Apple will not raise prices this week
Welcome back to Week in Review
! Today, we have a lot of news to share with you: Amazon earnings and Apple earnings. We also have information on ChatGPT sycophancy. Alibaba’s AI models are also discussed. Let’s start!
Well, what do you think? Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, revealed yesterday that the company had paid $900,000,000 in tariffs during its last quarter. Sources told TechCrunch that the defense tech startup Mach Industries founded by Ethan Thornton (21 years old) is close to closing a new $100 million financing. The startup has raised $185 million in total to date. This new funding will bring that amount to approximately $200 million. Alibaba claims that the Qwen3 AI models are “hybrids” and not yet available to download. TechCrunch Week in Review is where we summarize the biggest news of the week. Sign up here. Sign up here.News
Image Credits:Amazon
Shoot for the stars: Amazon’s effort to create a space-based internet network began in earnest this week: The company fired off its first 27 internet satellites on Tuesday. Meta is launching a standalone AI app that was unveiled on Tuesday at its first LlamaCon. The app allows users to access Meta AI in an app, similar to the ChatGPT app and other AI assistant apps.
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BOOK NOWBlocked:
A judge in India blocked the encrypted email provider Proton Mail across the country. This was in response to a legal complaint filed by New Delhi-based M Moser Design Associates, which alleged that its employees had received emails containing obscene and vulgar content sent via Proton Mail.Cheaters never win:
Cluely went viral recently for its bold claim of helping people cheat on everything. But some startups are claiming they can catch Cluely’s users.
Alexa+:
Amazon’s new digital assistant aims to let users talk with it in a more natural style and eventually have agentic abilities that allow it to use third-party apps on a user’s behalf. Andy Jassy, the CEO of Amazon, said that 100,000 people now use Alexa+ during this week’s earnings call. Last month, it began rolling out a customer service bot powered by AI in the U.S. Brian Chesky, CEO of Epic Games, said in February the company would first use AI to improve customer service and then move on to other applications such as travel planning or ticket booking. In a ruling, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers stated that Apple had violated a 2021 order that prevented the company from imposing an anticompetitive price. Stripe shared documentation that shows iOS developers how to avoid the Apple commission following the Epic Games ruling.
LOL:
Following the Epic Games ruling, Stripe shared documentation that shows iOS developers how to avoid the Apple commission.
Check your settings: Meta emailed Ray-Ban Meta owners on Tuesday with a notice that AI features will now be enabled on the glasses by default. Meta’s AI analyzes photos and videos taken by the glasses when certain AI features are turned on.
OpenAI announced that it would “roll back” its latest update to ChatGPT’s default AI model, which powers GPT-4o. This was in response to complaints regarding strange behavior. OpenAI claims that the “short-term feedback” was too influential in the development of the default personality, which was supposed to be “more intuitive and effective.” The company now pledges to prevent such a situation from occurring again. Before you go
Image Credits:Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch
Oh the drama: We read through the 80-page Epic v. Apple decision to pull out the judge’s juiciest, fieriest comments. Let’s start with this: “Apple used tactics to delay proceedings.” Later, the Court concluded that delays equaled profit.”
