Hey guys, welcome to Week in Review (WiR), the TechCrunch newsletter that covers it all — or at least the bulk of it! – Noteworthy events about the field of technology.
This week, Roku played tough with its customers, asking them to agree to new terms for resolving disputes. This means users can't use their Roku devices until they agree to the terms (or opt out via postal mail), which requires any customer with legal complaints against Roku to take them to the company's lawyers first.
In other news, a leaked database of two-factor authentication codes for the world's tech giants – including Facebook, Google and TikTok – has leaked online. YX International, an Asian technology and internet company that routes millions of SMS messages across the world, has revealed a repository containing one-time security codes that may grant access to user accounts.
Elon Musk, CEO of X, has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI for allegedly “betraying” its nonprofit mission. (OpenAI started as a nonprofit but transitioned to a for-profit, nonprofit-run company in 2019.) Musk, co-founder and early backer of OpenAI, accuses OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and president and co-founder Greg Brockman of seeking profit at the expense of the founding mission. For the organization to develop artificial intelligence that benefits humanity.
A lot happened. We recap it all in this edition of WiR – but first, a reminder to sign up to receive the WiR newsletter in your inbox every Saturday.
News
Epic Removal: Apple has terminated Epic Games' App Store developer account, calling it a “threat” to the iOS ecosystem. Epic and Apple have long sparred — rhetorically and in numerous courtroom battles — over the latter's power and influence over the app economy.
Social Media Collapse: Facebook, Instagram, and Threads crashed in a massive meta outage on Tuesday. After service was restored, Meta revealed that the issue was “technical” in nature, but did not provide further details.
Musk's Money: Four former Twitter executives, including former CEO Parag Agrawal, filed a lawsuit against Musk on Monday, claiming they are owed more than $128 million in severance payments.
Unrestricted data transfers: AWS has followed Google in announcing free, unrestricted data transfers to other cloud providers. As Paul wrote, the move stems from regulatory pressure around cloud lock-in practices — leaving Microsoft Azure as the odd one out.
Finance
AI Worker: A new startup called Emma has raised $25 million for what it describes as a “universal AI employee” — an enterprise-focused, AI-powered platform designed to “mimic human responses” like handling customer service tasks and providing technical support. And more.
analysis
Uninvestable Startups: Hajj writes about a case study of ill-advised capitalization—a Norwegian hardware startup that divested more than two-thirds of its equity to raise $3.3 million. Such a move could make the company uninvestable, he says. But there is hope.
Podcasts
On Equity, the crew talked about OpenAI filing receipts in its fight with Musk and what's happening with venture capital firm OpenView. Also on the agenda was the big tranche of online banking company Monzo, a noteworthy financing deal in the space of artificial intelligence and upcoming climate regulations.
At Found, Becca and Dom spoke with Advocate founder Emilie Poteat. Advocate helps Americans engage with federal benefits programs through its technology-enabled services platform.
The chain reaction series featured DeGuines, co-founder of Zora. Zora is a platform and protocol that helps developers and creators pitch their ideas on blockchain and Ethereum through an open and shared environment.
Bonus round
Udacity exit: Accenture announced this week that it will acquire learning platform Udacity for $80 million. That's far less than the nearly $300 million Udacity has raised since its founding in 2011 to date, Ron reports.
