Hey folks, welcome to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch's regular newsletter that recaps noteworthy events in tech over the past few days.
This week, TechCrunch saw leaked documents from SpaceX showing some questionable practices related to employee stock options.
X CEO Elon Musk announced that he will open source Grok, X's AI-powered chatbot that aims to compete with OpenAI's ChatGPT. Grok — developed by Musk's artificial intelligence startup, xAI — was released last year, equipped with features such as access to “real-time” information about X and viewpoints undeterred by “politically correct” norms.
Elsewhere, Ron interviews Slack CEO Dennis Dresser about her efforts to stabilize Salesforce, which has seen three CEOs in one year.
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
Leaked SpaceX Documents: We got some leaked SpaceX documents that outline some unusual terms for stock awards that employees have to agree to. Among other things, the company gives itself the right to bar former and current employees from participating in tender offers if they are considered to have committed a “dishonest act against the company” or have violated written company policies.
Phantom, now a ghost: Phantom Auto, a remote-driving startup that launched seven years ago amid the hype of self-driving vehicle technology, will shut down after failing to secure new funding, Kirsten exclusively reports.
Meme Stock: In a new SEC filing, Reddit reveals that after its IPO, it will allow members of its community to sell their shares immediately instead of being subject to the usual lock-up agreements that prevent IPO investors from selling shares for six months.
Finance
Banking as a Service: UK-based Griffin Bank, an API-based banking-as-a-service (BaaS) platform, has received a license to launch as a fully operational bank – raising $24 million from investors, including MassMutual Ventures, Nordic Ninja And Prega.
EU breaches database rules: An investigation into the EU's use of Microsoft 365 found that the European Commission, the EU's government, violated the bloc's data protection rules through its use of cloud-based productivity software.
analysis
Deepfakes go royal: Amanda writes about how a photo of Kate Middleton and her children, possibly edited with the help of AI, is a harbinger of what's to come as deepfakes and AI editing tools proliferate.
Relaxation Machine: Hajj practices on Moonbird's relaxation machine, which is designed to help clients get sleep and reduce stress through breathing exercises.
Podcasts
This week in Equity, Alex looked at data from Carta on how startup compensation has changed, raises from Empathy and Bear Robotics and developments from Bluesky's Social Capital firm, Brave, and Chamath Palihapitiya.
At Found, Becca and Dom spoke with Rebecca Hu, CEO and co-founder of Glacier, an AI robotics company that builds robots to accurately sort recycling.
On Chain Reaction, Jacqueline interviews Melody Hildebrandt, CTO at Fox Corporation, and Mike Plank, COO at Polygon Labs. This episode is part of our monthly Chain Reaction series that dives into different topics and topics in the cryptocurrency space. This month's topic is the integration of blockchain and artificial intelligence.
Bonus round
Metaverse royale: Readyverse Studios — co-founded by blockchain technology company Futureverse and Ernest Cline, the mind behind the sci-fi series Ready Player One — this week debuted Open, a third-person battle royale experience. Lauren has the story.
