Welcome again to Week in Review! Elon Musk says that xAI purchased X in an all-stock deal; a16z-backed 11x faked some clients; the Lumon Terminal Pro pops up on Apple’s web site; and way more. Let’s dig in!
xAI buys X: X proprietor Elon Musk introduced on X on Friday that xAI acquired X in an all-stock transaction. This mixture values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion. “Today, we formally take the step to mix the info, fashions, compute, distribution and expertise,” Musk mentioned.
Fudging the numbers: More than 20 sources — together with traders and present and former workers — advised TechCrunch that a16z- and Benchmark-backed 11x has skilled monetary struggles, largely of its personal making. “They completely massaged the numbers internally when it got here to progress and churn,” a former worker mentioned.
Block layoffs: A leaked message by Block CEO Jack Dorsey reviewed by TechCrunch revealed that the corporate — which owns Cash App and Square — was shedding 931 individuals, or 8% of the corporate, as a part of an “org restructuring.” Dorsey’s electronic mail denies that the layoffs are for monetary causes or to switch employees with AI.
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News
“What, me do fraud?” The White House confirmed to TechCrunch on Friday that President Trump pardoned Trevor Milton, the founding father of bankrupt hydrogen trucking startup Nikola who was convicted of fraud. The pardon comes just some weeks after Nikola filed for Chapter 11 chapter.
Speaking of leaks: A leaked database seen by TechCrunch reveals that China has developed an AI system that supercharges its already formidable censorship machine, extending far past conventional taboos just like the Tiananmen Square bloodbath.
Skunkworks spins out: Rivian’s skunkworks mission was spun out of the corporate with a brand new title and $105 million in funding from Eclipse Ventures. The startup, referred to as Also, will exist as a stand-alone firm from Rivian.
Get your computer systems prepared: Apple introduced that Worldwide Developers Conference 2025 will start June 9. Reports have indicated that Apple has ready dramatic software program overhauls for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. We additionally count on iOS 19, which, in line with Bloomberg, might be “the most important revamp since iOS 7.”
DNA debacle: DNA testing firm 23andMe filed for chapter this week. The firm’s co-founder and CEO, Anne Wojcicki, individually mentioned she is leaving to grow to be an impartial bidder for the corporate. Your knowledge won’t be secure, so listed here are some methods to delete it.
An act of Congress: Kat Abughazaleh, the 26-year-old who was among the many individuals laid off from Media Matters after Elon Musk sued the corporate, introduced this week that she’s operating for Congress. “I’m attempting to be actually clear about how one can run for workplace, as a result of I really feel prefer it’s form of this black gap that appears much more troublesome than it needs to be,” she advised TechCrunch.
A slice of “Severance”: I haven’t watched any seasons of “Severance,” and primarily based on seemingly everybody on the planet, I’m completely lacking out. My colleague Sarah is amongst these individuals, and he or she noticed a Lumon Terminal Pro (the machine they use within the present) on Apple’s web site.
Backdoor to China: SpaceX, a protection contractor for the Pentagon, reportedly allowed Chinese traders to purchase shares, so long as the funds are routed via the Cayman Islands or different offshore hubs.
The Switch 2 is coming! And at Nintendo Direct, the corporate introduced that it’s engaged on Virtual Game Cards that enable gamers to take their downloaded video games with them to make use of on different gadgets.
Analysis
ChatGPT’s new picture generator launched this week, and with it got here a flood of photographs primarily based on artwork by Studio Ghibli being posted on-line. While the talk over whether or not that is horrifying (Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki as soon as mentioned that “AI is an insult to life itself”) or cool, it does spotlight one factor: Copyrights are nonetheless a priority in relation to AI-generated something. Although copying the artwork fashion isn’t essentially illegal, OpenAI coaching its fashions on Studio Ghibli’s artwork operates in a authorized “grey space.”
“I believe this raises the identical query that we’ve been asking ourselves for a pair years now,” Evan Brown, an mental property lawyer, advised TechCrunch. “What are the copyright infringement implications of going out, crawling the online, and copying into these databases?”
