Heya, folks, welcome to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s newsletter rounding up the noteworthy happenings in tech over the past few days (and changes).
The famous startup accelerator Y Combinator held its Demo Days, and the venture capital office greeted everything with an appropriately skeptical eye. You can read their coverage from day one and two, along with an AI summary from yours truly and analysis from the rest of the hard-working editorial team.
But the world hasn’t stopped turning to YC. Also this week, Microsoft and Quantinuum, a quantum computing startup, achieved a scientific breakthrough – or so they claim. The companies claim to have been able to perform thousands of experiments on a quantum computer without a single error, a feat that has long eluded the industry.
Elsewhere, Apple could get into domestic robots. Reportedly, the company – fresh from its decision to cancel its in-production self-driving electric vehicle – has entrusted Apple Home and AI executives with some form of household robotics project, although many details have not yet been finalized.
Many other things happened. We wrap it all up in this edition of WiR – but first, a reminder to sign up to receive the WiR newsletter in your inbox every Saturday.
News
Canoo paid for its CEO’s jet: Kirsten reports that EV startup Canoo paid the rent on the CEO’s private jet — $1.7 million — in 2023. That’s double the amount of revenue the company generated that year.
AT&T leak: Phone giant AT&T has reset millions of account passcodes after a massive data cache containing customer records went online earlier this month, Zack reports.
No ChatGPT account required: OpenAI makes its flagship conversational AI, ChatGPT, accessible to everyone, even people who haven’t bothered to create an account. But it won’t be quite the same experience. Devin has the story.
Microsoft ungroups: Microsoft has introduced new versions of its Microsoft 365 and Office 365 subscription services that exclude Teams, its business collaboration chat offering, following scrutiny from European Union regulators and complaints from its rival Slack.
Funding
Ghost ghosts: Ghost Autonomy, a startup working on self-driving software for partner automakers, has closed its doors after raising nearly $220 million.
Analysis
Alphabet and HubSpot: Reuters reported Thursday that Google parent Alphabet was exploring the possibility of buying Boston-based HubSpot, a CRM and marketing automation company with a market capitalization of more than $33 billion. Ron explains why these would make strange bedfellows.
Podcasts
This week on EquityAlex discussed BlaBlaCar’s new credit facility (and how it managed to get it), and he explains how PipeDreams could fit into a smart model of building startups, the rebound and profitability of GoStudent, the chip business of Hailo and the two new brands that GGV calls home during its division. its operations on opposite sides of the Pacific.
And more Find, Nick Green, co-founder and CEO of Thrive Market, was the featured guest. Thrive is a membership-based online grocery store focused on natural and organic foods and household products. Green explained that Thrive is not only focused on providing healthy options, but also wants to ensure everyone has access to them, including those receiving SNAP and EBT benefits.
Bonus round
NSFW on X: The social media company has confirmed that authorized users on the platform can create NSFW communities, ahead of a change that will see all NSFW content on X filtered by default.
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