Meta's 'open' AI, data centers' hidden costs, and a $250M deal gone very wrong

Meta released Glimmer this week, an open-weight AI model anyone can download and run on their own hardware — a contrast to Muse Spark, the company’s more powerful model that stays locked behind its own APIs. The release landed alongside a letter from Mark Zuckerberg arguing AI should be “for everyone” rather than controlled by a handful of labs, but as Equity’s hosts point out, the vision comes with some asterisks. On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Rebecca Bellan take a look at Glimmer, Zuckerberg’s 6,500-word manifesto, and more of the week’s headlines, from the true cost of the AI industry’s energy needs to a $250M acquisition gone very wrong. Listen to the full episode to hear more about: Who’s on the market for a $300 cocktail robot? Why Anthropic is adding watermarks to its generated text, and users are not happy. The potential cost Amazon’s planned data center in Texas and the startups racing to fix the grid, including Form Energy’s $750M raise for 100-hour batteries, Reservoir’s $8M bet on smarter water heaters, and Discovered Materials’ hunt for cooler chips. Why Joby Aviation’s $500M acquisition of a defense contractor reminds Kirsten of its Blade deal last year — and what the 2028 LA Olympics have to do with it. How a $250M deal between video-clipping startup VideoVerse and sports publisher Minute Media collapsed amidst allegedly forged documents, multiple lawsuits, and a CEO nobody can reach. Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. 00:00 Intro 1:20 Would you buy a $300 cocktail robot? 3:08 Meta's Glimmer and the “AI for everyone” pitch 8:03 Anthropic starts watermarking its writing, and users have thoughts 14:34 Amazon's data center and its natural gas problem 16:37 The startups racing to keep the grid from melting down: Form Energy, Reservoir, and Discovered Materials 23:28 Joby Aviation buys into defense with Resonant Sciences 28:24 The $250M VideoVerse-Minute Media deal, a missing CEO, and a mess of lawsuits 32:37 Outro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices