Meta Connect 2024 was this weekIntroducing new hardware and software that supports two of the company’s biggest ambitions: AI and Metaverse. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced new Quest headsets, updates to Meta’s Llama AI model, and real-time video capabilities for Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. But the biggest reveal was Orion, a true AR glasses prototype praised as “the world’s most advanced glasses.”
OpenAI CTO Mira Murati announced. This week she leaves the company after more than six years. Hours after the announcement, OpenAI’s Chief Research Officer Bob McGrew and Vice President of Research Barret Zoph also left the company. The high-level departure comes less than a week before the start of OpenAI’s annual developer conference.
One of CloudKitchens’ early employees I’m suing the company. In the lawsuit, Isabella Vincenza alleges a hostile work environment, including wrongful termination, gender discrimination and an intense “bro culture” at the company. Vincenza claimed that after her pregnancy and maternity leave, she “was retaliated against for standing up for herself.”
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
Talk to me, ChatGPT: OpenAI has released its advanced voice mode after some delays and controversy. The feature includes an updated blue spherical look, five new voices, and improved accent features for ChatGPT Plus and Teams tier customers. read more
YC Demo Day: Y Combinator has launched a two-day “demo day” event showcasing the products the latest YC deployed companies are building. Notable companies at this event include: (Spoiler alert: Almost all of them use AI.) read more
Amazon Associates and RTOs: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced that employees will be working in the office five days a week starting in 2025. But an anonymous survey of workers found that many who had become accustomed to hybrid work structures were “very dissatisfied”. read more
How much does cell phone wallpaper cost? Marques Brownlee, known as MKBHD on YouTube, launched Panels, a wallpaper app that curates high-quality digital wallpapers from artists. However, to access high-resolution wallpapers without ads, users will have to shell out around $50 per year. read more
WordPress vs WP Engine: A heated legal battle is brewing between WordPress founder and Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg and WP Engine, which hosts websites built on WordPress, after Mullenweg wrote a blog post calling WP Engine a “cancer on WordPress.” read more
X toggles the block function. X will soon change how the blocking feature works so that accounts you’ve blocked will still be able to see your public posts. Elon Musk stated that blocked accounts will still not be able to communicate with the user who blocked them. read more
RevenueCat turns up the heat. Subscription management platform RevenueCat has acquired Dipsea, an app that offers “spicy” audiobook subscriptions. The idea is to bring the subscription-based app in-house and use it as a testing ground for RevenueCat’s new features. read more
RIP, TikTok music: ByteDance is shutting down its music streaming service TikTok Music in November. TikTok Music has its roots in a ByteDance product called Resso, and the service later became available in Indonesia, Brazil, Australia, Singapore, and Mexico. read more
Meta suffers yet another privacy penalty. Meta was reprimanded by the Irish Data Protection Commissioner and fined $101.5 million (at current exchange rates) for a 2019 breach that exposed hundreds of millions of Facebook passwords. read more
Plaud’s NotePin hands-on: TechCrunch’s Brian Heater tested Plaud’s $169 ChatGPT-based NotePin to record meetings and take notes. Unlike other AI fins, Plaud’s product feels like a solution to a real problem, he argues. read more
analyze
Sam Altman goes into “god mode.” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has historically argued that AI is the solution to the world’s problems, despite its significant impact on the environment. In a new Rose-Colored Glasses blog post, Altman offers a surprisingly positive update on the state of AI, highlighting its world-changing potential. But as TechCrunch’s Sarah Perez points out, much of what he writes seems aimed at showing skeptics how important AI is, and that it can have the opposite effect. read more
