In this edition of Week in Review, we have big news about Apple's latest antitrust lawsuit. Microsoft's ai ambitions also dominated the news, so let's dive in…
Did someone forward this to you? Sign up here to receive the Week in Review newsletter delivered to your inboxes.
The United States joined international regulators in accusing Apple of using monopolistic tactics to block iPhone users. In response, Apple claims that the Justice Department's actions could ruin exactly what its users enjoy about their phones and their ecosystem.
The Justice Department's lawsuit draws a connection between Apple and the Microsoft era in the 1990s, although there are some key differences between the two companies and their efforts to retain customers.
All that said, don't expect much demand to come out anytime soon. Experts predict it could take three to five years before a resolution is reached.
But that's not all: read on for more updates on Reddit's IPO, Nvidia's GTC event, and an unexpected change for Glassdoor accounts.
News
Microsoft absorbs Inflection ai leads: The co-founders of the high-profile artificial intelligence startup were acquired by Microsoft on Tuesday in a deal that positions Mustafa Suleyman as leader of the consumer-facing unit Microsoft ai, and Karén Simonyan as executive vice president and CEO of the same group . This all comes after Inflection raised $1.3 billion, and the biggest investor in the startup was, as you might have guessed, Microsoft.
Nvidia GTC event: Do you remember when their biggest news was related to ray tracing? At its wide-ranging GTC developer conference, Nvidia received a couple of surprises from CEO Jensen Huang, including a prediction that artificial general intelligence was five years away and news of a new ai platform for humanoid robots called GR00T.
Google's Gemini ai on iPhones?: The two companies are reported to be in talks that could lead to Google's ai model being deployed to power several upcoming iOS updates, leaving the question of whether this will be a stopgap until ai's own efforts of Apple are up to date, a long-lasting partnership or just one of those negotiations that never reach the finish line.
Hacking and privacy
Investors are hurt by past investments in malware: The Biden administration is forming an international coalition to fight commercial spyware, and now investors are joining it. But one of those investors was previously involved in the same business they are now fighting, TechCrunch has exclusively learned.
Hack a $5 million tournament “for fun”: Sometimes the stated justification for a hack that sweeps the gaming community is as simple as that, plus the intention to highlight for developers the exploit used to stop an Apex Legends tournament.
Be Careful of Those Glassdoor Reviews: Users report that their real names are being added to their profiles without their consent and that the only solution given to them is to delete their accounts completely. It's time to revisit that copy you made badmouthing that former employer!
Financing and IPO
Reddit's IPO is off to a good start: The stock, which launched at $34 a share, rose 48% on its first day and ended at $46 after the market closed on Friday.
Astera Labs increases 72% on the first day: The company, which makes connectivity hardware for cloud computing data centers, is benefiting hugely from the ai boom, with revenue growing 45% to $115.8 million last year and its shares closing at $62.03 on the first day.
The Browser Company raises $50 million at a $550 million valuation: The startup behind the Arc browser has an ambitious, complicated, and sometimes controversial vision of replacing PCs with browsers. Amid numerous feature releases and ai updates, the company is still unclear on its path to monetization.
Bonus round
ai is bad at spelling and image generators are to blame: If you've ever seen horrible spelling on an ai-generated image, you're not alone. We delve into why, despite its enormous potential, ai still has trouble spelling the word “burrito.”
Fisker stops production: And it's not because of electric vehicles, but because the company is quickly running out of money. If they cannot raise more capital, they could cease operations entirely.
Why ai can't be reviewed, but we'll still try: The fact that systems like ChatGPT or Gemini are impossible to review really makes it that much more important to put them to the test.
