Welcome back to Week in Review. This week, we’re unpacking the latest layoffs at Mozilla, Perplexity offering to cross a picket line, and Apple warning investors that it might never top the iPhone. Let’s get into it.
The Mozilla Foundation laid off 30% of its employees in the second round of layoffs for the Firefox browser maker this year. Executive director Nabiha Syed confirmed that two of the foundation’s major divisions — advocacy and global programs — are “no longer a part of our structure.” Mozilla’s communications chief, Brandon Borrman, told TechCrunch that advocacy “is still a central tenet” of the company’s work but did not provide specifics.
Anduril is considering building its first major manufacturing plant, a 5-million-square-foot facility known as “Arsenal-1,” in Arizona, Ohio, or Texas following its $1.5 billion round, according to someone familiar with the matter. When TechCrunch asked an Anduril spokesperson if the defense tech company was now choosing between these three locations for its factory, she responded, “That is incorrect,” but she would not specify what part exactly was incorrect.
Video game giant Activision fixed a bug in its anti-cheat system that it said affected “a small number of legitimate player accounts” that were getting banned because of it. But according to the hacker who found the bug and was exploiting it, they were able to ban “thousands upon thousands” of Call of Duty players, who they framed as cheaters. The hacker spoke to TechCrunch about the exploit and told their side of the story.
This is TechCrunch’s Week in Review, where we recap the week’s biggest news. Want this delivered as a newsletter to your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here.
News
Perplexity crosses the picket line: Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas offered to provide the AI company’s services to mitigate the effect of a strike by New York Times tech workers, resulting in many X users chastising Srinivas for acting as a scab. Read more
Nvidia becomes No. 1: Nvidia exceeded Apple’s market capitalization to become the world’s largest company. At the close of the market earlier this week, Nvidia was valued at $3.43 trillion, topping Apple’s $3.38 trillion. Read more
Will Apple ever top the iPhone? Apple is warning investors that its new and future products might never be as profitable as the iPhone. The disclosure comes as the company pursues AI technologies and mixed-reality headsets like the Apple Vision Pro. Read more
Bowery Farming shuts down: The agtech unicorn known for building vertical farms that could produce crops is shutting down. The company held multiple rounds of layoffs in 2023 and was most recently valued at $2 billion in 2021. Read more
Our review of ChatGPT Search: OpenAI released its highly anticipated search product, ChatGPT Search, last week. But is it really the “Google killer” it was hyped up to be? TechCrunch’s Maxwell Zeff doesn’t think it is yet. Read more
Investing in “AI-powered parenting”: Could AI help you become a better parent? Andreessen Horowitz partner Justine Moore introduced a new investment thesis for the firm on X, endorsing “a new wave of ‘parenting co-pilots’ built with LLMs and agents.” Read more
BP axes 18 hydrogen projects: Tucked inside a 32-page earnings report, oil and gas giant BP revealed it was killing 18 early-stage hydrogen projects, a move that could have a chilling effect on the nascent hydrogen industry. Read more
Infinite Minecraft: AI company Decart has released what it’s claiming is the first playable “open-world” AI model. Called Oasis, the model powers a Minecraft-like game that generates frames in real time, simulating physics, rules, and graphics on the fly. Read more
Canada sets its eyes on TikTok: Canada has ordered the closure of ByteDance’s operations in Canada — specifically the offices of TikTok Technology Canada, Inc. — citing national security risks. However, Canadians can still download and use TikTok. Read more
No Instagram until you’re 16: Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese announced plans to ban social media for children under 16 with no exemptions for parental consent. If passed, it would be the strictest social media ban for teens globally. Read more
Drop the GPT, it’s cleaner: OpenAI bought Chat.com, which now redirects to ChatGPT. Last year, it was reported that HubSpot co-founder and CTO Dharmesh Shah acquired the domain for $15.5 million, making it one of the top two all-time publicly reported domain sales. Read more
Analysis
What Trump’s win means for Elon Musk: The billionaire CEO took a sharp swing to the right this election to support President-elect Donald Trump, using his vast wealth, influence, and megaphone on X to influence the outcome of the election. Many have predicted that there will be a falling-out between the two huge personalities before Trump’s term is over, but as Rebecca Bellan and Aria Alamalhodaei write, Musk’s role in the presidency could mark one of the most consequential instances of a businessman helping shape the policy and regulations that govern his own businesses. Read more