Daily Crunch: Tesla facing lawsuit after ‘hundreds’ of racial discrimination allegations

To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3 p.m. PST, subscribe here.

Hello and welcome to Daily Crunch for Thursday, February 10, 2022! Trying new stuff is always risky, but I wanted to say thanks to everyone who came out today to watch Equity record live. Up next: Found, next Thursday! – Alex

TechCrunch Top 3

• Investing in digital land: Spinning out of alt-asset crowdfunding platform Republic, Everyrealm just raised $60 million to become the “gateway to the entire metaverse ecosystem.” Having visited virtual land in recent weeks, I am slightly skeptical of the maturity of the metaverse (more here, here), but you have to hand it to Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto team – they have conviction.
• Chinese tech working conditions criticized after worker death: Once praised by U.S. venture capitalists, working conditions at some Chinese tech companies are being criticized after a “25-year-old man who monitored content at Chinese video streaming site Bilibili suddenly passed away on February 5 during Chinese New Year,” TechCrunch reports. This isn’t the first time that this has happened.
• Tech stocks at risk: A hot inflation report from the United States has stoked expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will tighten rates sharply this year. Stocks sold off. Tech stocks may be at even more risk than other equities – though not everyone agrees with that perspective.

Startups/VC

• Respira Labs raises $2.8M: Respiratory care startup Respira Labs has compiled $1 million in funding and $1.8 million in grants to “continue building its acoustic resonance technology to assess lung function and changes therein,” TechCrunch reports. Hardware is hard, but this sounds like an idea worth pursuing.
• Astra launch fails to reach orbit: SpaceX is not the only company working to make cheaper transit to space a reality. Astra is another company in the fight, but its latest launch – and its first from Florida – did not go well. Some small satellites were lost. Hardware is hard, especially when you have rockets involved.
• OnlyFans Read More