Saturday, October 19, 2024

Image Credits: Andry Djumantara / Getty Images

Welcome back to Week in Review. This week, we're diving into the recent layoffs at Meta; the fallout from the battle between WordPress and WP Engine; and whether Cybertrucks are simply too big to exist in Europe. Let's get into it.

Multiple teams at Meta were hit by layoffs this week. The company confirmed the layoffs in a statement to TechCrunch and noted that the changes were made to reallocate resources. The cuts reportedly impacted teams working on Reality Labs, Instagram, and WhatsApp, though Meta declined to comment on the record about how many employees were affected and what orgs they were part of.

AWS CEO Matt Garman has harsh words for remote workers: Return to the office or quit. The executive recently told employees who don't like the new five-day in-person work policy that "there are other companies around." Last month, Amazon's CEO Andy Jassy told employees that there will be a full return-to-office starting in 2025, an increase from three days for roughly the last year.

Waymo gave software engineer Sophia Tung promo codes for free rides as an apology for the late-night honking she filmed over the summer that was caused by the self-driving cars. However, when Tung realized the codes weren't capped in value, she attempted to use her last one to ride in a Waymo for 24 hours. Her plans were ultimately cut short — but she did last a good 6.5 hours.

News

Image Credits: Tesla

Optimus gets some human help: Videos from Tesla's "We, Robot" event showed Optimus mixing drinks, mingling with people, and even dancing. While seemingly impressive, later reports suggest the robots were being remotely operated by humans. Read more

ChatGPT comes to Windows: OpenAI has begun previewing a dedicated Windows app for ChatGPT. The company says the app is an early version, arriving ahead of a "full experience" later this year. Read more

Too big for Europe?: Tesla's Cybertruck is facing blowback in Europe as transportation organizations suggest its oversized, sharp-edged design violates European safety standards and could endanger pedestrians, cyclists, and other motorists. Read more

More WordPress drama: As the feud between WordPress and WP Engine wages on, an internal blog post revealed Automattic's plan to enforce the WordPress trademark using "nice and not nice lawyers." Read more

X wants to sell your data: An update to X's privacy policy indicates it would allow third-party "collaborators" to train their AI models on X data, unless users opt out. It implies the company is looking into licensing data to AI companies as a potential new revenue stream. Read more

More accessible smartphones: The FCC issued rules requiring all mobile phones sold in the U.S. to be compatible with hearing aids. The news comes two years after the FDA made hearing aids available to all Americans without a prescription. Read more

Byju Raveendran speaks out: The founder of the embattled edtech group Byju's acknowledged that he made mistakes and that his startup, once valued at $22 billion, is now effectively worth "zero." Read more

Casio's ransomware attack: Japanese electronics giant Casio confirmed that many of its systems remain unusable. The company sees "no prospect of recovery yet" almost two weeks after it was hit by a ransomware attack. Read more

CapWay shuts down: The Y Combinator-backed fintech that sought to bring financial services to those in banking deserts shut down after a possible acquisition fell through, its founder Sheena Allen confirmed to TechCrunch. Read more

Can AI make us feel less alone?: AI-based mental health app Manifest wants to combat the "loneliness epidemic" affecting Gen Z by turning feelings into personalized daily affirmations. Read more

Analysis

Image Credits: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg / Getty Images

The AI weapons debate: Silicon Valley is debating whether AI weapons in the U.S. should ever be fully autonomous — meaning an algorithm would make the final decision to kill someone. Some in the defense tech industry argue it's necessary to keep up with global competition, but others believe humans should always make the final call. As Margaux MacColl writes, the fear is that once one nation implements autonomous weapons, others might feel forced to follow — and the ethical implications are massive. Read more