Welcome to Startups Weekly. Sign up <\/em>here<\/em><\/a> to get it in your inbox every Friday.<\/em><\/p>\n A few months ago, Alexis Ohanian, the co-founder of Reddit, tweeted that if he could go back in time and do one thing differently when he was building Reddit, he would have spent significantly less time attending events. Personally I have a different experience \u2014 I always regret getting on a plane (or in an Uber, for that matter) to go to an event. However, as I\u2019m traveling back, I\u2019ve never regretted it: There\u2019s always something magical that comes out of going to an event, in my experience.<\/p>\n Our TC+ team is not interested in anecdotes, however: neither mine nor Alexis\u2019. So, like the data-driven journalists they are, they surveyed more than 50 founders<\/a>, trying to figure out whether attending events still makes sense in 2023.<\/p>\n Spoiler alert: There isn\u2019t a real consensus, but there are some really good pros and cons. The article is well worth a read, to figure out in which circumstances you can expect a decent return on investment on your event-going antics.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s newsletter is going to be a bit more to the point than usual: I\u2019m laid up at home with pneumonia (yes, I really am an 86-year-old grandmother. Surprise!), so forgive the antibiotics-addled ramblings this week. I hope I\u2019ll be back with non-pharmaceutically-enhanced ramblings next week.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Oleksandr Hruts \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Our most-read stories consistently continue to be about AI. No big surprise, perhaps, the AI hype cycle continues apace. This week there\u2019s been a bunch of stories about the seedy underbelly of AI, including how humans are part of the problem, continuing to trick AI systems into generating boobs and 9\/11 memes<\/a>. Oh, humans. We spoke with investors to figure out whether the future of AI has hope for us beyond daft memes<\/a>. (Spoiler alert: Yes.)<\/p>\n Rumors are swilling that OpenAI may be considering developing its own AI chips<\/a>. That\u2019s going to get interesting, especially if you\u2019ll recall that Nvidia\u2019s ongoing stock market rally is likely driven by the current boom in AI. The company\u2019s ChatGPT\u2019s mobile app hit a record $4.6 million in revenue last month, but growth is slowing<\/a>. Oh, and there\u2019s no need to shed tears for Nvidia quite yet; Brian\u2019s piece breaking down how Nvidia became a major player in robotics<\/a> is super interesting.<\/p>\n Adobe has doubled down on its Firefly generative AI models. This week, Frederic covered how the software can now generate more realistic images<\/a>\u00a0and can help artists create vector graphics in Illustrator<\/a>. Neato.<\/p>\n If AI can\u2019t go to the mountain, the mountain will come to AI<\/strong>: Dutch startup Tidalflow exits stealth with backing from Google\u2019s Gradient Ventures. It is aiming to help any software play nice with ChatGPT<\/a> and other LLM ecosystems.<\/p>\n What big eyes you have<\/strong>: Adobe continues to push for easier image editing, showing off its Project Stardust as a sneak preview<\/a> of its next-gen AI photo editing engine.<\/p>\n Holding back the tide<\/strong>: Creatives across industries are strategizing<\/a> in a campaign that targets potential corporate abuse of AI technology. The conglomeration is realistic about the ways that musicians and some other creatives could benefit on an individual level from automating parts of their work. The goal is that AI tools \u201cbecome ways for individual humans to make more money, work less, and compete with the corporations that exploit them.\u201d<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Darrell Etherington<\/p>\n<\/div>\n A while back I argued that Apple\u2019s new AR headset is a game-changer<\/a> for startups. It seems that\u2019s likely the case at the high end. But more in the realm of affordability, Meta Quest 3 takes a step closer to mainstream AR\/VR<\/a>, Brian reports.<\/p>\n Not Sonos fast there: <\/strong>Audio company Sonos scored a big $32.5 million win against Google a while back. Now it transpires that the company\u2019s patents were deemed unenforceable and invalid. Whoops. A federal judge threw out the $32.5 million win<\/a> this week.<\/p>\n When it clicks, it really clicks<\/strong>: We took a deep look at Pixel 8, and our team discovered that it delivers solid performance and design upgrades<\/a>. The camera got a particularly enthusiastic shout-out, with Darrell declaring that Google\u2019s Pixel 8 Pro camera is the new mobile photography champ<\/a>, and Brian waxing lyrical about the phone\u2019s picture-snapper in \u201cThe camera\u2019s still the thing<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Who needs computers anyway?<\/strong>: It seems like all our mobile devices may be starting to cannibalize sales of personal computers \u2014 Ron reports that PC shipments decline slows in Q3 2023 and that Apple\u2019s sales plunge over 23%<\/a>.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> VidCon<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Reddit\u2019s API-powered chaos continues, but it appears that things are starting to resolve a little. Third-party Reddit app Narwhal says it hopes to survive Reddit\u2019s app purge<\/a> with a subscription plan.<\/p>\n Apropos \u201cgetting together,\u201d Amanda reports that VidCon is still kickin\u2019<\/a>. For the first time, the conference hosted an industry leadership summit, where creator economy experts and creators could hash out their grievances with the state of the business and share ideas to make the job of a creator more sustainable. That makes sense, unlike creators raising venture capital<\/a>: It\u2019s so eye-wateringly hard to make money as a creator, I\u2019d love to see the pitch that convinces a VC to cut a check to a creator, with a realistic expectation of a venture-scale return.<\/p>\n Maybe they were hiding behind the sofa?<\/strong>: Sarah reports that Mastodon actually has 407K+ more monthly users than it thought<\/a> \u2014 and it seems like Twitter has a lot more traffic than Musk said<\/a>. Still, the peak now is about the same as it was a decade ago<\/a>, and it\u2019s unclear what the social platform can do to encourage more growth.<\/p>\n A social social network network<\/strong>: Lauren reports that a former TikTok employee is building a social app for content creators to network and \u201cspill the tea,\u201d<\/a> so creators can help each other out making better, more engaging content.<\/p>\n X may go ad-free?<\/strong>: It appears that X (formerly Twitter) is testing three tiers of its Premium service,<\/a> its CEO says. Under the hood, code shows one tier may be ad-free. If it\u2019s also troll free, please take my money right now.<\/p>\n A lot of amazing news on the site this week, but if we go by the raw numbers, here are the most popular stories \u2014 the ones that I didn\u2019t already cover above, that is.<\/p>\n Passwords? We don\u2019t need no steenkin\u2019 passwords<\/strong>: Passkeys are a phishing-resistant alternative to passwords that allow users to sign in to accounts using the same biometrics or PINs they use to unlock their devices or with a physical security key. Google is now making it the default sign-in method for all users<\/a>.<\/p>\n 2 sec, let me text you some cash<\/strong>: When questioned about Mastercard\u2019s prospects in emerging markets such as India, Mastercard\u2019s CFO Sachin Mehra praised UPI for helping with digitization but voiced reservations about its commercial sustainability, saying it is an \u201cincredibly painful experience\u201d for ecosystem participants<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bravely browsing \u2014 or searching \u2014 for a new job . . . <\/strong>:\u00a0Brave Software, the maker of Brave Browser and Search, confirmed that it has laid off 9% of its workforce<\/a> across departments.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nArtificial intelligence: Y\u2019all just can\u2019t get enough<\/h2>\n
More on the AI front<\/h3>\n
Tech you can touch<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nLet\u2019s get together<\/h2>\n
![\"VidCon\"](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/230930_165702_vidcon_kursza_JamesColetta-1106.jpg\")
<\/p>\nTop reads on TechCrunch this week<\/h2>\n