Welcome back to the week in review. This week, we delve into OpenAI’s unexpected 12 days of reveals, the disappointing Spotify Wrapped, and an app that will tell you when you’re going to die. 😰 Let’s get down to business.
OpenAI is getting into the holiday spirit. During the surprise “12 Days of OpenAI” event, the company will broadcast live updates and modern features every weekday until December 23. The biggest reveals so far include a $200/month subscription tier for ChatGPT advanced users and the release of the full ChatGPT tool. his model of “reasoning” o1. Over the next few weeks, you’ll be able to keep up with all the product announcements by following our live blog.
The Spotify roundup took place this weekbut many users feel disappointed with the music streamer’s personalized annual review feature. The biggest complaints stem from the podcast’s inclusion of AI rather than the other clever and innovative data stories it usually offers (remember Burlington, Vermont?). Users are also upset by the lack of more detailed statistics and the omission of information they expect, such as the most popular music genres.
A judge in the Chancery Court in Delaware denied Tesla’s request to reverse its decision to cut CEO Elon Musk’s $56 billion pay package – despite shareholders voting at the company’s annual meeting this year to “re-ratify” the deal. Her decision, described in 103-page opinion, claims that Tesla’s legal team has “no procedural basis to reverse the outcome” and that the attempt to change her mind was fatally flawed.
This is TechCrunch’s week in review, where we round up the biggest news of the week. Want this delivered as a newsletter to your inbox every Saturday? Register here.
News
Google loses three key leaders: Three members of the Google NotebookLM team go to a modern hidden startup. It’s unclear whether the startup will focus on the things that made NotebookLM viral, such as AI-generated podcasts, or do something else entirely. Read more
SpaceX Considers Vast Tender Offer: SpaceX’s valuation is skyrocketing, and the company is reportedly in talks to sell insider shares at a price that would value it at around $350 billion. Read more
Electric popemobile: Mercedes-Benz delivered the first fully electric popemobile to the Vatican. The modified version of the G-Class SUV is equipped with a special height-adjustable swivel seat, allowing the pope to appeal to a larger audience. Read more
Intel’s CEO is retiring: Intel announced that CEO Pat Gelsinger has retired and stepped down from the company’s board of directors. Gelsinger could receive a severance package of just over $10 million, according to documents filed with the SEC. Read more
Hello, She: The Browser Company has announced its next product as a successor to the popular Arc browser – a modern web browser called Dia. According to the company’s advertising, Dia will focus mainly on AI tools, and the launch is expected to take place in early 2025. Read more
Can ads appear on Bluesky? During our StrictlyVC event, we asked Bluesky CEO Jay Graber if advertising was not allowed on the social network. Graber told us that Bluesky may eventually experiment with advertising, but in a way that doesn’t negatively impact the core user experience. Read more
All eyes on David Mayer: ChatGPT users discovered that asking questions about “David Mayer” caused the chatbot to crash. While the strange behavior has spawned conspiracy theories, at its core is a much more ordinary reason – demands for digital privacy. Read more
Get your Mac in the holiday spirit: A cute modern macOS app called Festivitas will facilitate you decorate your Mac screen with twinkling holiday lights hanging from your menu bar and illuminating your dock. Read more
Tesla enters the fart market: Tesla has revealed plans for an Apple Watch app that will do a lot of what the smartphone app does, but perhaps the silliest update is the ability to prank a friend in the passenger seat using a pillow sound effect. Read more
Khloé Kardashian, VC: SEC filings show that Khloé Kardashian and Kris Jenner want to raise $10 million for a modern company called Khloud. Trademarks related to Khloud have been filed to cover popcorn, granola and other types of snacks. Read more
Do you want to know when you will die? A modern app called Death Clock claims to predict its users’ death date and offers tips on how to move that date forward. My friend Anthony Ha, who is much braver than me, tried it out for himself. Read more
Analysis
The extreme strangeness of AI advertising.
These are examples of the latest ads for AI products and companies, but what do they even mean? As Maxwell Zeff writes, most AI advertising means nothing. Companies have resorted to painting AI as an amorphous, magical character from children’s books with no specific apply case, while implying that it can do almost anything. We find ourselves in a strange place when it comes to artificial intelligence, and the banal tapestry of advertising is indicative of the larger rut we find ourselves in. Most companies don’t really know what AI is good for, and maybe that’s the point. Read more