Hey, of us, and welcome to Week in Overview (WiR), TechCrunch’s publication 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 recent merchandise. However that was removed from the one merchandise of word.
On this version of WiR, we highlight Brian’s evaluate of the 16-inch M3 Max MacBook Air and M3 iMac 24-inch; Mozilla betting on a decentralized social networking future; Ford shuttering an organization that was constructing an app for plumbers, electricians and different trades; and Tim Prepare dinner’s ideas on generative AI. Additionally on the agenda is WeWork formally submitting for chapter, Bumble getting a brand new CEO, and the spectacular failure of EV startup Arrival.
It’s loads to get by, as at all times — so we received’t delay. However first, a reminder to sign up here to obtain WiR in your inbox each Saturday in the event you haven’t already accomplished so.
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OpenAI throws a dev day: OpenAI hosted its first-ever developer convention on Monday, and the corporate had loads to speak about. A number 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 MacBook Professional and the M3 iMac 24-inch. He discovered the iMac to be missing and never essentially well worth the improve from the 2021 mannequin, excepting the M3 chip, which brings “spectacular” efficiency positive factors over the already-powerful M1. As for the M3 Max MacBook Professional, Brian experiences that, at $2,500 (plus some expensive add-ons), it efficiently splits the distinction between the Mac Studio and MacBook 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 issues the “fediverse” — a set 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 bottom 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 subject appointments, ship invoices and handle clients, 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 Prepare dinner pushed again in opposition to the notion that the corporate was behind in AI on Apple’s This fall earnings name with buyers, as he highlighted know-how developments that Apple had made not too long ago that “wouldn’t be attainable with out AI.” Prepare dinner additionally mentioned that Apple was engaged on generative AI applied sciences, lending credence to reports suggesting the corporate 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 outstanding 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: Relationship 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 one more founder CEO, Stewart Butterfield. Ron and Sarah write that — whereas Bumble now has a transparent 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 extra environment friendly.” To this point, 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 (at the very least 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. For those who’re in want of fabric, TechCrunch has just 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 shopper conduct and fintech fundraising outcomes with a 2021 taste.
In the meantime, Found featured Nasrat Khalid of Aseel, which began as an e-commerce firm making it attainable for native artisans in Afghanistan to promote to clients internationally. It has advanced into working in humanitarian help, 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 you realize in the event you’re already a subscriber. For those who’re not, consider signing up. Listed below are just a few highlights from this week:
Another superconductor disappointment: Tim writes {that a} new, supposedly room-temperature superconducting materials isn’t what the scientific group hoped it will be. With the Nature-published paper detailing the fabric going through retraction, the chances 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 corporate has initiated a course of for a authorized entity restructuring to arrange a holding firm within 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 on the time: Unicorns. TechCrunch+ spoke with Lee about how she feels concerning the time period 10 years later, now that her enterprise agency can also be a decade previous.
