Hello, welcome to the Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch's regular newsletter summarizing notable events in technology over the past few days.
This week, TechCrunch reviewed leaked documents from SpaceX that reveal some questionable methods related to employee stock options.
CEO Elon Musk announced that he will open-source Grok, the AI-powered chatbot by X designed to compete with OpenAI's ChatGPT. Grok, developed by Musk's AI startup, xAI, released last year, is equipped with features like real-time access to information about X and perspectives that are not bound by "politically correct" norms.
Elsewhere, Ron interviews Denise Dresser, CEO of Slack, about her efforts to bring stability to Salesforce's business that saw three CEOs within one year.
Much more happened. We summarize it all in this edition of WiR – but first, a reminder to subscribe to receive the WiR newsletter in your inbox every Saturday.
News
Leaked SpaceX Documents: We got our hands on some leaked SpaceX documents showing some unusual conditions for granting employee stocks that require employees to agree to them. Among other things, the company reserves the right to prohibit former and current employees from participating in purchase offers if they are deemed to have committed acts of "dishonesty towards the company" or violated the company's written policy.
Phantom, Now Phantomed: Phantom Auto, a remote driving startup launched seven years ago against the backdrop of autonomous vehicle technology buzz, has shut down after failing to secure new funding, as reported exclusively by Kristen.
Stock from Water: In a new filing with the SEC, Reddit reveals that following its IPO, it will allow its community members to sell their stocks immediately instead of being subject to the usual lock-up agreements that prevent IPO investors from selling stocks for six months.
Funding
Banking Service Griffin: UK-based Griffin Bank, a Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform powered by APIs, has now received a license to operate as a full-service bank – and raised $24 million from investors, including MassMutual Ventures, NordicNinja, and Breega.
EU Violates Data Rules: An investigation into the EU's use of Microsoft 365 found that the European Ombudsman, the EU Cabinet, violated the bloc's data protection rules by using the cloud-based productivity software.
Analysis
Rise of Deepfakes: Amanda writes about the possibility that a photo of Kate Middleton and her children, possibly edited with artificial intelligence, is a sign that deepfake and AI editing tools will proliferate.
Relaxation Device: Haje practically integrates with Moonbird's relaxation device designed to help customers find sleep and reduce stress through breathing exercises.
Podcasts
This week on Equity, Alex delves into data from Carta on changing startup rewards, fundraisings from Empathy and Bear Robotics, and developments at Bluesky, Brave, and Chamath Palihapitiya's VC company, Social Capital.
On Found, Keh and Dom chat with Rebecca Ha, CEO and co-founder of Glacier, an AI robotics company building robots for precise recycling sorting.
And on Chain Reaction, Jacqueline interviews Melody Hill-Blandford, CTO of Fox Corporation, and Mike Blank, COO at Polygon Labs. The episode is part of Chain Reaction's monthly series diving into blockchain and AI topics. This month's theme is blockchain and AI integrations.
Bonus Round
Metaverse Royale: Readyverse Studios – jointly founded by blockchain technology company Futureverse and Ernst Cline, the brain behind the sci-fi series Ready Player One – debuted this week on Open, a third-person Battle Royale experience. Lauren has the story.
