\n<\/p>\n
Hey, folks, welcome to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch\u2019s regular newsletter that recaps the top tech \u2014 and tech-related \u2014 stories over the past several days. With the holiday around the corner, this reporter expected a quieter week. But the opposite happened \u2014 there\u2019s been no shortage of stories to write about.<\/p>\n
In this edition of WiR, we cover Comcast and Mr. Cooper customer data being stolen, electric scooter company Bird filing for bankruptcy, Adobe ending its Figma acquisition plans, and Apple being forced by the International Trade Commission (ITC) to halt sales of the Apple Watch. We also spotlight Nikola founder Trevor Milton\u2019s securities fraud sentencing, Microsoft\u2019s Copilot chatbot getting a music generation feature and Consumer Reports\u2019 impression of Tesla\u2019s Autopilot recall fix (spoiler: it\u2019s not good).<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a lot to get through, so we\u2019ll hop to it. But first, a reminder to sign up here<\/a>\u00a0to receive WiR in your inbox every Saturday if you haven\u2019t already done so.<\/p>\n Hackers target Comcast:<\/a><\/strong> Comcast has confirmed that hackers exploiting a critical-rated security vulnerability accessed the sensitive information of almost 36 million Xfinity customers. The vulnerability, known as \u201cCitrixBleed,\u201d is found in Citrix networking devices often used by big corporations and has been under mass exploitation by malicious actors since August<\/a>, Carly reports.<\/p>\n Mr. Cooper under fire:<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>In related news, hackers stole the sensitive personal information of over 14.6 million Mr. Cooper customers, Zack writes. The mortgage and loan giant confirmed that the criminals stole customer names, addresses, dates of birth and phone numbers, as well as Social Security numbers and bank account numbers.<\/p>\n Adobe gives up:<\/a> <\/strong>Adobe\u2019s\u00a0$20 billion mega-bid<\/a>\u00a0to buy rival Figma is now\u00a0officially dead<\/a> after the companies said this week that regulatory pushback in Europe caused them to end their acquisition plans. First announced in September last year, the deal was always going to attract regulatory scrutiny due to the size of the transaction and the fact that it took one of Adobe\u2019s major rivals out of the picture<\/a>, notes Paul.<\/p>\n Apple halts Apple Watch sales:<\/strong><\/a> Apple has halted the sale of its Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatch following an October ruling by the ITC owing to a patent dispute with California-based med tech firm Masimo. The dispute is over the blood sensor monitor on the latest flagship Apple Watches; Apple is appealing the ITC\u2019s ruling.<\/p>\n Nikola founder sentenced:<\/a> <\/strong>Trevor Milton, the disgraced founder and former CEO of electric truck startup Nikola, was sentenced on Monday to four years in prison for securities fraud. Rebecca writes that the sentence caps off a multi-year saga that at one point sent Nikola stock soaring 83% only to come crashing down months later over accusations of fraud<\/a>\u00a0and canceled contracts.<\/p>\n Copilot gets music writing skills:<\/strong><\/a> Microsoft\u2019s AI-powered chatbot, Microsoft Copilot<\/a>, can now compose songs thanks to an integration with generative AI (GenAI) music app Suno. Users can enter prompts into Copilot like \u201cCreate a pop song about adventures with your family\u201d and have Suno, via a plug-in, bring their musical ideas to life.<\/p>\n Tesla fix \u201cinsufficient\u201d: <\/a><\/strong>Following tests, Consumer Reports<\/a> says Tesla\u2019s fix for its Autopilot recall<\/a> of over 2 million vehicles is \u201cinsufficient.\u201d While the testing isn\u2019t comprehensive, Sean notes, it shows questions remain unanswered about Tesla\u2019s approach to driver monitoring \u2014 the tech at the heart of the recall.<\/p>\n Bird files for bankruptcy:<\/strong><\/a> Bird<\/a>\u00a0has filed\u00a0for Chapter 11 bankruptcy<\/a>, capping off a turbulent year for the electric scooter company. In a\u00a0press release<\/a>, Bird confirmed it had entered into a \u201cfinancial restructuring process aimed at strengthening its balance sheet,\u201d with the company continuing to operate as normal in pursuit of \u201clong-term, sustainable growth.\u201d<\/p>\n Need some listening material while prepping a holiday dish \u2014 or to tune out especially bothersome relatives? You\u2019re in luck \u2014 TechCrunch\u2019s podcasts will fit the bill.<\/p>\n On this week\u2019s Equity<\/a><\/strong>, the second of a two-part series looking back at 2023, the crew recapped the fall of Silicon Valley Bank, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried\u2019s long and tedious trial and OpenAI\u2019s wild internal politicking.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Found<\/a><\/strong> focused on Charlie Hern\u00e1ndez and his journey of building My Pocket Lawyer, an online platform that\u2019s meant to democratize access to legal advice and guidance for those who might not be able to afford a lawyer. Hern\u00e1ndez talked about why he decided to put his law degree to use to tackle this problem.<\/p>\n And Chain Reaction<\/a><\/strong> featured Staci Warden, the CEO of the Algorand Foundation, the organization behind the layer-1 blockchain Algorand. Algorand is a Singapore-based blockchain that aims to be fast, secure, decentralized and \u201cthe greenest\u201d with its carbon-negative network.<\/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 Etsy layoffs:<\/strong><\/a> Etsy recently announced that it would lay off 11% of its workforce \u2014 which comes as no surprise to those closely following the e-commerce segment, Anna writes. \u201cJunkification\u201d and fierce competition paint a tough path ahead, she predicts.<\/p>\n DEI backlash:<\/b><\/a> Dom writes about the discouraging backlash against DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), a framework to help create more conscious workplace initiatives to help marginalized communities, in the tech sector.<\/p>\nMost read<\/h2>\n
Audio<\/h2>\n
TechCrunch+<\/h2>\n