Thursday, 2 March 2023
by Berkeley Lovelace
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Have we told you lately that we love you? Well, we do. For ’tis March, and spring is almost here. Breathe in and check the <checks notes> smell of snow? Good heavens, what’s going on with this weather?
Enough of that, let’s March on with the tech news. — Christine and Haje
Rad Power Bikes is focused on popularizing electric utility bikes for the consumer market. Rebecca reports that the company launched its next-generation RadRunner 3 Plus e-bike today alongside a host of new cargo accessories that will make it easier for riders to cart along pets or haul groceries as they ride.
Apropos e-bikes: The e-bike market in America is getting a brave new player. Off the back of its $7.4 million Series A funding close, Velotric announced this week that it will be doubling down on U.S. expansion with its privately owned e-bikes, Rita reports.
Another fistful for you, with less bike content than you might expect from the intro above.
Dear Sophie,
I started working for my current employer on STEM-OPT, but I’ve lost out in the H-1B lottery four times. Thankfully, my employer transferred me to an international office, and I am now coming back to the U.S. on an L-1 visa.
I’ve heard many complaints from my classmates about not being able to switch employers on an L-1 visa. I don’t see myself staying at my employer for six more years, which is the estimated time until I can get a green card based on my employer’s internal policy.
What are my options for changing my immigration status so I can work at a startup in the U.S. within a year or two?
— Tenacious Transferee
Three more from the TC+ team:
TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack. You can sign up here. Use code “DC” for a 15% discount on an annual subscription!
If you’re looking for an enjoyable read and a reason to let out a scream of eek, look no further than Zack’s article today. Zack spoke with an unnamed former Microsoft executive who had to jump through a lot of hoops to get his life back in order after his address was changed at the post office.
Kyle has a trio of stories about — what else? — OpenAI. Two are some new features, including Whisper API for text-to-speech transcription and translation and API for ChatGPT, while the third reports on OpenAI no longer using customer data to train its models by default.
Now, on with the show:
Daily Crunch: Chase and DoorDash deliver new co-branded credit card with loyalty rewards by Christine Hall originally published on TechCrunch