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Hello, everyone, and welcome to Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s regular newsletter, rounding up the top tech and tech-related stories from the past few days. The holidays are approaching and reporters are expecting a quieter week. But the opposite is true – there is no shortage of stories to write.
In this issue of WiR, we report on Comcast and Messrs. Cooper stealing customer data, e-scooter company Bird filing for bankruptcy, Adobe ending its Figma acquisition plan, and Apple suspended by the International Trade Commission (ITC) and forced to cease operations sales etc. Electric scooter Apple Watch. We also look at Nikola founder Trevor Milton’s securities fraud conviction, Microsoft’s Copilot chatbot getting music-generating capabilities, and Consumer Reports’ take on Tesla’s Autopilot recall resolution (spoiler: it’s not good).
It’s a lot to get through, so we’ll hop to it. But first, a reminder to sign up here to receive WiR in your inbox every Saturday if you haven’t already done so.
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Hackers target Comcast: Comcast has confirmed that hackers exploiting a critical-rated security vulnerability accessed the sensitive information of almost 36 million Xfinity customers. The vulnerability, known as “CitrixBleed,” is found in Citrix networking devices often used by big corporations and has been under mass exploitation by malicious actors since August, Carly reports.
Mr. Cooper under fire: In related news, hackers stole the sensitive personal information of over 14.6 million Mr. Cooper customers, Zack writes. The mortgage and loan giant confirmed that the criminals stole customer names, addresses, dates of birth and phone numbers, as well as Social Security numbers and bank account numbers.
Adobe gives up: Adobe’s $20 billion mega-bid to buy rival Figma is now officially dead after the companies said this week that regulatory pushback in Europe caused them to end their acquisition plans. First announced in September last year, the deal was always going to attract regulatory scrutiny due to the size of the transaction and the fact that it took one of Adobe’s major rivals out of the picture, notes Paul.
Apple halts Apple Watch sales: Apple has halted the sale of its Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatch following an October ruling by the ITC owing to a patent dispute with California-based med tech firm Masimo. The dispute is over the blood sensor monitor on the latest flagship Apple Watches; Apple is appealing the ITC’s ruling.
Nikola founder sentenced: Trevor Milton, the disgraced founder and former CEO of electric truck startup Nikola, was sentenced on Monday to four years in prison for securities fraud. Rebecca writes that the sentence caps off a multi-year saga that at one point sent Nikola stock soaring 83% only to come crashing down months later over accusations of fraud and canceled contracts.
Copilot gets music writing skills: Microsoft’s AI-powered chatbot, Microsoft Copilot, can now compose songs thanks to an integration with generative AI (GenAI) music app Suno. Users can enter prompts into Copilot like “Create a pop song about adventures with your family” and have Suno, via a plug-in, bring their musical ideas to life.
Tesla fix “insufficient”: Following tests, Consumer Reports says Tesla’s fix for its Autopilot recall of over 2 million vehicles is “insufficient.” While the testing isn’t comprehensive, Sean notes, it shows questions remain unanswered about Tesla’s approach to driver monitoring — the tech at the heart of the recall.
Bird files for bankruptcy: Bird has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, capping off a turbulent year for the electric scooter company. In a press release, Bird confirmed it had entered into a “financial restructuring process aimed at strengthening its balance sheet,” with the company continuing to operate as normal in pursuit of “long-term, sustainable growth.”
Need some listening material while prepping a holiday dish — or to tune out especially bothersome relatives? You’re in luck — TechCrunch’s podcasts will fit the bill.
On this week’s Equity, the second of a two-part series looking back at 2023, the crew recapped the fall of Silicon Valley Bank, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s long and tedious trial and OpenAI’s wild internal politicking.
Meanwhile, Found focused on Charlie Hernández and his journey of building My Pocket Lawyer, an online platform that’s meant to democratize access to legal advice and guidance for those who might not be able to afford a lawyer. Hernández talked about why he decided to put his law degree to use to tackle this problem.
And Chain Reaction featured Staci Warden, the CEO of the Algorand Foundation, the organization behind the layer-1 blockchain Algorand. Algorand is a Singapore-based blockchain that aims to be fast, secure, decentralized and “the greenest” with its carbon-negative network.
