Apple’s lawsuit, Microsoft’s AI ambitions and Nvidia’s surprise
In this edition of Week in Review, we have big news on the latest Apple antitrust lawsuit. Microsoft’s AI ambitions also dominated the news, so let’s dig deeper.…
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The US has teamed up with international regulators to accuse Apple of using monopolistic tactics to lock out iPhone users. In response, Apple claims that the DOJ’s actions could ruin the enjoyment its users get about its phones and ecosystem.
The DOJ’s lawsuit mirrors the relationship between Apple and Microsoft of the 1990s, although there are some key differences between the two companies and their efforts to retain customers.
All that said, don’t expect much to come out of the lawsuit in the short term. Experts estimate that it may take three to five years to reach a solution.
But that’s not all — read on for more updates on Reddit’s IPO, Nvidia’s GTC event, and the unexpected change for Glassdoor accounts.
news
Microsoft absorbs the leadership of Inflection AI: The co-founders of the high-profile AI startup were roped in by Microsoft on Tuesday in a deal that includes Mustafa Suleiman as head of consumer-facing unit Microsoft AI and Karen Simonyan as EVP and CEO of the same group. Has been ranked in. This all comes after Inflexion raised $1.3 billion, with the biggest investor in the startup being, you guessed it, Microsoft.
Nvidia’s GTC event: Remember when their biggest news was related to ray tracing? At its massive GTC developer conference, Nvidia had a few surprises from CEO Jensen Huang, including a prediction that artificial general intelligence was five years away and news of a new AI platform for humanoid robots called GR00T.
Google’s Gemini AI on iPhones?: The two companies are reportedly in talks to deploy Google’s AI models to power several upcoming iOS updates, raising the question of whether this will be a stopgap until Apple doesn’t ramp up its AI efforts, a long-term partnership, or it’s one of those negotiations that never reaches the finish line.
Hacking and Privacy
Investors miss out on past malware investments: The Biden administration is bringing together an international coalition to fight against commercial spyware, which investors are now joining. But TechCrunch exclusively learned that one of those investors was previously involved in the same business they are now fighting.
Hacking a $5 million tournament “for fun”: Sometimes, the justification stated for a hack that has devastated the gaming community is as simple as the developers’ intention to expose the exploit used to prevent Apex Legends tournaments.
Be careful of those Glassdoor reviews: Users are reporting that their real names are being added to their profiles without their consent, and the only solution provided to them is to delete their accounts completely. It’s time to re-examine that burner you built for bad-mouthing your ex-employer!
Funding and IPO
Reddit’s IPO has had a strong start: The stock, which launched at $34 a share, jumped 48% in the first day and closed at $46 after markets closed on Friday.
Astera Labs performance surges 72% on first day: The company, which makes connectivity hardware for cloud computing data centers, is benefiting greatly from the AI boom, with revenue rising 45% to $115.8 million last year and its stock closing at $62.03 on the first day.
Browser company raises $50 million at $550 million valuation:The startup behind Arc Browser has an ambitious, complex, and sometimes controversial vision of replacing PCs with browsers. Amidst several feature launches and AI updates, the company has remained vague about its path to monetization.
bonus round
AI is bad at spelling, and image generators are to blame: If you’ve ever seen terrible spelling in an AI-generated image, you’re not alone. We’ve taken a deep dive into why, despite its vast potential, AI still has trouble spelling the word “burrito.”
fisker halted production:And it’s not because of EVs – it’s because the company is losing money fast. If they are not able to raise more capital, they may cease operations altogether.
Why AI Can’t Be Reviewed, But We’ll Still Try: The fact that it’s impossible to actually review systems like ChatGPT or Gemini makes it even more important to test them.