Hello, everyone, welcome to TechCrunch Week in Review (WiR), a roundup of tech happenings from the past few days.
As I write this, it’s snowing in New York City—a treat that’s becoming increasingly rare due to our changing climate. This feels appropriate given the impending launch of the Apple Vision Pro. After all, part of the promise of headphones like the Vision Pro is that they can transport their wearers away from the stresses of daily life and into a more optimistic reality—at least for a while.
Brian got to experience the Vision Pro himself this week. His impression? It can be shipped, but is very expensive.
There’s a ton of news to review this week, so let’s get started. But first, a reminder to sign up here to receive WiR in your inbox every Saturday (if you haven’t already).
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“Quiet supersonic” jet: NASA and Lockheed Martin have finally unveiled the X-59, a plane that could shape the future of military and civilian air travel, Devin writes.
Byju’s valuation cut: BlackRock has slashed the value of its stake in Byju’s, cutting the Indian startup’s implied valuation to about $1 billion from $22 billion in early 2022.
Notion launches calendar app: Notion, a popular note-taking and project management service, has launched a standalone calendar service. Frederick has a whole story.
Samsung Galaxy S24: Samsung held a press event this week to announce its latest flagship phones—all powered by artificial intelligence in some form.
Google layoffs: After Google cut more than 1,000 jobs across multiple divisions and 100 at YouTube last week, CEO Sundar Pichai sent a memo to employees warning of more changes to be expected this year. More layoffs.
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CES catch-up technology: Haje writes that while sex tech is an industry that caters to universal human experiences, it has always had an unsettling connection to CES. This year, the conference effectively kicked the sex tech industry out of the show—for better or worse.
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exist fairIn this book, Alex and Mary Ann take a closer look at the massive funding rounds from Pomelo, Tandem, and Briq, as well as discuss C-suite perspectives on artificial intelligence and the enterprise.
established Featured Gabi Lewis, co-founder and CEO of Magic Spoon. Magic Spoon creates cereal flavors that appeal to our nostalgia for Fruit Loops and Cocoa Puffs and infuses them with a proven, high-protein flavor.
continue chain reactionJacquelyn interviewed Monica Long, President of Ripple, a blockchain-based digital payment network and protocol.
TechCrunch+
TC+ subscribers get access to in-depth commentary, analysis, and investigations—if you’re already a subscriber, you know this. If you’re not, consider signing up. Here are some highlights from the week:
Unicorn Club: Aileen Lee, founder of Cowboy Ventures, has written the long-awaited follow-up to the original 2013 article in which she coined the term “unicorn.”
Private Equity in 2024: Alex and Anna write about how private equity firms can become a last resort for startups struggling to exit.
Reddit, IPO: Reddit is finally going public this year. Alex takes a look at what this could mean for the company and others trying to IPO this year.
