Welcome, people, to TechCrunch Week in Evaluate (WiR), a digest of the previous few days in tech happenings.
As I write this, snow’s gracing New York Metropolis — an more and more uncommon deal with due to our altering local weather. And that feels becoming in mild of the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional’s imminent launch. In spite of everything, one of many guarantees of headsets just like the Imaginative and prescient Professional is that they transport the wearer away from the stresses of on a regular basis life to extra optimistic realities — at the very least for a spell.
Brian went palms on with the Imaginative and prescient Professional this week. His impressions? It’s transporting, all proper — however very expensive.
There’s an honest chunk of reports to recap this week, so let’s get to it. However first, a reminder to enroll right here to obtain WiR in your inbox each Saturday if you happen to haven’t already executed so.
Information
“Quiet supersonic” jet: NASA and Lockheed Martin have lastly taken the wraps off the X-59, an plane which will form the way forward for each navy and civilian air journey, Devin writes.
Byju’s valuation reduce: BlackRock has reduce the worth of its holding in Byju’s, slashing the implied valuation of the Indian startup to about $1 billion from $22 billion in early 2022.
Notion launches a calendar app: Notion, the extremely standard note-taking and challenge administration service, has launched a stand-alone calendar service. Frederic has the complete story.
Samsung’s Galaxy S24: Samsung held a press convention this week the place it introduced its newest flagship telephones — all powered by AI in some kind or one other.
Layoffs at Google: After shedding over 1,000 employees throughout a number of divisions final week and slicing 100 jobs at YouTube, Google CEO Sundar Pichai despatched a memo to its workers warning extra layoffs are anticipated this yr.
Evaluation
CES chases off intercourse tech: Regardless of being an trade that caters to a common human expertise, intercourse tech has all the time had an uneasy affiliation with CES, Haje writes. And this yr, the convention successfully managed to chase the intercourse tech trade off its present flooring — for higher or worse.
Podcasts
On Fairness, Alex and Mary Ann chewed by funding rounds galore from Pomelo, Tandem and Briq — and likewise mentioned how C-suite executives really feel about AI and the enterprise.
Discovered featured Magic Spoon co-founder and CEO Gabi Lewis. Magic Spoon creates cereal flavors that play on our nostalgia for Froot Loops and Cocoa Puffs with a grown-up high-protein twist.
And on Chain Response, Jacquelyn interviewed Monica Lengthy, the president of Ripple, the blockchain-based digital cost community and protocol.
TechCrunch+
TC+ subscribers get entry to in-depth commentary, evaluation and surveys — which if you happen to’re already a subscriber. For those who’re not, contemplate signing up. Listed here are just a few highlights from this week:
Unicorn membership: Cowboy Ventures’ founder Aileen Lee penned a long-awaited follow-up to her authentic 2013 article during which she coined the time period “unicorn.”
Non-public fairness in 2024: Alex and Anna write about how PE corporations might be the final resort for startups struggling to exit.
Reddit, IPOing: Reddit may lastly go public this yr. Alex examines what that might imply for the corporate — and others trying IPOs this yr.
