Image credits: Corey Green/Yahoo
Welcome everyone to Week in Review (WiR). This is a regular TechCrunch newsletter that recaps his week in the tech industry. So it’s been a week? A lot happened – let’s dig into it.
Amid layoffs in the tech industry, Apple’s attempt at an AR headset, the Vision Pro, quickly launched with hundreds of apps. Taylor Swift fans have hit back after explicit deepfakes of the superstar flooded X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. The Pokémon Company has announced that it will investigate the hit video game Palworld for possible plagiarism and unusual similarities to its own IP.
news
Technology layoffs are surging: Tech layoffs have soared by three-quarters as companies lay off workers en masse. This week, Okta laid off 400 employees. Brock laid off about 1,000 people. And PayPal laid off “thousands” of staff. As Alex and Anna write for TechCrunch+, tech attrition is indeed accelerating, impacting companies large and small.
iOS18: Apple’s upcoming iOS 18 software update may be the “biggest” in the company’s history, Aisha wrote. That could bring, among other things, a revamped His Siri, improved message autocomplete, and possibly support for His RCS.
Apple Vision Pro: Apple’s first “spatial computing” device has arrived with around 600 apps and games. Brian has been working hard on this for the better part of this week. Be sure to read his first thoughts and impressions. And if you’re looking to get one for yourself, here’s what you can expect.
Swifties unite: Last week, Taylor Swift’s non-consensual deepfake porn made headlines on X. In lieu of meaningful action from the platform beyond basic keyword filtering, Taylor Swift fans have banded together to make deepfakes of the musician as difficult to detect as possible.
Palworld in flames: The Pokemon Company has not given any permission to use Pokemon IP or assets to “another company” (referring to Pocket Pair, the developer of the hot new game Palworld), and has denied permission for the rapidly growing survival game. “We will investigate and take appropriate action,” he said. operator.
analysis
SaaS revolution: Felix Capital SaaS investor Julien Codorniou, writing for TC+, says he believes there is an opportunity for savvy software entrepreneurs to build the Microsoft or Salesforce of the frontline worker world.
podcast
upon capitalAlex speaks with Anshu Sharma, CEO of data privacy company Skyflow, about interest rates, business cycles, Vision Pro, and a theory Sharma recently blogged about on TechCrunch+. talked about how to deal with it.
meanwhile, found We featured Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg, co-founders and co-CEOs of Skimm, a digital media company dedicated to providing women with the information they need to make confident decisions in a concise manner.
And even more Chain reaction, Jacqueline interviewed Chris Dixon, general partner at VC firm Andreessen Horowitz. Mr. Dixon has been with the company since 2012 and through his four giant funds managing over $7 billion he founded and leads the A16Z crypto team where he invests in the Web3 world.
TechCrunch+
Fairness and equality: Rebecca writes about how pitch contests can help level the playing field for underrepresented founders, but says it’s not enough.
Ethereum is back: Jacqueline reports that despite the bear market, Ethereum developer interest hit a new all-time high in 2023. Solana, Polygon, Optimism, and other blockchains also saw an increase in development activity.
bonus round
“Die, you slow bastard”: Y Combinator president Gary Tan published a threatening tweet that referenced questionable lyrics about famous West Coast rapper Tupac Shakur, then deleted it and apologized.
