Hello friends, welcome to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch's newsletter that highlights some of the most notable moments in technology in recent days. The holiday season is near, but the tech industry is waiting for no one: on the horizon are conferences from IBM, AMD and Intel, plus the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The news cycle isn't ending anytime soon, and rest assured, we'll continue to do everything we can to keep you informed.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. It happened quite a bit this week, including Amazon's re:Invent conference, a ransomware catastrophe at Fidelity, Sam Altman's official return to OpenAI, Neuralink raising money, and SpaceX acquiring a parachute company. Plus, Tesla officially launched the Cybertruck, Black Friday numbers are in, Evernote imposed limits on its free plan, and Teenage Engineering unveiled its latest device. We cover all that (and more) in this edition of WiR.
First, a reminder to sign up here to receive WiR in your inbox every Saturday if you haven't already. Now, let's get to the news.
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Amazon reinvents itself, again: Amazon's annual re:Invent conference, which focuses on the tech giant's AWS business, was somewhat subdued this year. But AWS CEO Adam Selipsky talked a big game, taking cheap shots at his rivals, from Google and Microsoft to OpenAI. Among the most notable reveals are a $195 thin client that looks (suspiciously) like a Fire TV Cube, a business-oriented ai chatbot called Q, and three new serverless offerings. Christine has a summary of the rest of the announcements.
Massive default at Fidelity: Last Tuesday, Fidelity National Financial, or FNF, a real estate services company that bills itself as the “leading provider of title insurance and escrow services” and “America's largest title insurance company of the North”, announced that it had suffered a cyber attack. Lorenzo writes that since then, homeowners with mortgages and prospective buyers purchasing properties with FNF or one of its many subsidiaries have been left confused and worried, not knowing exactly what is happening or what to do.
Altman returns to OpenAI: Sam Altman has officially returned as CEO of OpenAI after a tumultuous week of change. And OpenAI officially has a new board of directors, plus a non-voting observer, courtesy of Microsoft, replacing most of the board that tried to oust Altman in the days before Thanksgiving.
Neuralink raises money: Neuralink, the company founded by Elon Musk that develops implantable chips that can read brain waves, has raised an additional $43 million in venture capital, according to an SEC filing. Founded in 2016, Neuralink has devised a sewing machine-like device capable of implanting ultra-fine threads that connect to electrodes inside the brain. But Neuralink is under increasing scrutiny for what critics allege is a toxic work culture and unethical research practices.
SpaceX buys parachutes: SpaceX is known for its vertical integration, but one component it has been outsourcing is parachutes — until earlier this month, when the company quietly purchased parachute supplier Pioneer Aerospace for $2.2 million after its parent company went bankrupt. . Aria reports that it is the second known acquisition for SpaceX, which acquired small satellite startup Swarm in 2021 for a $524 million deal, mostly in stock.
The Cybertruck is launched, for real: Tesla moved forward Thursday with the long-awaited launch of its Cybertruck electric pickup truck during an afternoon press conference. Harri notes that the boxy vehicle is Tesla's first new model since 2020, when it began shipping the Model Y.
Rise of Black Friday: An avalanche of deep discounts and the growth of flexible payment options were the drivers of $9.8 billion in online sales in the United States on Black Friday, a record for the day. According to Adobe Analytics, sales were up 7.5% on last year's numbers, a figure that Ingrid said should provide some surprise Christmas cheer to retailers, who have been experiencing slow growth overall.
Evernote limits its free plan: Days after Evernote began testing a free plan with access to just one notebook and 50 notes with limited users, the company has now made it its new default free plan. The note-taking app said this change will apply to all new and existing free users starting December 4.
Teenage Engineering launches a groovebox: Teenage Engineering's new $300 groovebox doesn't have to be so cute, Harri writes, and I can't disagree. Called the EP-133 KOII, it's a combination drum machine, synthesizer, and sampler—a supersized upgrade to Teenage Engineer's pint-sized PO-33 KO.
ChatGPT turns one year old: Chatbot ChatGPT, OpenAI's ai-powered viral chatbot, turned one year old this week. Initially a basic, free-to-use, web-based, chat-centric interface on top of one of OpenAI's existing models, GPT-3.5, ChatGPT would become the company's most popular product. . . ever, and the fastest growing consumer app in history. I wrote something to commemorate the occasion.
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Do you need a podcast to occupy your time? You're lucky. TechCrunch has a full list to keep you busy.
This week in a retrospective episode of Equity, Alex chats with Anu Hariharan, who previously led YC Continuity, about what makes a “great” founder and how those founders are successfully guiding their companies to positive cash flow. Hariharan recently teamed up with two of his former colleagues and former Brex executive Lucas Fox to launch a new fund, Avra, which aims to raise around $350 million and operate a program some refer to as a “YC for growth”.
Beyond Found, the team was joined by Neil Batlivala of Pair Team, which is building the infrastructure that will help the most vulnerable populations get the clinical and social care they need through the upcoming Medicaid expansion. Dom and Becca spoke with Neil about how his previous experience in health technology led him to start a company focused solely on connecting care facilities like food pantries and shelters with training and clinical care through Medicaid funding.
And in Chain reaction, Jacquelyn interviewed Optimism CEO and Co-Founder Jing Wang and Chief Growth Officer Ryan Wyatt. Optimism is an ethereum-centric Layer 2 blockchain that focuses on scale and speed while reducing costs for users.
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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:
The 2024 IPO cohort comes into focus: Many other unicorns are likely to be keeping an eye on the performance of Shein and Reddit's upcoming IPOs, as they will go a long way to demonstrating how high private market valuations translate to public markets, Alex writes.
Faster green cards if you are from India or China: Sophie Alcorn, founder of Alcorn Immigration Law in Silicon Valley, writes about how founders from India or China can obtain green cards as quickly as possible when facing deadlines from investors or partners, including through venture capital networks and resources.
Lukewarm funding for cybersecurity: If you looked at venture capital investment trends in the cybersecurity market, you might think the sector was struggling, Alex writes. Which is the reason? There is not one, but several.
