyang's drones look similar to the American MQ-9 Reaper and the RQ-4 Global Hawk. Their release came as Kim Jong Un hosted delegations from China and Russia for a big parade.  North Korea had another parade of weapons this week, but there were two oddities in the mix of the usual missiles. The country unveiled two new aircraft that look nearly identical to a pair of US military drones: the MQ-9 Reaper and the RQ-4 Global Hawk. Although the exact combat and reconnaissance capabilities of the new systems are unclear, their development and visual similarities to American unmanned aerial vehicles highlight efforts by North Korean leader Kim Jong U...

REUTERS/Robert Galbraith National Association of Realtors economist Lawrence Yun says the housing recession is over. NAR data released Thursday showed pending home sales rose 0.3% in June compared to May. "The presence of multiple offers implies that housing demand is not being satisfied due to lack of supply." Pending home sales climbed in June by 0.3%, according to National Association of Realtors data released Thursday, prompting the group's chief economist to declare the end of the US housing sector's downturn. "The recovery has not taken place, but the housing recession is over ," NAR's Lawrence Yun said in a statement . "The presence of multiple offers implies that housing demand is not being satisfied due to lack of supply. Homebuilders are ramping up production and hiring workers." The Pending Home Sales Index is based on contract signings. Despite its latest monthly increase to 76.8, it remains 15.6% lower than a year ago. ...

Sophie Alcorn Contributor Share on Twitter Sophie Alcorn is the founder of Alcorn Immigration Law in Silicon Valley and 2019 Global Law Experts Awards’ “Law Firm of the Year in California for Entrepreneur Immigration Services.” She connects people with the businesses and opportunities that expand their lives. More posts by this contributor Ask Sophie: How realistic are my chances of hiring H-1B candidates at my startup? Ask Sophie: Any guidance for changing jobs while on an H-1B? Here’s another edition of “Ask Sophie,” the advice column that answers immigration-related questions about working at technology companies. “Your questions are vital to the spread of knowledge that allows people all over the world to rise above borders and pursue their dreams,” says Sophie Alcorn , a Silicon Valley immigration attorney. “Whether you’re in people ops, a founder or seeking a job in Silicon Valley, I would love to answer your questions in my next column.” TechCrunch+ membe...