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Welcome back to Week in Review. I missed you! This week, we’re taking a look at all the gear and announcements from this year’s CES, Meta’s decision to bring back its analytics app, TikTok’s response to workers affected by the California wildfires, and more! Let’s do this.
CES 2025 came and went this week. The event featured keynotes from major players in technology like nvidia, Samsung, toyota, etc. In addition, there were, of course, the expected gadgets, gizmos, and interesting AI claims on the show floor. Our press team was on site, and you can find everything that caught our eye at this year’s show right here.
Meta is updating its content management policy that it created in response to accusations that it helped spread political and health propaganda. The company is removing its own a third-party fact-checking program in favor of an X-like version of Community Notes, which critics see as an attempt to target the incoming Trump administration. The return has been quick, with interest in the search regarding the deletion of Meta accounts to climb.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company is losing its money $200-per-month ChatGPT Pro plan because people are using it more than the company expected. Launched late last year, ChatGPT Pro gives users access to an upgraded version of OpenAI’s o1 “conversational” AI model and raising the bar on several of the company’s tools, such as its Sora video generator.
This is TechCrunch’s Week in Review, where we review the week’s biggest stories. Want this delivered as a letter to your inbox every Saturday? Log in here.
Story
Risks Against the risks of capitalism: TikTok told LA workers affected by the wildfires to use their hours/sick if they can’t work from home. The company’s LA office remains closed as wildfires ravage the greater Los Angeles area. read more
Hello, Project Digits: At CES 2025, Nvidia unveiled Project Digits, an “AI supercomputer” designed for AI researchers, data scientists, and students that provides access to the company’s Grace Blackwell platform in an integrated way. read more
Some more technical problems with Meta: A new post says that Mark Zuckerberg has given the green light to the team behind Meta’s Llama AI AI to use a database of e-books and audiobooks for teaching, including articles from writers like Sarah Silverman and Ta-Nehisi Coates. read more
The robot cat that refreshes your tea: The latest device from Yukai Engineering is the Nékojita FuFu, a small robotic device that is placed on a cup or plate and releases air to cool coffee or soup. read more
X clearly explains his approach to parody stories: X said it will start putting parody accounts on the platform. Users have been mislabeling photo accounts as genuine claims since X rolled out traditional authentication badges to verify payments. read more
AI that mimics the real world: Google is creating a new team to work on AI models that can mimic the physical world. The team will be led by Tim Brooks, who was one of the co-founders of OpenAI’s Sora. He left for Google DeepMind in October. read more
The type of cannabis affected by the cyberattack: Popular Los Angeles cannabis brand Stiiizy confirmed that hackers obtained customer information, including government-issued documents and medical cannabis cards, during a November cyberattack. read more
This electric spoon can make your food taste better: Why add salt to your food when a $127 spoon can do it for you? Kirin Holdings unveiled an electric spoon that uses a weak electric current to illuminate the sodium ion molecules in your food. read more
It’s a lot of money: A Delaware judge has approved a settlement that will see Tesla executives pay $919 million in restitution to the automaker, ending allegations that they paid themselves. read more
The most surprising gadgets at CES 2025: It wouldn’t be CES without notable products, claims, and key moments. We created some very eyebrow-raising models from the bottom of the show. read more
