Apple sues, Microsoft’s AI ambitions and Nvidia’s surprise

Image credits: Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch

This week in Week in Review, we bring you the big news about the latest Apple antitrust lawsuit. Microsoft’s AI ambitions also dominated the news, so let’s take a look.

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The US has joined international regulators in accusing Apple of using monopolistic tactics to lock in iPhone users. In response, Apple argues that the Justice Department’s actions could undermine exactly what users enjoy about its phones and ecosystem.

The Justice Department’s lawsuit draws connections between Apple and Microsoft in the 1990s, but there are some key differences between the two companies and their efforts to retain customers.

That said, we don’t expect much to come out of this lawsuit in the short term. Experts predict that it could take three to five years to resolve the issue.

But that’s not all. Keep reading for the latest updates on Reddit’s IPO, Nvidia’s GTC event, and unexpected changes to Glassdoor accounts.

news

Microsoft absorbs Inflection AI lead: The high-profile AI startup’s co-founders on Tuesday announced Mustafa Suleiman as head of consumer division Microsoft AI and Karen Simonian as group vice president and CEO. He was scouted by Microsoft with a contract to install him in the company. This all happened after Inflection raised his $1.3 billion, and the biggest investor in this startup is, you guessed it, Microsoft.

Nvidia’s GTC event: Remember when their biggest news was related to ray tracing? At the wide-ranging GTC developer conference, Nvidia announced from CEO Jensen Huang that the realization of artificial general intelligence is 5 We announced a few surprises, including predictions that are a year away and news of a new AI platform for humanoid robots called GR00T.

Will Google’s Gemini AI be installed on the iPhone?: According to reports, the two companies are in talks to potentially introduce Google’s AI models to power future iOS updates, which could put Apple’s own AI efforts on track. The question remains as to whether this is a temporary stopgap or a long-term partnership. It’s just one of those negotiations that never gets to the finish line.

hacking and privacy

Investors lose money due to past malware investments: The Biden administration is forming an international coalition to fight commercial spyware, and investors are getting involved. But one of those investors has been involved in the very business they’re currently fighting for, TechCrunch has learned exclusively.

Hacked $5 million tournament ‘just for fun’: In some cases, the stated justification for hacks sweeping the gaming community is as simple as that; It is also intended to emphasize.

Be wary of Glassdoor reviews: Users are reporting that their real names are being added to their profiles without their consent and the only solution offered to them is to permanently delete their accounts. It’s time to revisit what you said bad about your former employer.

Funding and IPO

Reddit’s IPO gets off to a strong start:The stock, which started at $34 per share, soared 48% on its first day and ended at $46 after market close on Friday.

Astera Labs achieves 72% ballooning on first day: The company, which makes connectivity hardware for cloud computing data centers, has benefited greatly from the AI ​​boom, with revenue up 45% last year to $115.8 million, and the stock ended its first day at $62.03. Did.

Browser company raises $50 million at $550 million valuation: The startup behind the Arc browser is undertaking an ambitious, complex, and sometimes controversial effort to replace your PC with a browser. Despite numerous feature releases and AI updates, the company remains uncertain about its path to profitability.

bonus round

AI is bad at spelling, blame the image generator: If you’ve seen terrible spelling in AI-generated images, you’re not alone. We took a deep dive into why, despite its huge potential, it’s still difficult for AI to spell the word “burrito.”

Fisker suspends production: And it’s not EV’s fault. This is because the company is rapidly running out of funds. If we are unable to raise further capital, we may cease operations completely.

Why AI can’t be reviewed, yet we will review it: The fact that it is impossible to actually review systems like ChatGPT or Gemini makes it very important to test them.