Hey, of us, welcome to Week in Overview (WiR), TechCrunch’s common publication that recaps the highest tech — and tech-related — tales over the previous a number of days. With the vacation across the nook, this reporter anticipated a quieter week. However the reverse occurred — there’s been no scarcity of tales to jot down about.
On this version of WiR, we cowl Comcast and Mr. Cooper buyer information being stolen, electrical scooter firm Hen submitting for chapter, Adobe ending its Figma acquisition plans, and Apple being compelled by the Worldwide Commerce Fee (ITC) to halt gross sales of the Apple Watch. We additionally highlight Nikola founder Trevor Milton’s securities fraud sentencing, Microsoft’s Copilot chatbot getting a music technology function and Client Stories’ impression of Tesla’s Autopilot recall repair (spoiler: it’s not good).
It’s loads to get by way of, so we’ll hop to it. However first, a reminder to enroll right here to obtain WiR in your inbox each Saturday for those who haven’t already performed so.
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Hackers goal Comcast: Comcast has confirmed that hackers exploiting a critical-rated safety vulnerability accessed the delicate info of just about 36 million Xfinity prospects. The vulnerability, often known as “CitrixBleed,” is present in Citrix networking gadgets usually utilized by huge companies and has been beneath mass exploitation by malicious actors since August, Carly stories.
Mr. Cooper beneath hearth: In associated information, hackers stole the delicate private info of over 14.6 million Mr. Cooper prospects, Zack writes. The mortgage and mortgage big confirmed that the criminals stole buyer names, addresses, dates of delivery and telephone numbers, in addition to Social Safety numbers and checking account numbers.
Adobe provides up: Adobe’s $20 billion mega-bid to purchase rival Figma is now formally useless after the businesses mentioned this week that regulatory pushback in Europe induced them to finish their acquisition plans. First introduced in September final yr, the deal was all the time going to draw regulatory scrutiny as a result of measurement of the transaction and the truth that it took certainly one of Adobe’s main rivals out of the image, notes Paul.
Apple halts Apple Watch gross sales: Apple has halted the sale of its Collection 9 and Extremely 2 smartwatch following an October ruling by the ITC owing to a patent dispute with California-based med tech agency Masimo. The dispute is over the blood sensor monitor on the newest flagship Apple Watches; Apple is interesting the ITC’s ruling.
Nikola founder sentenced: Trevor Milton, the disgraced founder and former CEO of electrical truck startup Nikola, was sentenced on Monday to 4 years in jail for securities fraud. Rebecca writes that the sentence caps off a multi-year saga that at one level despatched Nikola inventory hovering 83% solely to return crashing down months later over accusations of fraud and canceled contracts.
Copilot will get music writing abilities: Microsoft’s AI-powered chatbot, Microsoft Copilot, can now compose songs because of an integration with generative AI (GenAI) music app Suno. Customers can enter prompts into Copilot like “Create a pop tune about adventures with your loved ones” and have Suno, through a plug-in, carry their musical concepts to life.
Tesla repair “inadequate”: Following exams, Client Stories says Tesla’s repair for its Autopilot recall of over 2 million autos is “inadequate.” Whereas the testing isn’t complete, Sean notes, it reveals questions stay unanswered about Tesla’s method to driver monitoring — the tech on the coronary heart of the recall.
Hen information for chapter: Hen has filed for Chapter 11 chapter, capping off a turbulent yr for the electrical scooter firm. In a press launch, Hen confirmed it had entered right into a “monetary restructuring course of aimed toward strengthening its stability sheet,” with the corporate persevering with to function as regular in pursuit of “long-term, sustainable progress.”
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Want some listening materials whereas prepping a vacation dish — or to tune out particularly bothersome relations? You’re in luck — TechCrunch’s podcasts will match the invoice.
On this week’s Fairness, the second of a two-part sequence trying again at 2023, the crew recapped the autumn of Silicon Valley Financial institution, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s lengthy and tedious trial and OpenAI’s wild inner politicking.
In the meantime, Discovered centered on Charlie Hernández and his journey of constructing My Pocket Lawyer, a web based platform that’s meant to democratize entry to authorized recommendation and steering for individuals who won’t be capable of afford a lawyer. Hernández talked about why he determined to place his regulation diploma to make use of to sort out this drawback.
And Chain Response featured Staci Warden, the CEO of the Algorand Basis, the group behind the layer-1 blockchain Algorand. Algorand is a Singapore-based blockchain that goals to be quick, safe, decentralized and “the greenest” with its carbon-negative community.
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TC+ subscribers get entry to in-depth commentary, evaluation and surveys — which you recognize for those who’re already a subscriber. For those who’re not, think about signing up. Listed below are just a few highlights from this week:
Etsy layoffs: Etsy not too long ago introduced that it could lay off 11% of its workforce — which comes as no shock to these carefully following the e-commerce section, Anna writes. “Junkification” and fierce competitors paint a tricky path forward, she predicts.
DEI backlash: Dom writes in regards to the discouraging backlash towards DEI (range, fairness and inclusion), a framework to assist create extra acutely aware office initiatives to assist marginalized communities, within the tech sector.
Figma’s rosy outlook: Anna writes about how, even with out Adobe, issues don’t look all that dangerous for Figma. CB Insights estimates that the startup continues to be price between $8.3 billion and $9 billion.
