Welcome, of us, to Week in Overview (WiR), TechCrunch’s common publication that recaps the week in tech that was. Hope the vacations have been restful for many who noticed them. We at TC, for our elements, are gearing up for an eventful subsequent week at CES in Las Vegas — whereas maintaining a tally of the information cycle, as ever.
On this version of WiR, we highlight Brian’s CES 2024 preview, 23andMe blaming victims for its information breach, GitHub making Copilot Chat typically accessible and Frontdesk shedding its total workers. Additionally on the agenda are spiders and physique butter, Constancy marking down X’s valuation, Meta reducing the worth of the Quest 2 and MIT scientists’ vibrating weight problems capsule.
It’s rather a lot to get by, so we gained’t delay. However first, a reminder to join right here to obtain WiR in your inbox each Saturday if you happen to haven’t already completed so.
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CES 2024: Brian has an intensive roundup of what to anticipate at CES 2024, together with — however not restricted to — generative AI, robotics, TVs, automobiles, smartphones, and well being tech. He writes that he’s optimistic in regards to the present general, notably in gentle of the patron electronics trade’s transfer to extra decentralized manufacturing and the standard of startup pitches that’ve are available in to this point.
Your fault, not ours: Going through over 30 lawsuits from victims of a knowledge breach implicating ~6.9 million prospects, 23andMe is now deflecting blame to aim to absolve itself of any duty. In a letter, the genetic testing firm says that customers “negligently recycled and did not replace their passwords following these previous safety incidents, that are unrelated to 23andMe.”
Copilot Chat launches: GitHub has rolled out Copilot Chat, a ChatGPT-like programming-centric chatbot, typically availability for all paying Copilot customers and free for verified academics, college students and maintainers of sure open supply tasks. The chatbot’s powered by GPT-4, OpenAI’s flagship generative AI mannequin, and fine-tuned particularly for dev situations.
Frontdesk implodes: Mary Ann writes that Frontdesk, a startup that managed greater than 1,000 furnished residences throughout the U.S., laid off its total 200-person workforce Tuesday after makes an attempt to boost extra capital failed. Frontdesk CEO Jesse DePinto mentioned that Frontdesk can be submitting for a state receivership, a substitute for chapter, based on TechCrunch’s sources.
Spiders and physique butter: Sol de Janeiro’s Delícia Drench Physique Butter went viral on social media after customers claimed they have been hunted, bitten and (unsuccessfully) courted by wolf spiders once they utilized the moisturizer, because of the alleged inclusion of chemical compounds that spiders discover sexually arousing. However Sol de Janeiro — and impartial specialists — inform TechCrunch that there’s no advantage to the rumors.
X’s valuation falls . . . once more: Mutual fund firm Constancy has marked down its funding in X Holdings, the dad or mum firm of X (previously Twitter), by 71.5% from the unique valuation of shares, experiences Ivan. Constancy spent $19.2 million to amass a stake in X again in October 2022.
Quest 2 discounted: Months after Meta launched the Quest 3, the corporate is slashing costs for the VR headset’s predecessor, the Quest 2, by $50. The 128GB model drops from $299 to $249 and the 256GB model drops from $349 to $299 — with loads of equipment on sale in addition.
Vibrating the fats away: Brian writes about an MIT group’s new obesity-fighting, pill-like vibrating capsule, which is designed to ship alerts to the mind to simulate the feeling of being full. Early checks are promising — giving animals the capsule 20 minutes earlier than consuming lowered their consumption by round 40% — however the capsule is a good distance from human trials.
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In want of recent podcasts to fill out your rotation? Don’t panic — TechCrunch has you coated.
On a throwback episode of Fairness, Morgan interviewed Shruti Dwivedi — the co-founder and CEO of well being tech startup Duly, which is concentrated on simplifying and personalizing contraception for younger girls in India and past — at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023. The pair talked in regards to the stigma round contraception, cultural roadblocks Duly faces and what’s subsequent for the startup.
In the meantime, Discovered went Down Underneath with Rebecca, who spoke with Alex Zaccaria, the co-founder and CEO of Australia-based Linktree. The 2 chatted about how the startup scaled the freemium mannequin to develop the now-massive social media reference touchdown web page enterprise.
And on Chain Response, Jacquelyn dove again into the newest developments on spot bitcoin ETF purposes within the U.S. as anticipation builds. Fred Thiel, the CEO of Marathon Digital Holdings, a digital asset know-how firm and the most important publicly traded bitcoin mining agency, joined the episode to speak crypto store.
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TC+ subscribers get entry to in-depth commentary, evaluation and surveys — which you realize if you happen to’re already a subscriber. If you happen to’re not, contemplate signing up. Listed below are a couple of highlights from this week:
One other alleged cool superconductor: Tim has the story on the newest group of scientists who declare to have found a near-room-temperature superconductor. He’s not satisfied that the paper, which hasn’t been peer-reviewed, will stand as much as scientific scrutiny; time will inform.
Crypto losses decline: Whereas malicious actors proceed to hack the crypto trade for a money seize, the greenback quantity is down considerably — 51% — in comparison with the earlier 12 months, Jacquelyn writes.
The approaching copyright challenges: When information broke final 12 months that AI heavyweight OpenAI and Axel Springer had reached a monetary settlement and partnership, it appeared to bode effectively for concord between of us who write phrases and tech corporations that use them to assist create and prepare AI fashions. However maybe it doesn’t, Alex posits.
