Hello, lovelies, and welcome to the Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s regular newsletter that recaps the week in tech. For many people, this work week is one day shorter, thanks to the celebration of the 19th of June on Monday. But a lot happened.
We have coverage of the OceanGate tragedy, and we continue to closely track the Reddit API controversy – which shows no signs of abating. Elsewhere, TC has a full review of the new Google Pixel Tablet (spoiler alert: the bundled dock is a major highlight), and we have the scoop on Microsoft’s quantum plans and more.
If you haven’t already, sign up here to get WiR in your inbox every Saturday. Then read on for the week’s digest.
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OceanGate fires whistleblower: The director of marine operations at OceanGate, the company whose submersible went missing Sunday on a Titanic expedition in the North Atlantic, has been fired after raising concerns about the first-of-a-kind carbon fiber hull and other systems. before its maiden voyage. , according to a 2018 court filing.
Hackers threaten to leak Reddit data: Hackers are threatening to release confidential data stolen from Reddit unless the company pays a demanded ransom — and reverses controversial API price hikes. In a post on its dark web leak site, the BlackCat ransomware gang, also known as ALPHV, claimed to have stolen 80 gigabytes of compressed data from Reddit during a February breach of the company’s systems.
Protests continue on Reddit: In more Reddit news, many subreddits have adopted alternative methods of protesting the aforementioned API changes, such as publishing only one type of post, changing the topic of focus and days if the community becomes private. Many of these communities participated in a “blackout” from June 12-14 to protest the API rule changes, which effectively killed many third-party apps.
Google Pixel Tablet Review: Brian reviews the new Pixel Tablet, Google’s first attempt in a minute at an Android-powered device with a significant tablet form factor. The verdict? The so-so slate is greater than the sum of its parts with the addition of a bundled smart home dock. Read on for more of his impressions.
Microsoft is serious about quantum: This week, Microsoft announced its roadmap for building a quantum supercomputer, using topological qubits that the company’s researchers have been working on for a long time. There are still many intermediary milestones to reach. But the company believes it will take less than 10 years to build a quantum supercomputer using these qubits.
WhatsApp gets automatic muting: WhatsApp has introduced a new feature to automatically mute calls from unknown numbers. This comes after many customers in India, the largest chat app market with more than 500 million users, complained about an increase in spam calls last year.
Marvel’s AI art controversy: Marvel’s latest series, “Secret Invasion,” made its debut on Disney + this week – sparking a backlash after it was confirmed that the intro sequence was AI-generated. Method Studios, the VFX company responsible for the graphics, told The Hollywood Reporter, “No artists’ work has been replaced by the inclusion of these new tools” – but that hasn’t stopped many artist to take to Twitter to express their frustrations.
Board members left Byju’s: On Thursday, global giant Deloitte quit as Byju’s auditor and three board members resigned from India’s most valuable startup, sending a shock wave through the industry a year after its delayed financial reporting. of the Indian company has attracted global scrutiny.
Audio
Need a podcast to get you through the commute – or a lazy Sunday afternoon? TechCrunch has you covered. There must be something that makes TC’s growing audio content compelling.
This week’s episode of Found features Web Sun, the co-founder and president of Komodo Health, a startup that uses data to create a comprehensive map of the US healthcare system. The Web revealed what drove him to the business and how he was introduced to each other by his co-founder, thinking they would get along (little did they know!). He also talks about navigating fundraising during a bull market and layoffs — a timely topic for sure.
TechCrunch+
TC+ subscribers have access to in-depth commentary, analysis and surveys — which you already know if you’re a subscriber. If you’re not, consider signing up. Here are some highlights from this week:
Unicorns in Europe and Israel: Accel partner Harry Nelis writes how, over the past two decades, we’ve seen a wealth of powerful founders and operators emerge across Europe and Israel, building new products and unicorn companies. which determines the category currently competing on the global stage.
Coinbase, the next super app: As crypto markets continue to face uncertainty, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong sees greater potential for the digital asset ecosystem to grow. Over the next five to seven years, Armstrong’s vision for Coinbase includes making it a “super app,” referring to apps like WeChat and Alipay, which are used for messaging, commerce, banking , loans, payments and even ordering food.
AI infiltrates crowdsourced work: A new paper from researchers at the Swiss university EPFL suggests that between 33% and 46% of Amazon Mechanical Turk’s distributed workforce appear to be “cheating” when performing a particular task. given to them, using tools like ChatGPT to do some of the work. If that practice is widespread, it could be a serious issue, Haje writes.
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