Welcome again to Week in Overview. This week weβre trying on the inside chaos surrounding HPβs $116 million acquisition of AI Pin maker Humane; Mira Muratiβs new AI enterprise popping out of stealth; Duolingo killing its iconic owl mascot with a Cybertruck; and extra! Letβs get into it.
Humaneβs AI pin is useless. The {hardware} startup introduced that almost all of its property have been acquired by HP for $116 million, lower than half of the $240 million it raised in VC funding. The startup will instantly discontinue gross sales of its $499 AI Pins, and after February 28, the wearable will now not connect with Humaneβs servers. After that, the units gainedβt be able to calling, messaging, AI queries/responses, or cloud entry. Clients who purchased an AI Pin within the final 90 days are eligible for a refund, however anybody who purchased a tool earlier than then just isn’t.
Hours after the HP acquisition was introduced, a number of Humane staff acquired job presents from HP with pay will increase between 30% and 70%, plus HP inventory and bonus plans, in keeping with inside paperwork seen by Trendster and two sources who requested anonymity. In the meantime, different Humane staff β particularly those that labored nearer to the AI Pin units β have been notified they have been out of a job.
Appleβs long-awaited iPhone SE refresh has been revealed, three years after the final main replace to the budget-minded smartphone. The 16e is a part of an unique group of handsets able to operating Apple Intelligence because of the addition of an A18 processor. The iPhone 16e additionally ditched the Contact ID residence button in favor of Face ID and swapped out the Lightning port in favor of USB-C. The iPhone 6e begins at $599 and can start transport February 28.
That is Trendsterβs Week in Overview, the place we recap the weekβs largest information. Need this delivered as a publication to your inbox each Saturday? Enroll right here.
Information
RIP, Duo: Duolingo βkilledβ its iconic owl mascot with a Cybertruck, and the advertising stunt goes surprisingly nicely. The corporate launched a marketing campaign to avoid wasting Duo β and encourage customers to do extra classes β as the corporate says itβs βDuo or die.β Learn extra
OpenAI βuncensorsβ ChatGPT: OpenAI now not needs ChatGPT to take an editorial stance, even when some customers discover it βmorally fallacious or offensive.β Meaning ChatGPT will now provide a number of views on controversial topics in an effort to be impartial. Learn extra
Uber vs. DoorDash: Uber is suing DoorDash, accusing its supply rival of stifling competitors by intimidating restaurant homeowners into unique offers. Uber alleges that DoorDash bullied eating places into solely working with them. Learn extra
Mira Muratiβs subsequent transfer: Former OpenAI CTO Mira Muratiβs new AI startup, Pondering Machines Lab, has come out of stealth. The startup, which incorporates OpenAI co-founder John Schulman and former OpenAI chief analysis officer Barret Zoph, will give attention to constructing collaborative βmultimodalβ methods. Learn extra
Introducing Grok 3: Elon Muskβs xAI launched its newest flagship AI mannequin, Grok 3, and unveiled new capabilities for the Grok iOS and internet apps. Musk claims that the brand new household of fashions is a βmaximally truth-seeking AIβ that’s generally βat odds with what’s politically appropriate.β Learn extra
Hackers on Steam: Valve eliminated a online game from Steam that was basically designed to unfold malware. Safety researchers discovered that whoever planted it modified an present online game in an try to trick avid gamers into putting in an info-stealer referred to as Vidar. Learn extra
One other DEI U-turn: Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chanβs charity will finish inside DEI packages and cease offering βsocial advocacy fundingβ for racial fairness and immigration reforms. The change comes simply weeks after the group assured workers it might proceed to assist DEI efforts. Learn extra
Amazon shuts down its Android app retailer: Amazon will discontinue its app retailer for Android in August in an effort to place extra give attention to the corporateβs personal units. The corporate advised builders that they are going to now not have the ability to submit new apps to the shop. Learn extra
Mark Zuckerbergβs rebrand didnβt repay: A research by the Pew Analysis Heart discovered that Individualsβ views of Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are extra destructive than constructive. About 54% of U.S. adults say they’ve an unfavorable view of Musk whereas a whopping 67% really feel negatively towards Zuckerberg. Learn extra
Noise-canceling headphones may harm your mind: A brand new BBC report considers whether or not noise-canceling tech may be rewiring the brains of people that use it to tune out pesky background noise β and will result in the mind forgetting how you can filter sounds itself. Learn extraΒ
Evaluation
An exhaustive have a look at the DOGE universe: The handfuls of people who work underneath, or advise, Elon Musk and DOGE are a real-life illustration of Muskβs weblike attain within the tech business. Trendster has unveiled the most important gamers within the DOGE universe, from Muskβs inside circle to senior figures, employee bees, and aides β a few of whom are advising and recruiting for DOGE. We spotlight each the connections between them and the way they entered Muskβs orbit. Learn extra
