Welcome to Week in Review (WiR)
TechCrunch’s regular newsletter covering noteworthy happenings in the tech industry.
This week, OpenAI stunned the blogosphere with the release of Sora, a new AI model that can generate videos in impressively high fidelity. Sora is unique in its understanding of time and physics, enabling it to create coherent videos and 3D worlds.
Startup Score released a dating app exclusive to people with good to excellent credit scores. An anti-Tesla Super Bowl ad came under fire for using the National Transportation Safety Board’s seal without authorization.
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News
- Airbnb is eliminating cleaning fees for more transparent pricing.
- Layoffs at Spotify have ended Glenn McDonald’s Every Noise at Once project.
- Mozilla plans to scale back its investment in several products, including its VPN, Relay, and Online Footprint Scrubber.
- Google expanded its Gemini AI models available to developers and previewed a new Gemini model capable of analyzing whole books, hours-long audio, and hour-long videos.
- Slack introduced a couple of new features, including an AI-fueled search tool and the ability to summarize information inside channels.
- Spyware startup Variston is losing staff and may be closing up shop entirely.
Analysis
- The fight over how to bridge decentralized social networks Bluesky and Mastodon could shape the future of the internet.
- With Disney’s investment, Fortnite is poised to win the metaverse, according to Taylor.
Podcasts
- Equity talked about how Bret Taylor’s new startup, Sierra, is turning heads.
- Found profiled Tigran Sloyan, co-founder and CEO of CodeSignal.
- Chain Reaction interviewed Yat Siu, executive chairman of Animoca Brands.
TechCrunch+
- Venture capitalists are no longer hesitant about firearm startups.
- The regenerative community organism (RCO) model is gaining traction in the startup world, integrating sustainability at the core of operations.
Bonus Round
- Foundry Group, a venture firm with nearly $3.5 billion in assets under management, has decided to shut down.
- Apple has confirmed that it’s breaking iPhone web apps in the European Union (EU) on purpose.
