Hello friends, and welcome to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s roundup of last week’s tech news. It’s TC’s column highlighting the biggest stories of the past few days and, we humbly present, it’s a very useful resource for people on the go.
This week, we cover Sam Altman backing a teen’s ai startup, Google’s hardware event (and first impressions of the Pixel 8 Pro), the Flexport drama, and the current FTX fallout. Also on the agenda: Gmail’s stricter rules to prevent spam, TikTok testing an ad-free subscription plan, and LinkedIn betting on artificial intelligence tools. And that’s not all.
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Altman supports teen entrepreneurs: Sam Altman is among the backers of an artificial intelligence startup, founded by two teenagers, that aims to help companies automate workflows in “previously unexplored” ways. Manish writes that ai/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Induced aiFounded this year, it allows companies to enter their administrative tasks in plain English and converts the instructions into pseudocode in real time.
Google presents new hardware: This week was Google’s annual hardware event, where the search and consumer technology giant showed off what it’s been working on. Christine wrote a comprehensive summary of the news, including updates on the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, Pixel Fold, Android 14, Pixel Buds, Google Assistant, Bard, Pixel Watch 2, and other goodies.
Let’s get to work with the Pixel 8 Pro: Darrell tested the newly introduced Pixel 8 Pro and liked what he saw. While it’s very similar to last year’s model (the Pixel 7 Pro), Darrell felt that the improved cameras, brighter screen, and improved ai-powered features made it enough of an upgrade to (potentially) justify a purchase, minus the underused temperature sensor. Stay tuned for his full review.
Agitation in Flexport: Dave Clark, the former Amazon executive who was ousted as CEO of Flexport just a year after taking the job, responded to its founder and board of directors, calling recent reports about the logistics company “deeply concerning.” Clark made the comments Monday in a lengthy post on the social media site CNBC report That provided new information about his final days at Flexport, a new $8 billion freight forwarding and customs brokerage company.
SBF Allegedly Tried to Buy Trump: The CT team has been trained in Manhattan Federal Court for the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced businessman accused of orchestrating the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX. But fascinating details about SBF’s political dealings are emerging from a book by Michael Lewis, “Going Infinite,” which debuted on the first day of the trial, such as SBF’s attempt to buy Trump off from running for president again.
Gmail fights back against spammers: Google this week Announced a series of significant changes to the way it handles email from bulk senders in an effort to reduce spam and other unwanted email. The company says that starting next year, bulk senders will be required to authenticate their emails, offer an easy way to unsubscribe, and stay below the reported spam threshold.
TikTok tests an ad-free tier: TikTok is testing an ad-free subscription tier for some users. For $4.99, subscribers get an ad-free experience on TikTok, with no strings attached. But don’t look for the option of arriving early. TikTok says it is for now testing the plan in a single English-speaking market outside the US.
LinkedIn relies on artificial intelligence tools: LinkedIn this week introduced a series of new ai features spanning its job search, marketing and sales products, writes Ingrid. They include a major update to its Recruiter talent search platform, with ai assistance integrated throughout; an ai-powered LinkedIn Learning coach; and a new ai-powered tool for marketing campaigns.
Musk clarifies X metrics, perhaps: In September, Elon Musk said that X users were generating a huge amount of content: creating between 100 and 200 million posts each day, excluding retweets. But at an event this week, X CEO Linda Yaccarino offered a contradictory figure. She claimed that X saw 500 million posts per day on the platform. So who is right? He beats us.
Former NSA Director Home Shutters: IronNet, a once-promising cybersecurity startup founded by a former NSA director, closed and laid off the rest of its staff following its collapse. Virginia-based IronNet was founded in 2014 by retired four-star general Keith Alexander and had raised more than $400 million in funding. But IronNet failed to gain traction after going public in August 2021, and its share price continued to fall sharply after an initial spike.
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In Equity This week, the team talked about the SBF test; deals from virtual reality companies Rainforest, At One Ventures, Section 32 and Greylock, where venture funding has declined; and how Fearless Fund, a company founded to invest in women of color, cannot make grants to Black female founders.
Meanwhile, Found featured Esther Rodríguez-Villegas of Acurable, a medical device company that makes easy-to-use wearable devices to diagnose and monitor respiratory conditions at home. As a career academic, Rodríguez-Villegas talks about how she never intended to be a founder until she discovered how the medical devices currently available make it extremely difficult to detect and treat diseases like sleep apnea and epilepsy.
And later Chain reaction, Jacquelyn did a crossover episode with Alex about the SBF trial. Jacquelyn was in court for the Southern District of New York, listening to the trial in the same courtroom as Bankman-Fried, so there was a lot to talk about.
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TC+ subscribers get access to in-depth commentary, analysis and surveys, which you’ll find out if you’re already a subscriber. If not, consider registering. Here are some highlights from this week:
Within the SBF test: Rebecca and Jacquelyn report on the second day of the SBF and FTX test. The prosecution described Bankman-Fried as someone who knowingly committed fraud to achieve great wealth, power and influence, while the defense countered that the FTX founder acted in good faith, never intended to commit fraud or steal and basically it was overlooked.
Battery Boosting Software technology: Tim covers Breathe Battery Technologies, a startup that has developed software that can be inserted into almost any lithium-ion battery in use today, giving it faster charging speeds or greater longevity.
What’s beyond ChatGPT: Anna surveyed 10 investors about the future of ai and what they think the next big thing could be. Among other topics, she addressed where startups still have potential, where oligopoly dynamics and first-mover advantages are emerging, and the value of proprietary data.
