Welcome back to Week in Review. This week we take a closer look at OpenAI’s surprising 12-day reveal, the underwhelming Spotify Wrapped, and the app that tells you when you’re about to die. 😰 Let’s go in.
OpenAI is getting into the holiday spirit. In a surprise “12 Days of OpenAI” event, the company will livestream updates and new features every weekday through December 23. The biggest reveals so far include a $200 per month subscription tier for ChatGPT power users and the launch of the full version of ChatGPT. The “inference” o1 model. Stay up to date with our live blog to see all the product announcements over the coming weeks.
This week we had Spotify Wrapped.However, many users are feeling underwhelmed by the music streamer’s personalized annual review feature. My biggest complaint is that AI podcasts typically include less than the other clever, creative data stories they feature (remember Burlington, Vermont?). Users are also frustrated by the lack of more detailed statistics and the exclusion of information they expected, such as popular music genres.
A Delaware state court judge denied Tesla’s request. Even though shareholders voted to “re-ratify” the deal at the company’s annual meeting this year to amend her decision to gut CEO Elon Musk’s $56 billion pay package. Her decision, presented in a 103-page opinion, states that Tesla’s legal team has no “procedural basis for overturning the results” and that her attempt to change her mind contains a number of fatal flaws.
This is TechCrunch’s Week in Review, a recap of the week’s biggest news. Want a newsletter delivered to your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here.
tidings
Google lost three key leaders. Three Google NotebookLM team members are leaving for a new stealth startup. It’s unclear whether the startup will focus on areas where NotebookLM has gone viral, such as AI-generated podcasts, or whether it will do something completely different. read more
SpaceX considers large public offer. SpaceX’s value continues to rise at a remarkable pace, and the company is reportedly in talks to sell internal stock for a price worth around $350 billion. read more
Electric Popemobile: Mercedes-Benz has delivered the first fully electric Popemobile to the Vatican. The modified version of the G-Class SUV features dedicated height-adjustable swivel seats to allow the Pope to address a larger audience. read more
Intel’s CEO is retiring: Intel announced that CEO Pat Gelsinger has retired and stepped down from the company’s board of directors. Gelsinger could walk away with a little more than $10 million in severance pay, according to a filing with the SEC. read more
Hello, her: The Browser Company has teased a new web browser called Dia, its next product to follow the company’s popular Arc Browser. According to the company’s advertisement, Dia will launch in early 2025 with a focus on AI tools. read more
Can I see ads on Bluesky? At the StrictlyVC event, we asked Bluesky CEO Jay Graber if advertising would be excluded from the social network. Graber said Bluesky can ultimately experiment with advertising in a way that doesn’t compromise the core user experience. read more
All eyes are on David Mayer: ChatGPT users noticed that their chatbot freezes when they ask questions about “David Mayer.” The strange behavior has spawned conspiracy theories, but at its heart is a much more common reason: calls for digital privacy. read more
Get your Mac into the holiday spirit. A cute new macOS app called Festivitas lets you decorate your Mac computer screen with twinkling Christmas lights that hang from your menu bar and light up your dock. read more
Tesla has entered the fart prank market. Tesla has revealed plans for an Apple Watch app that will do most of the things the smartphone app does, but perhaps the silliest update is the ability to prank your friend in the passenger seat with awesome cushioned sound effects. read more
Khloe Kardashian, VC: Khloé Kardashian and Kris Jenner plan to raise $10 million for a new venture called Khloud, according to an SEC filing. Trademarks related to Khloud have been filed to cover popcorn, granola, and other types of snacks. read more
Do you want to know when you will die? A new app called Death Clock claims to predict the user’s death date and provide tips on how to delay that date. A much braver colleague than me, Anthony Ha, tried it himself. read more
analyze
The miserable weirdness of AI advertising.
“The intelligence is so great you could swear he’s from Texas.”
“Adapt your workforce at the speed of AI.”
“AI that talks to cars and wild animals.”
This is an example of recent advertising for AI products and companies. But what does this mean? As Maxwell Zeff writes, most AI ads make absolutely no sense. Companies are portraying AI as an amorphous, magical fairytale character with no specific use cases, while also implying that AI can do almost anything. We’re in a strange situation when it comes to AI, and the tapestry of advertising cliches speaks to the larger rut we find ourselves in. Most companies don’t really know what AI is good for, and perhaps that’s the point. read more
