\n<\/p>\n
Hi, folks, welcome to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch\u2019s newsletter that highlights some of the more noteworthy moments in tech over the past few days. The holiday season is nigh upon us, but the tech industry waits for no one \u2014 on the horizon are IBM, AMD and Intel conferences, plus the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The news cycle won\u2019t die down anytime soon, and rest assured we\u2019ll continue doing our best to keep you informed.<\/p>\n
But I\u2019m getting ahead of myself. A fair amount happened this<\/em> week, including Amazon\u2019s re:Invent conference, a ransomware catastrophe at Fidelity, Sam Altman officially returning to OpenAI, Neuralink raising money, and SpaceX acquiring a parachute company. Also, Tesla officially launched the Cybertruck, Black Friday numbers came in, Evernote imposed caps on its free plan, and Teenage Engineering unveiled its latest gadget. We cover all that \u2014 and more \u2014 in this edition of WiR.<\/p>\n First, a reminder to sign up here<\/a> to receive WiR in your inbox every Saturday if you haven\u2019t already done so. Now, on with the news.<\/p>\n Amazon reinvents \u2014 again:<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>Amazon\u2019s annual re:Invent<\/a> conference, which focuses on the tech giant\u2019s AWS business, was somewhat subdued this year. But AWS CEO Adam Selipsky talked a big game, taking cheap shots<\/a> at rivals, from Google and Microsoft to OpenAI. Among the more notable unveilings was a $195 thin client<\/a> that looks (suspiciously) similar to a Fire TV Cube<\/a>, a business-oriented AI chatbot called Q<\/a>\u00a0and three new serverless offerings<\/a>. Christine has a roundup<\/a> of the rest of the announcements.<\/p>\n Massive breach at Fidelity:<\/strong><\/a> Last Tuesday, Fidelity National Financial, or FNF, a real estate services company that bills itself as the \u201cleading provider of title insurance and escrow services\u201d and \u201cNorth America\u2019s largest title insurance company,\u201d announced that it had experienced a cyberattack<\/a>. Lorenzo writes that, since then, homeowners with mortgages and prospective buyers purchasing properties with FNF or one of its many subsidiaries have been left confused and concerned, not knowing exactly what\u2019s happening \u2014 or what to do.<\/p>\n Altman returns to OpenAI:<\/a><\/strong> Sam Altman is officially back as OpenAI\u2019s CEO after a\u00a0tumultuous<\/a> week and change. And OpenAI officially has a new board of directors \u2014 plus a non-voting board observer, courtesy of Microsoft \u2014 replacing most of the board that attempted to oust Altman in the days leading up to Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n Neuralink raises cash: <\/strong><\/a>Neuralink<\/a>, the Elon Musk\u2013founded company developing implantable chips that can read brain waves, has raised an additional $43 million in venture capital, according to a filing with the SEC. Founded in 2016, Neuralink has devised a sewing machine\u2013like device capable of implanting ultra-thin threads that connect to electrodes inside the brain. But Neuralink is under increasing scrutiny for what critics allege are a toxic workplace culture \u2014 and unethical research practices.<\/p>\n SpaceX buys parachutes: <\/strong><\/a>SpaceX is known for its vertical integration, but one component it\u2019s been outsourcing is parachutes \u2014 until earlier this month, when the company quietly bought parachute vendor Pioneer Aerospace for $2.2 million after its parent company went bankrupt. Aria reports that it\u2019s the second known acquisition for SpaceX, which acquired small satellite startup Swarm<\/a> in 2021 for a $524 million mostly stock deal.<\/p>\n The Cybertruck launches \u2014 for real:<\/strong><\/a> Tesla moved forward on Thursday with the long-awaited launch of its Cybertruck electric pickup during an afternoon presser. Harri notes that the boxy vehicle is Tesla\u2019s first new model since 2020, when it started delivering<\/a> the Model Y.<\/p>\n Black Friday boom:<\/a><\/strong> A rush of deep discounts and the growth of flexible payment options were the drivers behind $9.8 billion in online sales in the U.S. on Black Friday \u2014 a record figure for the day. According to Adobe Analytics<\/a>, sales were up by 7.5% on last year\u2019s numbers \u2014 a figure that Ingrid writes should provide some surprise holiday cheer to retailers, which have been seeing overall sluggish growth.<\/p>\n Evernote hobbles its free plan: <\/a><\/strong>Days after\u00a0Evernote started testing a free plan with access to only one notebook and 50 notes<\/a> with limited users, the company has now made this its new default free plan. The note-taking app said that this change will be applicable for all new and existing free users starting December 4.<\/p>\n Teenage Engineering releases a groovebox:<\/a> <\/strong>Teenage Engineering\u2019s new $300 groovebox has no business being this cute, Harri writes \u2014 and I can\u2019t disagree. Called the EP-133 K.O.II, it\u2019s a combination drum machine, synthesizer and sampler \u2014 an appropriately supersized upgrade to Teenage Engineer\u2019s pint-sized PO-33 K.O.<\/p>\n ChatGPT turns one:<\/a><\/strong> OpenAI\u2019s viral AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT<\/a> turned one this week. Initially a basic free-to-use, web-based and chat-focused interface on top of one of OpenAI\u2019s existing models, GPT-3.5<\/a>, ChatGPT would go on to become the company\u2019s most popular product\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0ever \u2014 and the fastest-growing consumer app in history. I wrote something to mark<\/a> the occasion.<\/p>\n In need of a podcast to fill the time? You\u2019re in luck. TechCrunch has a full roster to keep you occupied.<\/p>\n This week on a throwback episode of Equity<\/a><\/strong>, Alex chats with Anu Hariharan, who previously led YC Continuity, about what makes a \u201cgreat\u201d founder and how those founders are successfully guiding their companies toward cash-flow positivity. Hariharan recently partnered with two of her former colleagues and former Brex executive Lucas Fox to launch a new fund, Avra, which aims to raise about $350 million and operate a program that some are referring to as a \u201cYC for growth.\u201d<\/p>\n Over on Found<\/a><\/strong>, the crew was joined by\u00a0Neil Batlivala from Pair Team, which is building the infrastructure that\u2019ll help the most vulnerable populations get the clinical and social care they need through the coming Medicaid expansion. Dom and Becca talked to Neil about how his previous health tech experience led him to start a company solely focused on connecting care facilities like food pantries and shelters to clinical training and care through Medicaid funding.<\/p>\n And on Chain Reaction<\/a><\/strong>, Jacquelyn interviewed Optimism\u2019s CEO and co-founder Jing Wang and chief growth officer Ryan Wyatt. Optimism is an Ethereum-focused layer-2 blockchain that focuses on scaling and speed, while also lowering costs for users.<\/p>\n TC+ subscribers get access to in-depth commentary, analysis and surveys \u2014 which you know if you\u2019re already a subscriber. If you\u2019re not,\u00a0consider signing up<\/a>. Here are a few highlights from this week:<\/em><\/p>\n The 2024 IPO cohort comes into focus:<\/strong><\/a> Many other unicorns are likely going to be watching how the upcoming Shein and Reddit IPOs perform, since they\u2019ll pretty much prove how high private-market valuations translate to the public markets, Alex writes.<\/p>\n Fastest green cards if you\u2019re from India or China: <\/b><\/a>Sophie Alcorn, the founder of Alcorn Immigration Law in Silicon Valley, writes about how founders from India or China can get green cards as quickly as possible when facing deadlines from investors or partners \u2014 including through VC networks and resources.<\/p>\nMost read<\/h2>\n
Audio<\/h2>\n
TechCrunch+<\/h2>\n