Welcome again to Week in Assessment. This week, we’re diving into OpenAI’s shock 12 days of reveals, an underwhelming Spotify Wrapped, and an app that tells you while you’ll die. 😰 Let’s get into it.
OpenAI is entering into the vacation spirit. In a shock “12 Days of OpenAI” occasion, the corporate will livestream updates and new options each weekday by means of December 23. The most important reveals to this point embody a $200 monthly subscription tier for energy customers of ChatGPT and the discharge of the total model of its “reasoning” o1 mannequin. You may observe together with the entire product bulletins over the subsequent few weeks by staying updated with our reside weblog.
Spotify Wrapped was this week, however many customers are feeling underwhelmed by the music streamer’s personalised year-in-review characteristic. The most important complaints stem from the inclusion of an AI podcast over different, intelligent and inventive knowledge tales that it usually gives (keep in mind Burlington, Vermont?). Customers are additionally upset over the shortage of extra detailed stats and the exclusion of data they’ve come to count on, like prime music genres.
A Delaware Chancery court docket choose denied Tesla’s request to revise her resolution to strike down CEO Elon Musk’s $56 billion pay package deal — regardless of shareholders voting on the firm’s annual assembly this 12 months to “re-ratify” the deal. Her resolution, specified by a 103-page opinion piece, says that Tesla’s authorized workforce has “no procedural floor for flipping the end result” and that the try to vary her thoughts contained a number of deadly flaws.
That is TechCrunch’s Week in Assessment, the place we recap the week’s greatest information. Need this delivered as a e-newsletter to your inbox each Saturday? Join right here.
Information
Google loses three key leaders: Three members of Google’s NotebookLM workforce are leaving for a brand new stealth startup. It’s unclear if the startup will give attention to issues that NotebookLM went viral for, corresponding to AI-generated podcasts or if it’s going to do one thing completely totally different. Learn extra
SpaceX mulls an enormous tender provide: SpaceX’s valuation continues to rise at an eye-popping tempo, with the corporate reportedly in talks to promote insider shares at a value that will worth it at round $350 billion. Learn extra
Electrical popemobile: Mercedes-Benz has delivered the primary all-electric popemobile to the Vatican. The modified model of the G-Class SUV includes a devoted height-adjustable swiveling seat so the pope can tackle extra of his viewers. Learn extra
Intel’s CEO retires: Intel introduced that CEO Pat Gelsinger has retired and stepped down from the corporate’s board of administrators. Per a submitting with the SEC, Gelsinger may very well be strolling away with simply over $10 million in severance pay. Learn extra
Whats up, Dia: The Browser Firm teased its subsequent product to observe its in style Arc Browser — a brand new net browser referred to as Dia. In accordance with an advert from the corporate, Dia will focus closely on AI instruments and is about to launch in early 2025. Learn extra
May advertisements come to Bluesky? At our StrictlyVC occasion, we requested Bluesky CEO Jay Graber if advertisements have been off the desk for the social community. Graber informed us that Bluesky could ultimately experiment with advertisements — however in a means that doesn’t compromise the core person expertise. Learn extra
All eyes on David Mayer: ChatGPT customers found asking questions on a “David Mayer” brought about the chatbot to freeze. Whereas the unusual habits spawned conspiracy theories, a way more bizarre cause is on the coronary heart of it — digital privateness requests. Learn extra
Get your Mac into the vacation spirit: A cute new macOS app referred to as Festivitas might help you beautify your Mac pc display with twinkling, vacation lights which might be strung up out of your menu bar and illuminate your dock. Learn extra
Tesla will get into the fart prank market: Tesla revealed plans for an Apple Watch app that may do a lot of what the smartphone app does, however maybe the silliest replace is the flexibility to prank your pal within the passenger seat with a whoopie cushion sound impact. Learn extra
Khloé Kardashian, VC: Khloé Kardashian and Kris Jenner wish to increase $10 million for a brand new enterprise referred to as Khloud, in keeping with an SEC submitting. Logos affiliated with Khloud have been filed to cowl popcorn, granola, and different varieties of snacks. Learn extra
Do you wish to know when you’ll die? A brand new app referred to as Demise Clock claims to foretell the date of its customers’ deaths and gives tips about how you can push that date again. My colleague Anthony Ha, who is way braver than I, tried it out for himself. Learn extra
Evaluation
The abject weirdness of AI advertisements.
“Intelligence so large, you’d swear it was from Texas.”
“Adapt your workforce on the pace of AI.”
“AI that talks to automobiles and talks to wildlife.”
These are examples of current advertisements for AI merchandise and firms, however what do they even imply? As Maxwell Zeff writes, most advertisements for AI imply nothing in any respect. Firms are resorting to portray AI as this amorphous, magical kids’s ebook character with no particular use case, whereas additionally implying that it might do nearly something. We’re in a bizarre place with AI, and the banal tapestry of ads speaks to a bigger rut we’re in. Most corporations don’t actually know what AI is nice for, and possibly that’s the purpose. Learn extra
