Elon Musk threatens a fee for X, OpenAI launches DALL-E 3 and Cisco acquires Splunk – TechCrunch

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Welcome to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s regular newsletter covering the latest days in tech. The TC crew – including this reporter – is just coming off the peak of Disrupt, which hopefully some of you, dear readers, were able to witness in person. Don’t worry if you haven’t – there are always other TC events next year and beyond. And in the coming days, TC’s YouTube channel will have all the highlights for your on-demand viewing pleasure.

But the world didn’t stop caring about Disrupt. This week was as timely as any other: Elon Musk threatened to charge all X (formerly Twitter) users, OpenAI launched DALL-E 3, and Cisco acquired Splunk in a $28 billion deal. Elsewhere, outgoing TC editor-in-chief Matthew Panzarino published his iPhone 15 review, Apple released iOS 17, Y Combinator went on the defensive, and Microsoft researchers accidentally exposed terabytes of data. And that’s just scratching the surface.

If you haven’t already, sign up here to receive WiR in your inbox every Saturday. Now for the news!

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A fee for X: Earlier this week, X owner Elon Musk floated the idea that the social network formerly known as Twitter might no longer be a free website. In a livestreamed conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Musk said the company would charge “a small monthly payment” to use the platform.

OpenAI introduces DALL-E 3: OpenAI introduced DALL-E 3, an updated version of its text-to-image tool that uses ChatGPT – OpenAI’s viral AI chatbot – to make prompting a little easier. Through ChatGPT, subscribers to OpenAI’s premium ChatGPT plans, ChatGPT Plus and ChatGPT Enterprise, can enter an image query, refine it through conversations with the chatbot and receive the results directly in the chat app.

Cisco buys Splunk: Cisco has a reputation for building the company through acquisitions, but it stays away from the really big acquisitions. That changed this week when the company announced it would acquire Splunk for $28 billion. With Splunk, Ron writes, Cisco gets an observability platform that could fit well into its security business to help customers better understand security threats.

The iPhone 15 goes to Disneyland: For what will likely be his final iPhone test at TechCrunch, Matthew took the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro Max to Disneyland. Literally. He had two days and some change to drag the phones around the parks, record videos, make purchases, use them as virtual tickets and vacation planners for reservations, coordinate a group of friends and family, and more. The judgment? The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max prove that there is much more room for Apple to grow, writes Matt – albeit inwardly rather than outwardly.

iOS grows up: Romain tested iOS 17, the launch of which coincided with the launch of the iPhone 15. He found it a “beautiful and polished” update, highlighting the revamped keyboard with AI-powered autocorrect, a messaging app with significantly improved search and support for offline maps in Apple Maps. The highlight, however, is the standby mode, which displays clear information when charging the iPhone in a MagSafe docking station.

Y Combinator goes on the defensive: Famous accelerator Y Combinator has been on the defensive lately. Mary Ann reports on recent and unexpectedly aggressive responses from YC executives, including CEO Garry Tan, to criticism on social media, including an article by TechCrunch’s Rebecca Szkutak.

Microsoft discloses data: AI researchers at Microsoft accidentally exposed dozens of terabytes of sensitive data, including private keys and passwords, while publishing a repository of open-source training data on GitHub. In a study shared with TechCrunch, cloud security startup Wiz said it discovered a GitHub repository belonging to Microsoft’s AI research division as part of its ongoing work on accidental exposure of cloud-hosted data.

Unit regressions: Unity, the popular cross-platform gaming and media development engine, is on the defensive after facing intense backlash over a controversial new fee structure. Devin reports that Unity has made an about-face, scrapping plans to introduce a widely criticized “term fee” for current versions of Unity and raise the revenue cap at which users must upgrade to the paid version of Unity.

Audio

Do you need a high-quality podcast? You’re in luck – TC has plenty of them.

Continue this week Equity capital, the crew hosted two – I’m counting them, two – podcasts on-site at Disrupt. The first part covered recent IPO news surrounding Instacart, as well as Joby’s commitment to the Buckeye State, growth in older tech, and Writer bringing nine-figure joy again. The second was a retrospective that covered topics from VC panel highlights to the latest developments from GM-backed self-driving car maker Cruise.

Found It was hosted by Bianca Cefalo, CEO and co-founder of Space DOTS, a space technology startup making testing materials in space cheaper and easier. Cefalo discussed the difficulty of starting a deep tech company, the challenges of testing materials in space, and how she manages her growing team.

And over there Chain reactionChris Lehane, Chief Strategy Officer at Haun Ventures, joined us during Disrupt to talk about the world of crypto at Haun, which has two investment vehicles: a $500 million early-stage fund and a $500 million accelerator fund $1 billion.

TechCrunch+

TC+ subscribers get access to in-depth commentary, analysis and polls – what you know if you’re already a subscriber. If not, consider signing up. Here are a few highlights from this week:

Thoughts on SEC Crypto Regulation: As the regulatory landscape for crypto players remains unstable, some regulators may go too far in creating a framework for the industry, Disrupt’s Lehane said.

Instacart IPO: Instacart soared this week after the American grocery delivery giant priced its IPO at the high end of its recently raised range. As Alex writes, the company couldn’t have offered a more satisfying glass of cool water to start-ups starving in this desert without capital.

Elder Tech expands: Rebecca delves deep into the elder tech industry, including startups like Los Angeles-based Bold, which has developed a digital at-home fitness platform for older adults with personalized workout routines to help with common ailments like arthritis and balance problems .