Google Goes AI, Twitter Gets A New CEO, And Meta-Contractors Protest

Photo credit: Google I/O

Hey friends – you made it to the end of the week. Congratulations! That’s an achievement worth celebrating, I’d say. And what better way to start the weekend than by reviewing the week in technology? This is Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s weekly news roundup, where we highlight the most important, impactful, and otherwise eye-catching stories of the past few days. We get it – you’re busy. Hence a summary highlighting all the important events.

Before we get to the good stuff, a reminder that on May 17th, TechCrunch Live, TC’s virtual speaker series, will be joined by Intel Capital’s Mark Rostick and Garima Kapoor – the founders of MinIO, a startup that is a Enterprise-class, open-source, object storage solution. On June 7th, TC City Spotlight: Atlanta will feature a pitch competition, panel discussion on investing in the Atlanta ecosystem and more. Last but not least, Disrupt is taking place in San Francisco (September 19-21), a conference packed with expert sessions and interviews with makers and makers in the tech space. Make a note of the dates!

Now that that’s settled, here are the top headlines.

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Google I/O summarized: On Google I/O Keynote Day, the search and internet advertising giant released a barrage of announcements during its developer conference – including many reveals about current AI-related things it has been working on. If you didn’t have time to watch a two-hour presentation, the TechCrunch team has taken on the task, delivering story after story about new products and features – plus quick hits of the most important news in an easy-to-follow, easy-to-follow list overfly.

The cleanup continues: Twitter is deleting inactive accounts on its platform, potentially freeing up a number of long-awaited usernames, according to recent tweets from owner Elon Musk. Though Twitter has been promising to put more usernames back into rotation for years, the company hasn’t made a major effort to do so yet an inactive account policy There is a policy stating that Twitter users should log in at least every 30 days to prevent accounts from being permanently removed.

New Twitter CEO: In other Twitter news, Elon Musk says he has found a new CEO for Twitter. Musk initially didn’t say who would take on the role, though The Wall Street Journal now reports that NBCUniversal advertising director Linda Yaccarino is actively “in talks” for the position. In a tweet, Musk announced that he would transition from his role as the company’s CEO to become chairman and chief technology officer. According to Musk, the new CEO will take office in six weeks.

Health Records Leaked: NextGen Healthcare, a US-based provider of electronic medical record software, has admitted hackers have broken into its systems and stolen the personal information of more than a million patients. In a data breach report filed with the Maine Attorney General’s Office, NextGen Healthcare confirmed that hackers accessed the personal information of 1.05 million patients, including approximately 4,000 Maine residents.

Rush layoffs of workers: Rapid, formerly known as RapidAPI, a startup that built a $1 billion API marketplace last year, has laid off another 70 employees less than two weeks after laying off 50% of its workforce, TechCrunch has learned . A concerned employee, who wished to remain anonymous, told TC that just 42 people were still employed at the company – down from 230 in April – an 82% drop in headcount.

Meta contractors protest: Content moderators from Sama, Meta’s content review subcontractor in Africa, demonstrated at the company’s headquarters in Kenya earlier this week demanding their April salary. The 184 moderators have sued Sama for allegedly being wrongfully fired after Meta shut down its content review department in March, and Majorel, the new partner of the Africa-based social media giant, for being blacklisted by order by Meta.

From Pokemon to Peridot: From the makers of Pokémon Go comes another mobile game that brings cute little creatures to our fingertips: Peridot. Like a ’90s Tamagotchi toy, Peridot is a pet simulator, but it takes place entirely in augmented reality. You can feed, play with, walk, breed and socialize your peridots, but don’t worry – if you pause the game, your creatures won’t poop and/or die all over the screen.

SMS, but different: “The medium is the message” is a common phrase, but entrepreneur Alexis Traina believes that the news itself — text messages, to be precise — also deserves attention. Traina is CEO and co-founder of HiNOTE, an app that helps people create messages in front of personalized backgrounds of everything from an overturned wine glass to a branded notebook page with letterhead. The idea, she said in an interview with TechCrunch, is that she wouldn’t get up every day and dress in green, blue and gray – so why do our text messages stick to those colors?

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Do you need audio material for your commute during the week – or also for the shower? TechCrunch is here for you. At Equity, the team delved into a range of new Mayfield funds and showcased how Wellthy is helping caregivers feel less overwhelmed and fighting the slowing growth of tech companies. Over at Found, the team spoke to the co-founders of Juliet, who are reinventing wine in boxes. The Chain Reaction team released a bonus episode of a fireside chat with Nadya Tolokonnikova, founder of protest art collective Pussy Riot, at NFT NYC in April 2023. The TechCrunch Podcast covered Google I/O, including the technology, attended talks and demos. To top it off, TechCrunch Live spoke with James Peyer, Co-Founder of Cambrian BioPharma, and Maryanna Saenko, Co-Founder and Partner at Future Ventures, about developing anti-aging therapeutics.

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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:

Visions of a colorful future: How far has the psychedelics medical industry come in the last 12 months? Well, it depends where you look. A recent survey shows that investors and founders are not only looking for attractive opportunities, but are increasingly focused on laying the foundations for an industry that can harness the power of psychedelics to transform lives.

AI’s food hunt: The news of Google’s AI-infused developer event this week makes it clear that we’re on the cusp of a new era in search. After Microsoft integrated OpenAI technology into Bing, Google is experimenting with its own AI technology and opening up new ways of using search. It is clear that the market for finding information on the Internet is being fundamentally transformed for the first time in a long time.

Salesforce relies on generative AI: Salesforce is increasingly investing in generative AI as it shows the technology has the potential to transform the way we interact with software – by allowing us to describe what we want rather than click or to tap.

Get your TechCrunch fix IRL. Join us this September at Disrupt 2023 in San Francisco for a deep dive into all things startup. From headline interviews to intimate roundtables to a jam-packed startup trade show, there’s something for everyone at Disrupt. Save up to $800 when you buy your pass now through May 15, plus save 15% with promo code WIR. Learn more.

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