Hey, of us, and welcome to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s e-newsletter masking the previous week (or so) in tech business happenings. This week marked OpenAI’s first-ever dev convention, the place the Microsoft-backed AI startup introduced a host of new merchandise. But that was removed from the solely merchandise of observe.
In this version of WiR, we highlight Brian’s evaluation of the 16-inch M3 Max MacGuide Air and M3 iMac 24-inch; Mozilla betting on a decentralized social networking future; Ford shuttering a firm that was constructing an app for plumbers, electricians and different trades; and Tim Cook’s ideas on generative AI. Also on the agenda is WeWork formally submitting for chapter, Bumble getting a new CEO, and the spectacular failure of EV startup Arrival.
It’s a lot to get by means of, as all the time — so we gained’t delay. But first, a reminder to sign up here to obtain WiR in your inbox each Saturday when you haven’t already achieved so.
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OpenAI throws a dev day: OpenAI hosted its first-ever developer convention on Monday, and the firm had a lot to speak about. Some of the extra notable objects introduced had been tools to create custom “GPTs” (i.e., domain-specific chatbots), new text-to-speech models, an API for the text-to-image model DALL-E 3, and an improved model of OpenAI’s flagship mannequin, GPT-4, referred to as GPT-4 Turbo.
Mac attack: Brian reviewed Apple’s new 16-inch M3 Max MacGuide Pro and the M3 iMac 24-inch. He discovered the iMac to be missing and not essentially price the improve from the 2021 mannequin, excepting the M3 chip, which brings “impressive” efficiency positive factors over the already-powerful M1. As for the M3 Max MacGuide Pro, Brian experiences that, at $2,500 (plus some expensive add-ons), it efficiently splits the distinction between the Mac Studio and MacGuide Air.
Mozilla bets on a decentralized future: Sarah spoke with Mozilla senior director of content material Carolyn O’Hara, who outlined Mozilla’s technique the place it considerations the “fediverse” — a assortment of decentralized social networking functions, like Mastodon, that talk with each other over the ActivityPub protocol. The thought, O’Hara mentioned, is to rethink social networking from the floor up.
Ford shutters SaaS app for field work: Ford has shut down VIIZR, a software-as-a-service firm that, together with Salesforce, constructed an app to assist tradespeople like plumbers, locksmiths and electricians to schedule area appointments, ship invoices and handle prospects, Kirsten experiences. VIIZR, which was introduced in December 2021, was a separate firm majority owned by Ford, with Salesforce as a minority investor.
Apple bets on generative AI: Apple CEO Tim Cook pushed again towards the notion that the firm was behind in AI on Apple’s This fall earnings name with traders, as he highlighted know-how developments that Apple had made lately that “would not be possible without AI.” Cook additionally mentioned that Apple was engaged on generative AI applied sciences, lending credence to reports suggesting the firm is on observe to spend $1 billion per yr on creating generative AI merchandise.
WeWork goes bust: As predicted, versatile office-space agency WeWork has filed for Chapter 11 chapter safety, itemizing over $18.6 billion of debt in a exceptional collapse for the as soon as high-flying startup co-founded by Adam Neumann and bankrolled by SoftBank, BlackRock and Goldman Sachs.
Slack’s loss, Bumble’s gain: Dating app Bumble introduced a doozy this week: It’s changing founder CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd with Slack CEO Lidiane Jones. Jones solely started as CEO at Slack final yr, stepping in for an additional founder CEO, Stewart Butterfield. Ron and Sarah write that — whereas Bumble now has a clear line of succession — the transfer leaves Slack in a little bit of a pickle.
Arrival fails to deliver: Arrival set out eight years in the past to make electrical automobile manufacturing “radically more efficient.” So far, its plan to forgo the gigafactory for native microfactories has proved something however, writes Harri — due to missed manufacturing targets, low money reserves, layoffs and a pivot.
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It’s winter, it ain’t getting hotter (no less than right here in NYC), and I’d argue that there’s no higher place to be than snuggled up indoors with a podcast for firm. If you’re in want of fabric, TechCrunch has a few that ought to undoubtedly be in your radar.
This week on Equity, the crew dove deep into the encouraging indicators from the fintech startup market, beginning with Klarna’s Q3 outcomes. From there, they checked out purchase now, pay later client conduct and fintech fundraising outcomes with a 2021 taste.
Meanwhile, Found featured Nasrat Khalid of Aseel, which began as an e-commerce firm making it potential for native artisans in Afghanistan to promote to prospects throughout the world. It has developed into working in humanitarian support, delivering emergency meals provides to folks in want in Afghanistan and Turkey.
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TC+ subscribers get entry to in-depth commentary, evaluation and surveys — which when you’re already a subscriber. If you’re not, consider signing up. Here are a few highlights from this week:
Another superconductor disappointment: Tim writes that a new, supposedly room-temperature superconducting materials isn’t what the scientific neighborhood hoped it will be. With the Nature-published paper detailing the materials dealing with retraction, the odds of researchers discovering a room-temperature superconductor are trying even longer.
Klarna inches toward an IPO: Mary Ann and Alex write that Swedish fintech Klarna is taking steps towards an eventual IPO. The firm has initiated a course of for a authorized entity restructuring to arrange a holding firm in the U.Ok. as an necessary early step in its plans for an preliminary public providing, a Klarna spokesperson tells TechCrunch+.
The unicorn’s legacy isn’t over: It’s been 10 years since Cowboy Ventures’ founder Aileen Lee coined an extremely catchy nickname for what had been very uncommon startups at the time: Unicorns. TechCrunch+ spoke with Lee about how she feels about the time period 10 years later, now that her enterprise agency can be a decade previous.
