Welcome back to Week in Review. This week, we’re coming at you right off the heels of TechCrunch Disrupt! If you missed it, we’re highlighting conversations from Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas, WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg, and Disney star turned space CEO Bridgit Mendler. Of course, we’ve got news from the rest of the tech world as well. Let’s do it.
Why did Wiz turn down $23 billion? Wiz co-founder and CEO Assaf Rappaport said at TechCrunch Disrupt that turning down Alphabet’s offer was “the toughest decision ever,” but they did so because they believed the cloud security space is a $100 billion opportunity for the company. At the time Wiz turned down the offer, the startup had a private valuation of $12 billion. The CEO admitted that they also had other offers, though none as big as Google’s.
Apple had a big week of reveals, including the latest additions to the M-series of chips. The company unveiled the new M4 Pro, which debuts alongside the tiny new Mac mini and the M4 Max, the latter of which is coming to the MacBook Pro line as an upgradeable option. Apple also gave a refresh to its desktop accessories, switching them from Lightning to USB-C. But the charging port for the Magic Mouse is still awkwardly on the bottom.
Dropbox is laying off 20% of its workforce. In a letter to staff, CEO Drew Houston said the cloud company is undergoing a “transitional period” and that the goal was to make cuts in areas where Dropbox has “over-invested” while designing a “flatter, more efficient” team structure. The reduction in headcount will affect 528 employees.
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News
What is plagiarism? At TechCrunch Disrupt, Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas was asked how the company defined “plagiarism.” Srinivas wouldn’t say directly, but he was adamant that Perplexity “always cites its sources” and doesn’t claim ownership of any content. Read more
OpenAI could be building its first AI chip: OpenAI is working with TSMC and Broadcom to build an in-house AI chip for running AI models, which could arrive as soon as 2026, Reuters reports. Read more
Turn your design into a reality: Arcade AI is a new type of marketplace that allows customers to input their ideas into a generator that then produces a variety of design options to be brought to life as tangible pieces of jewelry. Read more
From Disney Channel to CEO: Former Disney star Bridgit Mendler joined TechCrunch Disrupt to discuss how she founded Northwood Space and why the space startup is committed to solving “unsexy problems.” Read more
AI comes for recruiters: LinkedIn is taking the wraps off its latest AI effort: Hiring Assistant. The product is designed to take on a wide array of recruitment tasks, from ingesting scrappy notes to turn into job descriptions, to sourcing candidates and engaging with them. Read more
Matt Mullenweg makes his case: The WordPress co-founder and Automattic CEO said at TechCrunch Disrupt that he’s not worried that the recent legal drama between his company and WP Engine may lead to a fork of the open source WordPress software. In fact, he said he’d welcome it. Read more
Olivia Wilde, VC: Actor and director Olivia Wilde quietly launched venture firm Proximity Ventures late last year, according to Bloomberg. The firm has already inked four investments, including biotech company Pendulum Therapeutics. Read more
Slice makes its mark in India: Fintech Slice merged with North East Small Finance Bank, marking a rare instance of a startup successfully entering India’s tightly regulated banking sector. The merger transforms Slice into a banking entity following months of regulatory scrutiny. Read more
An easier way to code: Announced at GitHub’s annual conference in San Francisco, Spark is an experiment launching out of its GitHub Next labs that allows you to quickly build a small web app using nothing but natural language. Read more
Turn text into a podcast: Meta released an “open” implementation of the viral generate-a-podcast feature in Google’s NotebookLM. Called NotebookLlama, the project can generate back-and-forth, podcast-style digests of text files uploaded to it. Read more
Zoox calls Tesla’s bluff: Zoox co-founder and CTO Jesse Levinson is doubtful that Tesla will launch a robotaxi ride-hailing service next year. The “fundamental issue is they don’t have technology that works,” he said at TechCrunch Disrupt. Read more
And the winner is … : The winner of the Startup Battlefield 200 competition at TechCrunch Disrupt is Salva Health. The company’s Julieta device is a portable, AI-powered breast cancer detection device that eliminates barriers to early screening, ensuring access even in remote areas. Read more