Daily Crunch: After raising $3M seed, global fintech platform Payday plans to secure licensing in Canada, UK

Image credit: Bryce Durbin

To get an overview of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3:00 PM PDT, subscribe here.

Hello, and welcome to Wednesday Crunch!

Everyone’s thinking today is the power of AI and whether we’re all doomed. Connie reports that 1,100+ notable signatories have just signed an open letter calling on “all AI labs to immediately pause for at least 6 months.” Meanwhile, Amanda explores how everything is “Goncharov” as meme makers go mainstream with a huge assist from AI technology.

— Christine and Shark

TechCrunch Top 3

• The future of work is limitless: Payday, now flush with $3 million in new capital, plans to expand its Africa-based operations into Canada and the UK, Take write. The company offers a way for those working remotely to receive payments in their currency of choice.
• “Alexa, call Grandma”: A new Amazon feature brings T-Mobile customers into the fold to make and receive calls through an Alexa-enabled device, Ivan reports.
• Insures new funds: India-based insurer Acko, which is already backed by Amazon, is in talks for $120 million in new funding. Manish have more.

Startups and VCs

With a drier investment scene than usual, founders are looking for more efficient ways to reach the right VCs. Thousands of founders have applied for land capital through a common app, Natasha M reports. The platform they have used is Seed Checks. Founders are invited to apply using a one-minute form that asks for deck, note and region. The app is then blown up to 16 investors.

Autio, a location-based audio entertainment app founded by actor Kevin Costner and formerly known as HearHere, has raised $5.9 million. The funding round was led by iHeartMedia, Aisha reports. Autio uses GPS to tell stories about nearby landmarks, cities and towns with the goal of fostering deep connections and understanding of the places users travel through.

And we have five more for you:

Ask Sophie: What should I do if selected/not selected in the H-1B lottery?

Image credit: Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch

Dear Sophie,

After three tries, I was finally selected this year in the H-1B lottery! What do we do next?

— Wondering about the winner

Dear Sophie,

I am on STEM OPT. My employer participated in this year’s H-1B lottery for the third time, but I was not selected again! What am I doing?

— Lottery losses

Three more from the TC+ team:

TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps entrepreneurs and start-up teams get ahead of the pack. You can register here. Use the code “DC” for 15% off an annual subscription!

Big Tech Inc.

Lots of Google-related news today, so let’s recap, shall we? The TechCrunch crowd was particularly excited about Aishaits story about a new feature on extreme heat alerts. Why? Maybe it’s because our weather isn’t cooperating with the current month. Meanwhile, Frederick reports on Google Cloud launch of AlloyDB Omni; Ivan looks at Google’s new center for ad transparency; Manish reports on an Android antitrust case in India; Aisha writes about new Google Search features; and Lorenzo and Carly round it off with a story about hackers using spyware to target users in the UAE.

And with that, we hope you have a Google Day!

Here are five more for you: