Welcome back to Week in Review. This week we’re coming to you right after TechCrunch Disrupt! In case you missed it, we’re highlighting a conversation between Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas, WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg, and Disney star turned space CEO Bridgit Mendler. Of course, we heard the news from the rest of the tech world too. Let’s do it.
Why did Wiz turn down $23 billion? Wiz co-founder and CEO Assaf Rappaport told TechCrunch Disrupt that turning down Alphabet’s offer was “the most difficult decision ever.” But they did so because they believed the cloud security space was a $100 billion opportunity for the company. When Wiz rejected the offer, the startup was privately valued at $12 billion. The CEO admitted that there have been other offers, but none as big as Google.
Apple released a ton of information all week longIncludes the latest additions to the M series chips. The company has unveiled the new M4 Pro. It launched alongside the smaller new Mac mini and M4 Max, with the M4 Max joining the MacBook Pro line as an upgradeable option. Apple also refreshed its desktop accessories by switching from Lightning to USB-C. However, the Magic Mouse charging port is still awkwardly located at the bottom.
Dropbox lays off 20% of manpower. In a letter to employees, CEO Drew Houston said the cloud company was going through a “transition” and that the goal was to reduce areas where Dropbox had “overinvested” and design a “simpler, more efficient” team structure. The redundancies will affect 528 employees.
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 is plagiarism? At TechCrunch Disrupt, Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas was asked how the company defines “plagiarism.” Although he didn’t say so directly, Srinivas was adamant that Perplexity “always cites its sources” and does not claim ownership of any content. read more
OpenAI could build the first AI chip. OpenAI is working with TSMC and Broadcom to build its own AI chip to run AI models, which could be released as early as 2026, Reuters reported. read more
Turn your designs into reality: Arcade AI is a new type of marketplace where customers can input their ideas into a generator and then create a variety of design options to bring them to life as tangible gems. read more
From Disney Channel to CEO: Former Disney star Bridgit Mendler joined TechCrunch Disrupt to discuss how she founded Northwood Space and why space startups are dedicated to solving “unsexy problems.” read more
AI is here for recruiters. LinkedIn is wrapping up its latest AI effort, Hiring Assistant. The product is designed to perform a variety of recruiting tasks, from collecting scrap notes to converting them into job descriptions, to sourcing and engaging candidates. read more
Matt Mullenweg argues: The WordPress co-founder and Automattic CEO told TechCrunch Disrupt that he is not worried that the recent legal issues between his company and WP Engine could lead to a fork of the open source WordPress software. In fact, he said he would welcome it. read more
Olivia Wilde, VC: According to Bloomberg, actress and director Olivia Wilde quietly founded the venture firm Proximity Ventures late last year. The company has already closed four investments, including in biotech company Pendulum Therapeutics. read more
Slice has made a name for itself in India. Fintech Slice’s merger with North East Small Finance Bank marks a rare example of a startup successfully entering India’s highly regulated banking sector. The merger transforms Slice into a banking entity after months of regulatory scrutiny. read more
An easier way to code: Announced at GitHub’s annual conference in San Francisco, Spark is an experiment originating in the GitHub Next lab that allows users to quickly build small web apps using only natural language. read more
Convert text to podcast: Meta has released an “open” implementation of its viral podcast creation feature in Google NotebookLM. The project, called NotebookLlama, can generate podcast-style digests of front and back posts of uploaded text files. read more
Zoox calls Tesla’s bluff: Zoox co-founder and CTO Jesse Levinson doubts Tesla will launch a robotaxi ride-sharing service next year. “The fundamental problem is that we don’t have technology that works,” he told TechCrunch Disrupt. read more
And the winner is… : The winner of TechCrunch Disrupt’s Startup Battlefield 200 competition is Salva Health. The company’s Julieta device is a portable AI-based breast cancer detection device that removes barriers to early screening and ensures access even in remote locations. read more
