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Welcome to the Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s regular newsletter, covering notable events in the tech industry.
This week, OpenAI shocked the blogosphere with its release Sora, a new AI model that can generate video in impressively high fidelity. We’ve seen video generators before. But what makes Sora unique is its understanding of time and physics, which enables it to produce not only more coherent videos than previous video generators, but 3d world, Wild stuff!
Elsewhere, Startup score Released a dating app specifically for people with good to excellent credit scores. And an anti-Tesla Super Bowl ad caught fire From the National Transportation Safety Board for using its seal without authorization.
And much more happened. We summarize it all in this edition of WiR – but first, a reminder Sign up To receive the WiR newsletter in your inbox every Saturday.
news
Cleaning charges start: Airbnb is gradually eliminating cleaning fees as it aims for more transparent pricing, writes Amanda.
Became silent before time: Layoffs at Spotify have decimated Glenn McDonald’s beloved Every Noise at Once project, a musical encyclopedia of sorts — and fans are angry.
Mozilla reduces the size: Following the downsizing, Mozilla plans to reduce its investment in several products, including its VPN, Relay and online footprint scrubber, Frederick reports.
Google upgrades Gemini: Google expanded the range of Gemini AI models available to developers on its platform. And its Preview A new Gemini model is capable of analyzing entire books, hours-long audio, and hours-long video.
Slack gets GenAI: Slack introduced some new features designed to make information more accessible, including a new AI-fueled search tool and the ability to summarize information inside channels.
Variston Fold: Spyware startup Variston is losing employees — and some say it’s shutting down entirely. The Barcelona-based startup’s malware has been used to target iPhones, Android devices, and PCs, Lorenzo writes.
Analysis
Bluesky vs Mastodon: Amanda writes about the battle over how – and whether – to bridge the two decentralized social networks Bluesky and Mastodon and how this could shape the future of the Internet.
fortnite and mouse: Taylor writes, With the magic of Disney (“magic” here referring to the IP and $1.5 billion investment), Fortnite is ready to conquer the metaverse.
podcast
But equity, Crews talked about how Brett Taylor’s new startup, Sierra, is gaining attention. Taylor – known for his work at Facebook, Salesforce and OpenAI – says Sierra is about building conversational AI agents.
found Tigran Sloyan, co-founder and CEO of CodeSignal, a skills assessment platform that many tech companies use to hire engineers based on their engineering skills rather than their resume.
And chain reaction Yat Siu, Executive Chairman of Animoca Brands, has invested in over 400 Web3 projects across a range of sectors such as DeFi, education, infrastructure, blockchain gaming, and the metaverse.
TechCrunch+
Flash in the pan: Rebecca writes about how, for a variety of reasons, VCs are no longer shy about shotgun startups.
Demands of morality: Regenerative Community Organisms (RCOs), a new organizational model that aims to be a practical approach to integrating sustainability into the core of operations, is gaining popularity in the startup world, Haje reports.
bonus round
Foundry Group Shutter: Foundry Group, an 18-year-old venture firm with approximately $3.5 billion in assets under management, has decided to quietly close down and not raise any more funds.
Playing Hardball: Apple has confirmed that it is deliberately breaking iPhone web apps in the European Union (EU) – blaming a new EU regulation, the Digital Markets Act, for the change.
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