Image credits: Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch
In this issue of Week in Review, we have big news about Apple's latest antitrust lawsuit. Microsoft's AI ambitions have been in the news too, so let's dive into them.
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The United States joined international regulatory bodies in accusing Apple of using monopolistic methods to imprison iPhone users. In response, Apple claims that the DOJ's actions could destroy exactly what its users enjoy about its phones and ecosystem.
The Justice Department's lawsuit links Apple to the Microsoft era of the 1990s, although there are some key differences between the two companies and their efforts to retain customers.
However, don't expect the lawsuit to yield much in the short term. Experts expect 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 in Glassdoor accounts.
News
Microsoft sucks at Inflection AI clients: Microsoft acquired the co-founders of the high-profile AI startup on Tuesday in a deal that puts Mustafa Suleiman as leader of Microsoft's consumer-facing AI unit, and Karen Simonyan as executive vice president and CEO of the same group. All of this comes after Inflection raised $1.3 billion, and the startup's largest investor was, you guessed it, Microsoft.
Nvidia GTC event: Remember when their biggest news was related to ray tracing? At its wide-ranging GTC developer conference, Nvidia got 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 Gemini AI on iPhones?: The two companies are said to be in talks that could lead to Google's AI model being deployed to power several upcoming iOS updates, leaving the question of whether this will be a stopgap until Apple's AI efforts get up to speed, or a long-term partnership. Or just one of those negotiations that never gets to the finish line.
Hacking and privacy
Investors are undermining previous malware investments: The Biden administration is forming an international coalition to fight commercial spyware, and investors are now joining it. But one of those investors was previously involved in the same business they're now fighting, TechCrunch has learned exclusively.
Hack $5 million tournament 'for fun': Sometimes, the stated justification for a hack that takes the gaming community by storm is that simple, as well as the developers' intention to highlight the exploit used to stop the Apex Legends tournament.
Be careful about those Glassdoor reviews: Users have reported that their real names have been added to their profiles without their consent, and their only solution is to delete their accounts entirely. It's time to double-check that stove you did to offend your previous employer!
Financing and public offerings
Reddit's IPO is off to a strong start: The stock, which started at $34 a share, jumped 48% on its first day and ended at $46 after the market closed on Friday.
Astera Labs balloons up to 72% on the first day: The company, which makes communications devices for cloud computing data centers, is benefiting greatly from the artificial intelligence boom, with revenue growing 45% to $115.8 million last year and its stock closing at $62.03 on the first day.
The browser company raises $50 million at a $550 million valuation: The startup behind the Arc Browser has an ambitious, complex, and sometimes controversial vision of replacing browsers on PCs. Amid several feature launches and AI updates, the company is still unclear 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 delved into why AI, despite its enormous potential, still has trouble spelling the word “burrito.”
Fisker temporarily halts production: This is not because of electric vehicles, but because the company is running out of money quickly. If they cannot raise more capital, they could shut down their operations completely.
Why artificial intelligence cannot be reviewed, but we will try: The fact that systems like ChatGPT or Gemini are impossible to truly review makes it even more important to put them to the test.
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