Welcome to this week’s review. This week, we break down Bluesky’s massive user spike, Elon Musk co-leading President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, and Mark Zuckerberg’s latest foray into extreme wife-and-man behavior. Let’s go.
Bluesky has seen a significant surge as X users become dissatisfied with the platform’s latest policy decisions and migrate to competing social networks. The decentralized social media platform has grown to more than 16 million users, including Swifties. If you’re making the switch, or at least want to see if the grass is greener (or greener) on the other side, we’ve put together a guide on how to get started.
Tesla’s Cybertruck is facing its sixth recall in a year, affecting 2,431 vehicles. The trucks were found to have or had been equipped with defective drive inverters, according to Tesla’s report. Unlike October’s Cybertruck recall, which was resolved with an over-the-air update, Tesla will need to physically replace the drive inverters covered by this latest recall. The EV maker said it would do this for free.
Elon Musk will co-lead President-elect Donald Trump’s Office of Government Efficiency, whose acronym comes from Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency. Musk will lead the department alongside biotech entrepreneur and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, helping the Trump administration “dismantle bureaucracy, reduce excessive regulation, reduce wasteful spending, and restructure federal agencies.” do.
This is TechCrunch’s Week in Review, where we recap the biggest news of the week. Want this as a newsletter delivered to your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here.
news
Mark Zuckerberg 🤝 T-Pain: Mark Zuckerberg asked to write and record an acoustic cover of Lil Jon and the East Side Boys’ “Get Low” as a gift for his wife Priscilla Chan I asked T-Pain. Note that he actually sings the infamous “to the window, to the wall” lyric. read more
Standing desks aren’t as healthy as you think: Sorry standing desk users, but a new study shows that standing for more than two hours a day doesn’t protect against cardiovascular disease risk and actually It has been found to increase the risk of circulatory problems. read more
Talk Tuah Dating Coach: Social media star Haliey Welch launches Pookie Tools, an AI-powered dating advice app for Gen Z singles. The app’s chatbot helps start conversations, and another tool predicts whether a potential match is close to your height. read more
Writer raises $200 million: This generative AI startup has raised $200 million at a $1.9 billion valuation to expand its platform. CEO May Habib said the new funding will be used for product development and “establishing the company’s leadership in the enterprise-generated AI category.” read more
Amazon takes on Temu: Amazon is looking to better compete with hugely popular competitors Temu and Shein with Amazon Haul, a storefront offering discounted, bulk-produced goods, most of which are shipped from China. We have expanded our store. read more
Just Eat sells Grubhub: The Netherlands-based food delivery company is selling Grubhub to Wonder Group in a deal worth $650 million. That’s 91% less than the $7.3 billion Just Eat Takeaway paid for the company just four years ago. read more
SBF is heading to the big screen. Lena Dunham is working with Apple and A24 on the film adaptation of Michael Lewis’ book Going Infinite, about the life of Sam Bankman-Freed and the fall of FTX. Now, I’m curious who will be cast as SBF… Continue reading
Get ready to see more AI video masterpieces: InVideo launches AI-powered generative video creation feature that lets you use prompts to create videos in a variety of styles, including live-action, animation, and animation . read more
Apple’s wall-mounted tablet: Apple reportedly plans to release a wall-mounted tablet to control smart home appliances and make video calls as early as March 2025. Of course, this device will come with Apple Intelligence. read more
Ads are coming to Perplexity: The AI-powered search engine is experimenting with ads. The site will initially run ads in the U.S., where the ads will be formatted as “sponsored follow-up questions” from partners such as Indeed, Whole Foods, Universal McCann and PMG. read more
You can now play “Hot Cross Buns” on your mobile phone. Artinoise’s latest product is a reimagining of the classic plastic recorder. This portable device can be connected to a smartphone, tablet, or PC with a USB-C port, effectively turning it into a musical instrument. read more
