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Hello, fine friends, and welcome to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch\u2019s regular recap of noteworthy happenings in tech over the past few days. Our team on the ground at CES 2024 had plenty to report from the show \u2014 and more\u2019s on the way. (Here are thorough<\/a> roundups<\/a> of all<\/a> the announcements<\/a>.) But the world didn\u2019t stop turning for CES.<\/p>\n In this edition of WiR, we cover Carta\u2019s allegedly unethical tactics, Samsung\u2019s Ballie home robot, Volkswagen bringing ChatGPT into its cars and Amazon embracing more generative AI. Also on the agenda is the launch of OpenAI\u2019s GPT Store, Logan Paul\u2019s CryptoZoo debacle, Harvard\u2019s robot exoskeleton and a major hack at Fidelity Financial.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a lot to get through, so we won\u2019t delay. But first, a reminder to\u00a0sign up here<\/a>\u00a0to receive WiR in your inbox every Saturday if you haven\u2019t already done so.<\/p>\n Carta\u2019s ethics in question:<\/strong><\/a> Carta, the cap table management outfit, is being accused of unethical tactics by startup Linear\u2019s CEO Karri Saarinen. Saarinen alleged in a LinkedIn post that Carta misused sensitive information that startups entrust to the company in pursuit of its own goals. Carta decided to exit<\/a> secondary trading following the credibility hit.<\/p>\n Samsung\u2019s Ballie returns:<\/strong><\/a> Remember\u00a0Ballie<\/a>, Samsung\u2019s spherical home robot from CES 2020? Samsung brought it back at this year\u2019s keynote with a few on-trend AI upgrades. The new and improved Ballie is around the size of a bowling ball, sporting a 1080p projector and a spatial lidar sensor to help it navigate rooms and obstacles.<\/p>\n Volkswagen cars get ChatGPT:<\/strong><\/a> Volkswagen is getting into the ChatGPT game. On Monday, the German automaker announced plans to add an AI-powered chatbot into all Volkswagen models equipped with its IDA voice assistant. Why? For drivers who want an AI-based chatbot to read researched content out loud to them, of course.<\/p>\n Amazon, GenAI and apparel:<\/a> <\/strong>After recently turning to\u00a0generative AI to enhance its product reviews<\/a>, Amazon this week shared how it\u2019s now using AI to help customers shop for clothing online. The company\u2019s employing personalized size recommendations, a \u201cfit insights\u201d tool for sellers, AI-powered highlights from fit reviews left by other customers and reimagined size charts to enable customers to find better-fitting clothing in the Amazon marketplace.<\/p>\n OpenAI\u2019s GPT Store:<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0OpenAI has launched a store for\u00a0GPTs<\/a>, custom chatbot apps powered by its text- and image-generating AI models (e.g., GPT-4<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0DALL-E 3<\/a>). The GPT Store, as it\u2019s called, lives in a new tab in the ChatGPT client on the web and features a range of GPTs developed both by OpenAI\u2019s partners and the wider dev community.<\/p>\n CryptoZoo refunds\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0maybe:<\/strong><\/a> Logan Paul is offering refunds for CryptoZoo, the failed and allegedly fraudulent\u00a0Pok\u00e9mon-inspired NFT game that he launched in 2021. The catch? You can\u2019t sue him if you get a refund. Morgan has the full story.<\/p>\n New day, new exoskeleton:<\/a> <\/strong>A joint team from Harvard and Boston University has developed a soft robotic exoskeleton that detects movement and utilizes algorithms to estimate the walker\u2019s gait. Cable-driven actuators kick in, assisting walking midstride. If the promising early results are any indication, this new technology could someday be commercialized, Brian writes.<\/p>\n Fidelity hacked:<\/strong><\/a> Real estate services giant Fidelity National Financial has confirmed hackers stole data on 1.3 million of its customers during a November cyberattack that knocked the company offline for a week. In a filing with federal regulators, Fidelity didn\u2019t say which specific customer data was stolen \u2014 but, as Zack writes, all signs point to it being personal or sensitive in nature.<\/p>\n KYC and GenAI:<\/strong><\/a> KYC, or \u201cknow your customer,\u201d is a process intended to help financial institutions, fintech startups and banks verify the identity of their customers. Not uncommonly, KYC authentication involves \u201cID images,\u201d or cross-checked selfies used to confirm a person is who they say they are. But GenAI could sow doubt into these checks.<\/p>\n Twitch layoffs:<\/strong><\/a> Another round of layoffs is hitting Twitch. The Amazon-owned livestreaming platform will cut 35% of its staff, or roughly 500 employees \u2014 the latest blow for the already-beleaguered company, which cut hundreds of jobs last year amid leadership changes, rising operating costs and community discontent.<\/p>\n Need a podcast to listen to while you do the dishes, commute to work or otherwise go about the day\u2019s chores? Good news \u2014 TechCrunch is churning out episodes that\u2019ll do the trick.<\/p>\n On Equity<\/a>\u2018s newly revamped Wednesday episode, the crew dug into news that PhotoRoom is raising more money, Treasure Financial is cutting staff, and two micromobility companies are tying the knot to try and use scale to their advantage. They also looked at what\u2019s going on in the world of AI hardware, why Keith Rabois is heading back to Khosla Ventures, and Seedstars Africa Ventures adding $30 million to its upcoming fund.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the folks at Found<\/a> spoke with\u00a0Markus Witte, co-founder of Babbel, a language learning app that had been operating since 2007. Markus talked about why he decided to step down as CEO and take on the role of chairman and how all four co-founders have worked together to stick to the original mission of Babbel even after nearly 20 years.<\/p>\n And on Chain Reaction<\/a>, Jacquelyn interviewed Michael Sonnenshein, the CEO at Grayscale Investments. Grayscale is a digital asset investment firm that aims to provide products and services to institutional and individual investors; it\u2019s well known for its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust and now its new bitcoin spot ETF product.<\/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 Siri dilemma:<\/strong><\/a> Haje writes that Apple\u2019s Siri needs to get a lot smarter, and quickly \u2014 lest it be left in the dust by competitors (assuming it hasn\u2019t been already).<\/p>\n Enterprises skeptical of GenAI:<\/b><\/a> Generative AI gets a lot of press, from image-generating tools like Midjourney to Runway to OpenAI\u2019s ChatGPT. But businesses aren\u2019t convinced of the tech\u2019s potential to positively affect their bottom lines; at least, that\u2019s what surveys suggest.<\/p>\nMost read<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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