Welcome to Week in Review (WiR): TechCrunch’s Coverage of the Tech Industry

Greetings, fellow tech enthusiasts!

This week, we bring you the latest happenings in the tech world through our Week in Review (WiR) newsletter.

One of the biggest headlines this week is the acquisition of VMware’s end-user computing business by investment firm KKR for a whopping $4 billion from Broadcom. As our very own Ron explains, VMware’s Workspace One and VMware Horizon, which are popular remote desktop apps, were previously a part of VMware’s product family.

In other news, French AI startup Mistral has launched a new model to compete with OpenAI’s GPT-4, along with their cleverly named chatbot, Le Chat. This release was timed with their partnership with Microsoft to provide Mistral models to Azure customers, as well as Microsoft’s minority investment of $16 million in the startup.

There were plenty of other noteworthy events this week, which we’ve summarized in this edition of WiR. But before we dive in, we’d like to remind you to sign up for our newsletter to receive the latest tech news in your inbox every Saturday.

News

Apple Scraps Plans for Autonomous Electric Car

In a surprising turn of events, Apple has decided to cancel their top-secret project to develop an autonomous electric car. Reports suggest that hundreds of employees from the team will be let go and all work on the project has ceased. This adds to the list of other projects that Apple has scrapped, including AirPower and a TV (not to be confused with Apple TV).

Bumble Faces Struggles with Weak Q4 Results

Dating app Bumble had a rough Q4, with a reported net loss of $32 million and revenue of $273.6 million, which fell below Wall Street expectations. In an effort to improve their performance, CEO Lidiane Jones announced that 30% of the company’s workforce, approximately 350 employees, would be let go. Bumble is also embarking on a major app overhaul to revive growth.

Google Apologizes for AI Blunder

Google issued an apology this week for a major blunder made by their AI image-generating model. The model was supposed to inject diversity into pictures, but ended up creating images with a disregard for historical context. While the underlying issue is understandable, Google claims that the model “became” oversensitive.

Tumblr Owner Engages in Content Moderation Debate

Matt Mullenweg, CEO of Tumblr’s parent company Automattic, found himself in a heated debate with Tumblr users this week over a decision to moderate specific content. The decision sparked accusations of transphobia and resulted in Mullenweg going against his own sabbatical plans to engage in the argument.

Byju’s Investors Force Out Founder and CEO

A group of investors in Byju’s, an edtech group, voted to remove founder and CEO Byju Raveendran and filed a lawsuit against the company’s leadership to block a newly launched rights issue. This move has caused major upheaval within the company.

Funding

Inkitt Raises $37 million for AI-Based Ebook Platform

Inkitt, a self-publishing platform, has raised an impressive $37 million in funding. The platform utilizes AI to identify and develop potential bestselling stories. Through their app, users can self-publish their work and Inkitt’s AI and data science tools are used to select the most captivating stories for further tweaking, distribution, and sales.

Lapse Secures $30 Million for Smartphone App

Lapse, a smartphone app, has received $30 million in funding for their unique approach to photo-sharing. The app requires users to wait for their photos to be “developed” without any option for editing or retaking. Users can then choose a select group of friends to share their photos with.

Analysis

Techstars Faces Criticism for Program Changes

Mary Ann interviewed Maëlle Gavet, CEO of startup accelerator Techstars, to discuss recent changes to their program that have sparked criticism from many in the industry.

Podcasts

In our latest episode of Equity, our team recaps news from companies like Microsoft and Mistral AI, as well as updates from Thrasio and Glean. We also cover updates from COTU Ventures and Zacua Ventures.

On Found, we spotlight Ariel Kaye, founder of Parachute, a successful direct-to-consumer bedding and home goods company.

And for Chain Reaction, we dig into the archives to bring you a previous conversation with Jack Lu, CEO and co-founder of Magic Eden, a community-centric NFT marketplace.

Bonus Round

Toyota is offering a steep discount of $40,000 on their 2023 Toyota Mirai Limited, a fuel-cell vehicle that typically retails for around $66,000. They’re also throwing in $15,000 of free hydrogen over the course of six years. However, the catch is finding hydrogen to power the car, as Tim reports.