OceanGate fires a whistleblower, hackers threaten to leak Reddit data, and Marvel embraces the art of AI

Image credits: OceanGate Inc. under license.

Hello dear ones, and welcome to Week in Review (WiR), the periodic TechCrunch newsletter that summarizes the week in technology. For many people, this work week has been a shorter day, thanks to Monday’s observance of Juneteenth. But many have happened.

We have coverage of the OceanGate tragedy and have continued to closely follow the Reddit API controversy which shows no signs of abating. Elsewhere, TC has a full review of the new Google Pixel Tablet (spoiler alert: the bundled dock is a major highlight), and we’ve got the skinny on Microsoft’s quantum plans and more.

If you haven’t already, sign up here to get WiR delivered to your inbox every Saturday. Then read on for the weeks summary.

The most read

OceanGate Fired Whistleblower: The director of maritime operations at OceanGate, the company whose submersible went missing on Sunday during a Titanic expedition in the North Atlantic, has been fired after voicing concerns about its first carbon fiber hull and other systems ahead of its maiden voyage , according to a court filing in a 2018 lawsuit.

Hackers threaten to leak Reddit data: Hackers are threatening to release stolen confidential data from Reddit unless the company pays a ransom note and reverses controversial API price hikes. In a post on its dark web leak site, the BlackCat ransomware gang, also known as ALPHV, claims it stole 80 gigabytes of compressed data from Reddit during a February breach of the company’s systems.

The protests on Reddit continue:In more Reddit news, more subreddits are adopting alternative methods to protest the aforementioned API changes, such as only posting to one post type, changing the featured topic, and community going private days. Many of these communities have been part of a blackout since June 1214 to protest API rule changes, which could effectively kill off a number of third-party apps.

Google Pixel tablet review: Brian reviews the new Pixel Tablet, Google’s first one-minute attempt at a tablet form factor Android device. The verdict? The so-so slate is greater than the sum of its parts with the addition of a bundled smart home dock. Read on for the rest of his impressions.

Microsoft is serious about quantum: This week, Microsoft announced its roadmap for building a quantum supercomputer, using the topological qubits that the company’s researchers have been working on for some time. There are still many milestones to be achieved. But the company believes it will take less than 10 years to build a quantum supercomputer using these qubits.

WhatsApp Gets Auto Mute: WhatsApp has introduced a new feature to automatically silence calls from unknown numbers. It comes after several customers in India, the largest chat app market with more than 500 million users, complained of an increase in spam calls over the past year.

Marvel AI Art Controversy: Marvel’s latest series, Secret Invasion, made its debut on Disney+ this week sparking backlash after it was confirmed that the introductory sequence was generated by artificial intelligence. Method Studios, the VFX company responsible for the graphics, told The Hollywood Reporter, “No artists’ work has been replaced by incorporating these new tools, but that hasn’t stopped many artists from taking to Twitter their frustrations.”

Board members leave Byjus: Global giant Deloitte stepped down as Byjus’ auditor on Thursday and three board members resigned from India’s most valuable startup, sending a shockwave through the industry a year after belated financial reports from Indian companies drew global attention.

Audio

Need a podcast to get you through your commute or just a lazy Sunday afternoon? TechCrunch has you covered. There is definitely something appealing to the stability of the Top Contributors’ audio content.

This week’s episode of Found featured Web Sun, co-founder and president of Komodo Health, a startup that uses data to create a comprehensive map of the US healthcare system. Web opened up about what drove him into entrepreneurship and how mutual friends introduced him to his co-founder, thinking they’d get along (they didn’t know!). He also talked about navigating fundraising during the bull market and layoffs, a timely topic to be sure.

TechCrunch+

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

European and Israeli unicorns: Accel partner Harry Nelis writes about how, over the past two decades, we have seen a slew of strong founders and players emerge in Europe and Israel, building innovative products and category-defining unicorn companies that now compete on the global stage.

Coinbase, the next super app: As cryptocurrency markets continue to face uncertainty, Coinbases CEO Brian Armstrong sees greater potential for growth in the digital asset ecosystem. Over the next five to seven years, Armstrong’s vision for Coinbase is to turn it into a super app, referring to apps like WeChat and Alipay, used for messaging, commerce, banking, loans, payments, and even ordering. food.

Artificial Intelligence Infiltrates Crowdsourced Work: A new paper from researchers at the Swiss university EPFL suggests that between 33% and 46% of crowd workers deployed on Amazon Mechanical Turk appear to have cheated when performing a particular task assigned to them, using tools like ChatGPT to do some of the work. Work. If this practice is widespread, it could turn out to be quite a serious problem, writes Haje.

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