Welcome back to review week. This week we are looking at the internal disruption surrounding HP’s $116 million acquisition of AI PIN Maker Humane. Mira Murati’s new AI venture has come out of stealth. Duolingo kills the iconic owl mascot on cyber truck. And more! Let’s get into it.
Humanity’s AI Pin is dead. The hardware startup has announced that most of its assets have been acquired on HP for $116 million. That’s less than half of the $240 million raised with VC funding. The startup will soon discontinue selling the $499 AI pin, and after February 28th, wearables will no longer connect to Humane’s servers. The device then cannot call, messaging, AI queries/respond, or cloud access. Customers who purchased AI pins in the last 90 days are eligible for a refund, but not anyone who purchased the device before that.
Hours after HP’s acquisition was announced, several humanitarian employees increased wages between 30% and 70% from HP, increasing HP’s stock and bonus plans, and anonymous with TechCrunch HP’s stock and bonus plans increased, according to two sources requested. Meanwhile, other humanitarian employees, especially those approaching AI PIN devices, have been notified that they are losing their jobs.
Apple’s long-awaited iPhone SE refresh was revealed three years after the last major update on budget-oriented smartphones. The 16E is part of an exclusive group of mobile phones that can run Apple Intelligence with the addition of an A18 processor. The iPhone 16e discarded the Touch ID Home button in favor of Face ID and replaced the Lightning port in favor of USB-C. The iPhone 6E starts at $599 and will begin shipping on February 28th.
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news
RIP, DUO: Duolingo “killed” the iconic owl mascot on cybertruck, and the marketing stunts are on amazing pace. The company launched a campaign to save the duo and encouraged users to give more lessons, as they say it’s a “duo or die.” read more
Openai’s “UNCENSORS” ChatGpt: Openai doesn’t want ChatGpt to take an editorial stance, even if he feels “morally wrong or offensive.” In other words, ChatGpt has now provided multiple perspectives on controversial subjects in order to be neutral. read more
Uber vs. Doordash: Uber is suing Doordash and blames its stifling rivals for threatening restaurant owners to exclusive deals. Uber claims Doordash will only bully restaurants and work with them. read more
Mira Murati’s next move: former Openai CTO Mira Murati’s new AI startup, Thinking Machines Lab, has come out of stealth. The startups, including Openai co-founder John Schulman and former Openai chief research officer Barret Zoph, will focus on building a joint “multimodal” system. read more
Introducing Grok 3: Elon Musk’s Xai has released its latest flagship AI model, the Grok 3, and has announced new features for Grok iOS and web apps. Musk argues that the new family of models is “AIs seeking the greatest truth,” and sometimes “conflict with what’s politically correct.” read more
Hackers on Steam: Valve removed video games from Steam, which was essentially designed to spread malware. Security researchers have discovered that anyone who planted it has altered an existing video game in order to trick gamers into installing an information steeler called Vidar. read more
Another DEI U-turn: Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan charities will end their internal DEI program and will stop providing “social advocacy funds” for racial equity and immigration reform. Switch comes weeks after the organization ensures its staff will continue to support DEI’s efforts. read more
Amazon will shut down the Android App Store. Amazon canceled the Android App Store in August and will focus more on the company’s own devices. The company told developers they won’t be able to submit new apps to the store. read more
Mark Zuckerberg’s Rebrand was not rewarded. A study from the PewResearch Center found that Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg’s American views were more negative than positive. Approximately 54% of US adults say they have an unfavourable view of Musk, while a whopping 67% feel negative about Zuckerberg. read more
Noise-cancelling headphones can hurt your brain. The new BBC report considers whether noise cancelling technology is using it to rewire the brains of people using it to adjust nasty background noise. read more
analysis
A thorough look at the Doge universe: Elon Musk and dozens of individuals working or advising under Doge are real illustrations of Musk’s Weblike Reach in the tech industry. TechCrunch has announced key players in the Doge Universe, from Musk’s inner circle to senior figures, workers and aides. It highlights both the connections between them and the way they entered the mask trajectory. read more