OpenAI unleashes GPT-4 and SVB files for bankruptcy, PE acquires Pornhub

Welcome to the Week in Review, folks, TechCrunch’s usual round-up of the week in tech. GPT-4, OpenAI’s text and image understanding artificial intelligence, may have dominated the headlines over the past few days. But there has also been a new drama about the collapse of the Silicon Valley bank.

We’re covering all of that and more in this edition, so grab a coffee and settle down.

Quick note Techcrunch early stage 2023 fast approaching. It will be in Boston on April 20 and feature three simultaneous tracks of advanced founder workshops, case studies, and deep dives with experts in tech entrepreneurship. Moreover, mark your calendar for Techcrunch disrupt 2023, which will be held in San Francisco from September 19-21. And, as always, it will be stuffed with roundtables, firefights, Q&As, and performances from leading figures in their fields. You don’t want to miss her.

Now, to the news.

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OpenAI debuts GPT-4: After much anticipation, OpenAI, the AI ​​startup with heavy backing from Microsoft, is finally getting its hands on it released A powerful new AI model called GPT-4. GPT-4 can generate text, accept image and text input – an improvement over its predecessor, which only accepted text – and operates on a “human level” on various parameters. But GPT-4 is not perfect. Like most other generative AI scripts, the model “rambles” facts and makes logical errors—sometimes overconfidently.

Microsoft does everything on AI: Leveraging the latest technologies from OpenAI, including GPT-4, Microsoft has launched new AI-powered features across its suite of productivity tools under the Copilot brand. The co-pilot performs different tasks depending on the application in which it is used. For example, in Word, Copilot writes, edits, summarizes, and composes text; In PowerPoint and Excel, Copilot turns natural language commands into tailored presentations and data visualizations; And in Power Apps, Copilot helps improve ideas for low-code programs.

SVB files for bankruptcy: after a week Trading halted For SVB Financial and beyond The organizers took control From the holding company of Silicon Valley Bank and other subsidiaries, SVB Financial has taken the inevitable next step. On Friday, the bank announce It has officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. This means that SVB Financial can apply – and plans to apply – to the courts to resume activities while it searches for buyers for its assets, which includes moving forward with its plan to sell SVB Securities and SVB Capital.

YouTube TV gets too expensive: In a move sure to upset cord-cutters, YouTube owns it announce They’re raising the YouTube TV subscription price to $72.99 per month — an increase of $8 from the current $64.99 monthly fee. The Google-owned company blames the change on rising “content costs”. (Perhaps not coincidentally, YouTube TV lately Announce a streaming deal with NFL Sunday Ticketwhich is said to be worth $2 billion per season).

Through the acquisition of Citymapper: Transfer start viaraised recently $110 million at $3.5 billion Evaluation, has been hijacked sitemapper, a London startup that produces the popular urban mapping app of the same name. Originally it made a name for itself as a file An alternative to applications such as Google Maps For consumers planning urban trips using public transportation, it can be said that Citymapper hasn’t really been able to build on its early momentum and promise.

Baidu’s ChatGPT competitor: In other AI news this week, Ernie Bot, Chinese search giant Baidu’s answer to ChatGPT, was underwhelmed. TechCrunch wasn’t able to give it a try, but industry watchers in and out of China pointed to the fact that rather than show Ernie through a live demo, Baidu chose to offer a lengthy presentation with pre-recordings of Ernie’s answers. The company’s shares fell as much as 10% in Hong Kong after Lee’s offer.

Pornhub meets private equity: MindGeek – owner of several adult entertainment sites, including Pornhub, Brazzers and Redtube – was acquired In a Canadian private equity firm, Moral Capital Partners (ECP). The acquisition comes after a rocky few years for the adult film giant. MindGeek CEO Feras Antoun and COO David Tassilo left the company in June 2022. MindGeek is also currently in the middle of Multiples Lawsuits who claims to have knowingly profited from child sexual abuse material.

Customer dish in the dark: Dish customers are still searching for answers two weeks after the US satellite TV giant was hit by a ransomware attack. In a public filing posted on February 28, Dish confirmed that ransomware was responsible for the ongoing outage and warned that hackers have been stealing data, which “may include” customers’ personal information, from its systems. But Dish hasn’t provided a substantive update since then, though customers continue to experience issues — and not knowing if their personal data is at risk.

My voice

TechCrunch’s podcast is getting more and more consistent by the hour. (Rejoice, those who travel long distances.) This week after justiceAnd Alex And Natasha Discuss the mergers and acquisitions that acquired Qualtrics, Cvent, and Mint Mobile, as well as what followed the collapse of SVB and GPT-4 and why Y Combinator is regressing from the late stage. in more than is foundwhile, Amanda And Daryl I spoke with Teddy Solomon, co-founder of Fizz, a social media app aimed at college students focused on building community on campus. The interview touched on what Gen Z is looking for in their social media, how to run a platform like Fizz and how this type of community building can transcend college.

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Rethink failure points: Natasha M He writes about how, in light of the collapse of SVB, perhaps founders should rethink entrusting one person with leading their business to success. I surveyed a number of early-stage founders who are building companies that have collected Category A or lower to understand how they think about succession. The consensus is that it’s not at the top of the list, or even at the top of the list, in a world where founders focus more on runway and product-market fit and growth.

Stranger things are afoot at Unearthly Materials: Tim Reports on Unearthly Materials, a startup that claimed to have big investors behind its technology that could lead to a breakthrough in superconductors. But as it turns out, those investors weren’t all on board, especially given Unearthly Materials’ questionable track record.

Good news for software companies: Depressed from this week’s news? Alex He writes that not everything is dreary. Some software companies are doing very well during the broader tech industry meltdown — at least, if their earnings reports are still in play.