Welcome back to Week in Review. This week, we take a look at the next-generation AI model plans reported by OpenAI. This is a new messaging app that is popular with Generation Z. And Tim Cook discovered that you can name your group chats in iMessage. Let’s get into it.
The Verge reported this week that OpenAI plans to release: The next-generation AI model, codenamed Orion, is scheduled to be released by December. An OpenAI spokesperson denied TechCrunch’s claim, saying, “We have no plans to release a model codenamed Orion this year.” But what this means is anyone’s guess, and it leaves OpenAI with quite a bit of wiggle room.
Character.AI is being targeted by lawsuits. After the suicide of a 14-year-old boy who his mother said became obsessed with the platform’s chatbot. The company said it will roll out new safety features, including “improved detection, response, and intervention” around chats that violate its terms of service, and notifications when users have spent an hour in a chat.
Over 100 million individuals Personal health information was stolen during the February ransomware attack on Change Healthcare. This is the first time that health insurance provider UnitedHealth Group, which owns the company, has tallied the number of individuals affected by the data breach. The company previously said it expected the breach to involve data on “a significant percentage of people in the United States.”
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
What’s next for Mira Murati: Former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati is reportedly raising more than $100 million for a new AI startup. The startup will reportedly focus on building AI products based on a proprietary model. read more
(Group Chat) What’s in a name? According to Tim Cook’s recent profile, he didn’t know you could name group chats in iMessage. Cook subsequently named his group chat with his former college roommates simply “Roommates.” read more
Elon Musk and Putin’s conversation: Elon Musk is known to have been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin since the end of 2022. The Wall Street Journal reported that the conversation raised national security concerns among some intelligence officials. read more
Let Anthropic take control of your PC: Anthropic has released an upgraded version of Claude 3.5 Sonnet that can understand and interact with all desktop apps. This model can mimic keystrokes, button clicks, and mouse movements, essentially imitating a person sitting in front of a computer. read more
Smart Glasses Success: Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses have proven to be more successful than Meta originally expected. The glasses were the best-selling product in 60% of all Ray-Ban stores across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, even before the launch of the AI feature. read more
Artificial (internal) intelligence: Throne is an Austin-based health startup that sells a camera that clips to the side of the toilet and takes pictures of your poop. The system, currently in beta, leverages AI to examine stool and determine things like gut health and hydration. read more
Turn your phone into an e-reader. Astropad’s latest innovation, the Bookcase, is a case with a MagSafe mount and NFC chip that can hold your smartphone like a Kindle, creating a more comfortable mobile e-reading experience. read more
Midjourney is available for the web. Midjourney is launching an upgraded tool that will allow users to edit images uploaded from the web using generative AI. The upgraded tool allows users to retexture objects in an image to “recolor” their color and details, according to the caption. read more
Cheaper ways to buy gas: Amazon is offering Prime members a 10-cent per gallon discount at about 7,000 Amoco, AM/PM and BP gas stations across the U.S. in a bid to challenge rival service Walmart+ against high gas prices. read more
Messaging apps for the next generation: Daze is a creative AI-powered messaging app that has exploded in popularity among Gen Z users, with a waiting list of nearly 156,000 people ahead of its launch on November 4. read more
Take a closer look at Apple’s hearing aid features. TechCrunch’s Brian Heater tested an accessibility feature for Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 that allows the earbuds to act as hearing aids and provide hearing tests. read more
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With 23andMe you: 23andMe faces an uncertain future amid efforts to take the company private, amid growing concerns about what could happen to the genetic data of the company’s roughly 15 million customers. If you shipped your saliva to 23andMe, you may have assumed that this data would remain private by law. However, as Carly Page writes, 23andMe is not subject to HIPAA and is bound only by its own privacy policy, which can change at any time. However, there is an easy way to request deletion of your data. read more
