Week in Review 2025-03-10

•

2 days ago

Summary

OpenAI signs 5-year $11.9 billion deal with CoreWeave; Waymo expands robotaxi service to Palo Alto and surrounding areas; Meta launches community notes feature for Facebook, Instagram, and Threads users in the US.

Key Points

OpenAI's creative writing AI has been gaining attention for its ability to churn out clever metafiction.
Waymo's expanded robotaxi service is now available in 55 square miles of coverage in the San Francisco Bay Area and parts of Silicon Valley.
Meta's community notes feature aims to improve fact-checking on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.

Why It Matters

These deals and updates have significant implications for the tech industry, from AI development to transportation and social media.

Author

Karyne Levy

More Headlines

Teen Founder's Cal AI Success

Zach Yadegari, a teenage founder, and his co-founders have developed an AI-powered food diary app called Cal AI. The app uses large image models to recognize ingredients in food images, providing accurate calorie counting for users.

Nvidia's AI Investments

Nvidia has participated in several AI-focused startup funding rounds, demonstrating the company's commitment to the AI revolution. These investments include Kore.ai, Hippocratic AI, Weka, Runway, Bright Machines, and Enfabrica. Each of these startups is working on innovative AI solutions, from conversational AI to generative AI tools.

Baidu Launches New AI Models

Chinese search engine Baidu has launched two new AI models - Ernie 4.5 and Ernie X1. Both models have multimodal capabilities, allowing them to process video, images, and audio, as well as text. Ernie X1's performance is claimed to be on par with DeepSeek R1 at only half the price.

Google's Gemini AI Model Can Remove Watermarks from Images

Users on social media have discovered a controversial use case for Google’s new Gemini AI model: removing watermarks from images, including from images published by Getty Images and other well-known stock media outfits. The model appears to be exceptionally skilled at filling in gaps created by watermark deletion.

Meta Wins Legal Victory Against Former Employee

Meta has won a legal victory against former employee Sarah Wynn-Williams, temporarily blocking her memoir 'Careless People' which details her time at Facebook and alleged mistreatment by colleagues. The arbitration ruling comes as Wynn-Williams prepares to publish the book, which she claims will expose the company's toxic work culture.

Apple iPhone 17 Air: Thinner, Wireless Charging?

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple's upcoming iPhone 17 Air will feature a thinner design and combine high-end and low-end features. The device is expected to launch this fall, with wireless charging capabilities and a focus on AI-driven experiences.

SpaceX Launches Four People into Space

SpaceX successfully launched its Crew-10 mission, sending four people to the International Space Station. The mission marks a return to normalcy for the ISS after a prolonged stay by astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore.

Venture Funds Struggle

Veteran venture capitalist Aileen Lee discusses the consequences of the recent boom-and-bust cycle in the startup world. Many companies are struggling to regain their footing after raising too much money at unsustainable valuations, and have also lost the champions who once backed them. Lee notes that limited partners hesitate to criticize powerful fund managers for fear of repercussions.

Joby Aviation Partners with Virgin Atlantic to Launch Electric Air Taxis in UK

Joby Aviation is partnering with Virgin Atlantic to launch electric air taxis in the UK, marking the seventh country where the startup hopes to commercialize its eVTOL aircraft. The partnership will allow Virgin customers to reserve a seat on Joby's aircraft through the Virgin Atlantic app and website.

Amazon Echo Users No Longer Have Local Alexa Processing Option

Amazon has decided to stop supporting the 'Do Not Send Voice Recordings' feature on its Echo smart speakers and displays, which means all voice recordings will be sent to the company's cloud. This change is happening as Amazon rolls out a new version of its voice-controlled AI assistant, Alexa+. The decision comes despite concerns about Alexa's privacy implications in the past.

Video Calling Apps: Skype, Discord, Slack, and Signal

Video calling has become an essential tool for remote communication. While Zoom is a popular choice, other options are available. Skype, Discord, Slack, and Signal offer alternative solutions for video conferencing. This article provides an overview of each platform's features, pricing, and limitations.

Bluesky Proposes New Options for User Data Use

Bluesky, a social network, has proposed new options for users to indicate consent over their data being used for generative AI training and public archiving. The proposal allows users to allow or disallow the usage of their Bluesky data across four categories: generative AI, protocol bridging, bulk datasets, and web archiving.

Nvidia GTC 2025: What to Expect

Nvidia's annual conference, GTC 2025, begins on Monday and runs till Friday in San Jose. CEO Jensen Huang will give a keynote address focusing on AI and accelerating computing technologies. The company is also teasing reveals related to robotics, sovereign AI, AI agents, and automotive.

Nvidia GTC 2025 Announcements

GTC, Nvidia's biggest conference of the year, is returning this week. The event will feature major developments, including announcements from CEO Jensen Huang. Keynote presentations and panels will be livestreamed.