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Hey, folks, welcome to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch\u2019s regular newsletter covering the major happenings in the tech-o-sphere \u2014 or most of them, anyway. As the world\u2019s largest AI conference, NeurIPS, got underway in sunny New Orleans, Google shared more on Gemini, its flagship AI model family \u2014 and lots happened elsewhere.<\/p>\n
In this edition of WiR, we cover Cruise slashing 24% of its driverless workforce (and, relatedly, Tesla\u2019s autopilot recall), Twitch\u2019s new nudity policy conundrum, Adobe\u2019s updated app design language and Instagram launching a generative AI\u2013powered background editor. We also spotlight Meta\u2019s Threads app expanding, the FCC denying Starlink a subsidy, Apple\u2019s changing policies around push notification data and Amazon competing with its own Goodreads service.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a lot to recap, so we won\u2019t dillydally. But first, a reminder to sign up here<\/a> to receive WiR in your inbox every Saturday if you haven\u2019t already done so.<\/p>\n Gemini comes to more apps:<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>Google\u2019s Gemini GenAI models \u2014 specifically Gemini Pro, a lightweight version of a more capable model, Gemini Ultra, set to arrive in the coming months \u2014 is making its way into more Google products. Duet AI<\/a>, the company\u2019s suite of dev assistance tools for code completion and generation, will soon start using Gemini. So will AI Studio<\/a> (formerly MakerSuite), Google\u2019s AI app design experience on the web, and Vertex AI, the tech giant\u2019s managed AI dev platform for enterprises.<\/p>\n Cruise slashes workforce:<\/a> <\/strong>Cruise, GM\u2019s self-driving car subsidiary, is laying off 900 mostly field staffers as part of a plan to slash costs and revamp the company, Kirsten reports. Wall Street appeared to approve of the cutbacks, which followed an October 2 incident that left a pedestrian stuck under and then dragged by one of Cruise\u2019s robotaxis; GM shares rose after the downsizing was announced.<\/p>\n Tesla issues recall:<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>Tesla is limiting the use of its Autopilot driver-assistance software as part of a two-million-vehicle recall \u2014 one of the first results to come from an ongoing multiyear investigation by the U.S.\u2019s top automotive safety regulator, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In documents released Wednesday, the NHTSA says that the way Tesla\u2019s cars check to see if drivers are paying attention to the road while using Autosteer, an Autopilot feature that allows the cars to stay planted in the center of a lane even around big curves, is \u201cinsufficient.\u201d<\/p>\n Nudes on Twitch:<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0Twitch this week announced sweeping updates to its sexual content policy and content classification system, briefly allowing previously prohibited content such as illustrated nipples and \u201cerotic dances\u201d \u2014 but then quickly backtracked. Effective Friday, depictions of both real and fictional nudity are banned on Twitch again<\/a>. Streamers will still be able to show nudity in M-rated games.<\/p>\n Adobe unveils Spectrum 2:<\/strong><\/a> Adobe has launched an update to Spectrum, the design system the company has used as the basis for all of its app and web products for the last 10 years. Called Spectrum 2 (no surprise there), the new design system backs off a bit from the austerity of the current Spectrum design and adds quite a few more splashes of color. You can already find parts of Spectrum 2 in recent Adobe web apps like the company\u2019s Firefly generative AI service, Adobe Express and some of the new Acrobat web experiences.<\/p>\n Instagram intros background editor:<\/a> <\/strong>Instagram introduced its GenAI-powered background editing tool to U.S.-based users on Wednesday. The tool lets users quickly change the background to their images; when users tap on the new background editor icon on an image, they get pre-populated prompts like \u201cOn a red carpet,\u201d \u201cBeing chased by dinosaurs\u201d and \u201cSurrounded by puppies.\u201d Users can write their own prompts to change the background as well.<\/p>\n Threads grows:<\/a> <\/strong>Rumor has it that Meta\u2019s set to launch Threads in the EU next month \u2014 possibly with a \u201cview-only mode\u201d to comply with the EU\u2019s regulations around data handling and recommendation algorithms. In the meantime, the social network\u2019s working on bringing a fact-checking program to Threads and testing support for ActivityPub, the open social networking protocol adopted by decentralized social networking platforms, including Mastodon.<\/p>\n FCC denies Starlink:<\/a> <\/strong>The FCC has made a final denial of Starlink\u2019s application for $885 million in public funds to expand its orbital communications infrastructure to cover parts of rural America, saying the company \u201cfailed to demonstrate that it could deliver the promised service.\u201d As Devin notes, the money in question was part of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, a multi-billion-dollar program to subsidize the rollout of internet service in places where private companies have previously decided it\u2019s too expensive or distant to do so.<\/p>\n Apple changes its notification policy:<\/strong><\/a> Apple said it will no longer give over records of users\u2019 push notifications to law enforcement unless the company receives a valid judge\u2019s order. Previously, the company allowed police to obtain these records with a subpoena, which are issued by police departments and law enforcement agencies with no judicial oversight. The policy change lands days after U.S. senator Ron Wyden disclosed that Apple and Google can be \u201csecretly compelled by governments\u201d to hand over the contents of push notifications<\/a>\u00a0sent to customers\u2019 phones.<\/p>\n Amazon competes with its own Goodreads:<\/a> <\/strong>This week, Amazon launched its own competitor to Goodreads, a book tracking and recommendations site it also owns. Your Books<\/a> organizes all the books you\u2019ve bought, borrowed or saved, including print books, as well as Amazon\u2019s Kindle and Audible titles. As Sarah points out, with Your Books, the focus is directed more on commerce and leveraging Amazon\u2019s data to make recommendations, rather than \u2014 as with Goodreads \u2014 leaning on other people\u2019s reviews, negative or positive.<\/p>\n In need of weekend podcast listening material? Good news \u2014 TechCrunch has plenty on offer there.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n On Equity<\/a><\/strong>, the crew welcomed Matt Mullenweg, the CEO of Automattic and co-founder of WordPress, along with Kishan Bagaria, the founder of Texts.com. Automattic bought all-in-one messaging app Texts.com for $50 million back in October, and on this week\u2019s Equity episode, the hosts dug into the transaction and what it means \u2014 and the general state of the written word online.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Found<\/a><\/strong> centered on James Wagoner, the co-founder and CEO of Joule Case, a startup that\u2019s creating a cleaner alternative to diesel generators. Wagoner talked about his journey to kick-starting the company after the first startup he and his co-founder launched didn\u2019t survive the 2008 financial crisis.<\/p>\n And on Chain Reaction<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Jacquelyn interviewed Johann Kerbrat, the general manager of crypto at Robinhood. Johann is leading the app\u2019s effort to expand its crypto exchange business and make digital assets more accessible to retail investors.<\/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 Temu vs. Shein:<\/strong><\/a> Alex writes about fast-fashion retailer Temu\u2019s latest lawsuit against chief rival Shein. In it, Temu alleges \u201cdubious copyright infringement\u201d complaints filed against it by Shein \u2014 and also alleges that Shein abuses its suppliers by leveraging a \u201cmonopoly power\u201d and \u201cexclusive-dealing agreements.\u201d<\/p>\n COP28 recap:<\/strong><\/a> Tim reports on the UN climate change conference proceedings this year. COP28 was significant in a few unexpected respects, he says \u2014 and not just because the United Arab Emirates, the world\u2019s seventh largest oil producer, hosted.<\/p>\nMost read<\/h2>\n
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