Week in Review: Operator, TikTok, and more - a rundown of top stories.
Operator AI models are the smallest of their kind
TikTok's future remains uncertain, but backup service Dewey has a solution
This week's stories highlight innovation and uncertainty in the tech world.
Cody Corrall
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This week's Week in Review features tons of exciting news. We've got updates from Google I/O, including Gemini coming to Android Auto. Plus, HBO Max is changing its name back to HBO Max (because why change it?). Uber is introducing Route Share, a new commuter shuttle service. And, Elizabeth Holmes' partner is reportedly fundraising for a new blood-testing startup.
Sonali De Rycker, a general partner at Accel, believes that Europe has tremendous potential in the artificial intelligence sector. Despite regulatory challenges, she is optimistic about the region's prospects and highlights the importance of finding the right balance between innovation and regulation.
Firecrawl, a Y Combinator-backed startup, is seeking AI agents to work on its web crawling tool that scrapes data from websites for large language models (LLMs). The company has posted three job openings on YC's job board and has set aside a $1 million budget to make it happen.
Epic Games has escalated its efforts to pressure Apple to allow Fortnite back into the US App Store. The move comes after a court filing asking Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to require Apple to accept compliant versions of Fortnite onto the App Store.
The world's only net-positive fusion experiment has been steadily ramping up the amount of power it produces. The team at the US Department of Energy's National Ignition Facility increased the yield of the experiment, first to 5.2 megajoules and then again to 8.6 megajoules.
MIT has withdrawn a high-profile research paper on AI's impact on research and innovation due to concerns about the integrity of the data. The authors, economists Daron Acemoglu and David Autor, initially praised the paper but now have no confidence in its validity.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella shares his thoughts on the company's AI strategy, OpenAI partnership, and how he relies on AI assistant Copilot in his daily life. He discusses uploading transcripts to Copilot and using custom agents to summarize emails and messages.
OpenAI is poised to help develop a massive data center campus in Abu Dhabi, positioning the company as a primary anchor tenant. The facility would reportedly span an astonishing 10 square miles and consume power equivalent to five nuclear reactors.
OpenAI has launched the research preview of Codex, an AI coding agent that can write code in a specific programming language. The company announced that Codex is designed to assist developers with tasks such as debugging and testing.
Moonvalley, a startup co-founded by former DeepMind scientists Mateusz Malinowski and Mik Binkowski, aims to make generative video technology accessible and usable for filmmakers and creative professionals. The company has recently secured funding and is working on building tools that can help content creators produce high-quality videos using AI-generated footage.
The Nuclear Company, a two-year-old startup founded by three serial entrepreneurs, has secured $51.3 million in series A funding to develop existing reactor designs. The company plans to prioritize sites that already have permits or licenses to operate and aims to develop 6 gigawatts in its first fleet.
Tesla has appointed Jack Hartung, former CFO and president of Chipotle Mexican Grill, to its board of directors. The addition comes as the company prepares to launch its retro-futuristic diner and charging station in Los Angeles. Hartung brings over two decades of experience in finance, accounting, supply chain, strategy, and safety to Tesla's board.
TechCrunch is joining forces with VivaTech to select startups for the prestigious VivaTech Innovation of the Year at VivaTech 2025. The partnership will highlight exceptional creativity, technological ingenuity, and industry-transforming potential among exhibiting startups.
Electric boat startup Arc has unveiled its new model, the Arc Coast, which is priced at $168,000. The company is taking preorders for the boat, which will start shipping in 2026. The Arc Coast is a center console boat designed for fishing and features the same battery pack as the company's previous model, the Arc Sport.
