Hello, friendly folks, and welcome to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s regular newsletter that collects the most important tech news from the past few days. It’s our humble opinion that there’s no better place to stay abreast of industry happenings, whether you’re a news junkie or just tech-curious.
In this edition of WiR, we discuss Apple’s iPhone and other related announcements, the MGM hack, and Tesla’s Cybertruck resurfacing with a revamped interior. Also on the agenda are payment processor Square facing an outage, California considering a ban on autonomous trucks and the tumultuous canning of CEO of supply chain startup Flexport, former Amazon consumer chief Dave Clark.
If you haven’t already, sign up here to receive WiR in your inbox every Saturday. Now, on to the news!
Most read
Apple unveils the iPhone 15: Apple had a packed press conference on Tuesday, highlighted by two new iPhones: the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro. Both feature USB-C connectors, a move partly encouraged by EU law. There are other new features too, including a titanium casing (on the Pro) and a haptic ‘action button’ that replaces the mute switch on previous generation iPhones.
Extended iCloud storage plans: In other Apple news, the company announced during Tuesday’s press conference that it is adding 6TB and 12TB storage options to iCloud+, its cloud storage subscription. (Prices weren’t revealed, unfortunately.) Amanda notes that while the average consumer won’t need that much space, the new plans could be useful for photographers and filmmakers, who are about to get major camera upgrades with the iPhone 15.
USB 3 speeds on iPhone, with a catch: A big advantage of the iPhone 15 Pro is the USB 3 speeds: file transfers of up to 10 gigabits per second. But as Ivan reports, owners can’t get it out of the box. Apple provides a USB 2.0 cable with a Type-C port; users will have to use “an optional USB 3” cable to unlock the higher data speeds. Anyway, at least the iPhone 15 Pro’s new “spatial video” mode doesn’t require any aftermarket accessories.
MGM’s big data breach: It’s been a bad week for casinos. Following reports that Caesars paid millions in ransoms to a cybercrime group, hotel and casino giant MGM Resorts has confirmed that a “cyber security issue” is responsible for an ongoing outage affecting systems at the company’s properties in Las Vegas. According to social media reports, the incident has led to ATM and slot machine malfunctions at MGM’s Las Vegas casinos, and hotel restaurants have been forced to accept only cash payments.
Cybertruck gets a new design: Tesla’s Cybertruck – the subject of frequent delays – has been spotted in the wild with a revamped interior. New photos shared by Tesla viewers The Kilowatts show a Cybertruck with a different steering wheel and center console than what we saw in May. But as Harri writes, it’s not clear whether this particular vehicle reflects what the Cybertruck will look like once Tesla finally manages to deliver them en masse.
Flexport strikes back: Two days after the abrupt departure of former Amazon CEO Dave Clark as CEO of Flexport, Flexport founder Ryan Petersen publicly said the company will cut dozens of positions and begin leasing office space as Flexport tries to get costs under control. his house in order.”
California considers a ban on self-driving trucks: In a blow to the autonomous trucking industry, the California Senate on Monday passed a bill, AB 316, that would require a trained human safety operator to be present whenever a self-driving, heavy-duty vehicle is on public roadways in the state – effectively banning fully autonomous trucks . Of course, AB 316 still needs to be signed by Governor Gavin Newsom before it becomes law, which isn’t certain given Newsom’s reputation for being friendly to the tech industry.
Square glitch resolved: If you didn’t notice last week, Square restored its services after a day-long outage left small business owners unable to process their payments. The Block-owned company had been experiencing a prolonged outage on the US West Coast until last Friday morning, which had knocked out services since the afternoon of the day before.
Audio
Do you need a podcast to pass the hours, whether you’re on your way from work or just want to relax after a long and stressful work week? Don’t worry: we will put you in touch.
Equity brought TechCrunch+ senior climate reporter Tim De Chant onto the show to talk about climate tech, hardware breakthroughs, and why we have a whole stage this year at Disrupt, TechCrunch’s flagship conference focused on sustainability.
On this week’s episode of Found, the crew interviewed Jaleh Bisharat, the co-founder and CEO of NakedPoppy, an e-commerce site that helps people find the makeup colors that suit them best and provides a marketplace for “clean” natural beauty products. Bisharat talked about her personal journey to launching the company after a long career in marketing for companies like Amazon and Eventbrite.
And Chain Reaction recapped a panel that Jacquelyn moderated live at the Avalanche House event that took place in Seoul, South Korea, during Korea Blockchain Week. The panel focused on the biggest opportunities and challenges facing web3 enterprises, with speakers including Dan Sun, the startup success manager for web3 APAC leader at Google Cloud, and Gagan Mac, head of product and senior director of web3 services at Circle.
TechCrunch+
TC+ subscribers get access to in-depth commentary, analysis, and surveys — all of which you’ll know if you’re already a subscriber. If you’re not, please consider signing up. Here are a few highlights from this week:
Antitrust and generative AI: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) advocates aggressive antitrust enforcement. How could this impact the generative AI market? Two guest contributors from Perkins Cole, the international law firm, investigate.
Instacart’s sky-high rating: Writing about Instacart’s IPO, Alex notes that the startup could sell as much as $616 million worth of stock – a total of 22 million shares. With a debut share price of between $26 and $28 per share, Instacart will be close to “decacorn” status.
Fintech’s reckoning: Some fintech companies are weathering the macroeconomic storm better than others and see an end in sight. Startups that use AI to combat money laundering and fraud in particular appear to benefit from the back, Anna reports.
Grab your pass for TC Disrupt 2023
Join 10,000 startup leaders in San Francisco at TechCrunch Disrupt on September 19 and 21. Last minute passes are still available. Save 15% with code WIR. register now!