Hello, friends, and welcome to the latest edition of Week in Review (WiR), the weekly newsletter where we recap the last several days (or so) in tech news. We’d argue there’s no better way to improve your news, but we’d be biased. still! Trust us when we say it’s a labor of love.
Before we get to this week’s events, don’t forget that Disrupt, TechCrunch’s annual flagship conference, is on the horizon. This year’s Disrupt will host six – that’s right, six – stand-alone industry TC session events, with stages featuring industry-specific programming tracks. It would be worth the trek to San Francisco.
Next up is our next TechCrunch Live session with SignalFire and ClassDojo. He will discuss ClassDojo’s mission to revolutionize education by building a classroom community.
Now, without further ado!
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Fake Drake: “Heart on My Sleeve”, a song featuring vocals from Drake and The Weeknd, has garnered over 250,000 Spotify streams and 10 million views on TikTok. But the two musicians had nothing to do with the song – an artist called “ghostwriter” created the song using AI. Amanda has a story.
Apple enters the savings: As of this week, Apple Card customers in the US can open a savings account with Apple and earn up to 4.15% interest. Apple has partnered with Goldman Sachs for a banking facility; Savings accounts are technically managed by Goldman Sachs, which means they are covered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. romaine reports
Apple plans to open: Apple has until now kept the iPhone app distribution system relatively closed, allowing users to download apps only from the App Store. But the company may soon add some doors to its walled garden. Evan There are reports that Apple is considering letting people sideload apps on iPhones, and we might see some announcement related to that at the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference in June.
A huge Apple Watch update: The Apple Watch’s software is set to receive its biggest update since its release. SarahBloomberg reports that the updated WatchOS 10 will bring “major enhancements” over planned releases for iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple TV, including an “updated interface” that tells you “most of what you need to know in 2023.” About the Apple Watch in
Love is blind, but sometimes canceled: Netflix had some serious problems livestreaming its “Love Is Blind” reunion episode, Amanda writes. After a 75-minute delay, the streaming service pulled the plug on the live show due to apparently insurmountable technical issues.
Microsoft dropped Twitter: Microsoft announced this week that it was dropping Twitter from its advertising platform, nearly two months after Twitter announced it would begin charging users of its API at least $42,000 per month. With its $2.15 trillion market cap at the end of last year and roughly $100 billion in cash, Microsoft obviously has the money to pay Twitter what it wants, so the move seems like a bit of a statement — even if Microsoft is declining. Elaborate on his decision.
Meta lays off more workers: Meta issued another round of mass layoffs this week, Rebecca The reports are part of 10,000 layoffs that CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in March, many of which are related to “low-priority projects.” The mass job cuts are part of a broader restructuring at Meta that Zuckerberg has called a “year of efficiency,” which began with 11,000 layoffs in November.
No more check-in kiosks: Alaska Airlines recently launched a three-year, $2.5 billion project to improve the airport experience at its hubs and cities such as Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles. As part of the project, the airline is looking to modernize the lobby experience — and as the company announced today, the most visible change here will be the removal of the good old check-in kiosk. Frederick writes.
Snapchat’s AI comes to all: Snapchat’s AI chatbot is opening up to a global audience, the company announced at its Snap Partner Summit this week. Initially launched in February, the feature originally allowed Snapchat’s paid subscribers to chat directly within its app with an AI chatbot powered by OpenAI’s GPT technology. It will now be available for free and will be upgraded with functionality like the ability to add chatbots to group chats, get recommendations for locations on Snap Maps and Lenses, and share Snaps with chatbots to get chat replies. Sarah There is more.
Tesla cuts prices: Tesla has cut the price of its Model 3 and Model Y electric vehicles for the second time this month. Tesla’s most popular models will now start under $40,000 before incentives.
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Looking for podcast content to pass the time? TechCrunch has you covered as always. This week, the equity crew recorded an early-stage, TechCrunch event for founders, and covered topics from rockets to earnings and how a particular company is cutting costs. Over at Found, Trevor Martin, co-founder of Mammoth Biosciences, came to discuss how the company is using the CRISPR system to diagnose and treat genetic diseases. Chain Reaction interviewed Jesse Pollack, Lead for Base and Head of Protocol at Coinbase. And on a recent TechCrunch Live episode, Inspired Capital co-founder and partner Mark Batsian and Brian McNulty Rojas, co-founder and CEO of Huby — a hot real estate startup in Colombia that reached unicorn status last year. – talked about their respective experiences in tech.
TechCrunch+
TC+ subscribers get access to in-depth commentary, analysis and surveys — something you know you’re already a subscriber for. If you haven’t, consider signing up. Here are some highlights from this week:
Photonics and AI: The increasing computing power required to train sophisticated AI models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT may eventually run up against a wall with mainstream chip technologies. Are light-based chips, otherwise known as photonics chips, the answer? Maybe, but it’s not clear yet.
There is always money in coffee stands: Blank Street claims to have cracked the code on how to build a chain of more than 65 brick-and-mortar coffee shops that have the right scale to attract venture capitalists. They recently closed on a $20 million Series B round in a year where fundraising has been a failure—even for companies with low overhead costs. Rebecca has a story.
Should you start an AI startup?: It seems like a great time for founders thinking about starting an AI startup, especially with OpenAI introducing ChatGPT to the public. But depending on which investors you ask, it could be the opposite. Ron Trying to get to the bottom of it.
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