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Welcome back to the Week in Review. I missed you! This week we’re covering all things gadgets and announcements from this year’s CES, Meta’s decision to end its fact-checking program, TikTok’s response to employees 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, and more. In addition, there were, of course, the expected gadgets, gizmos and interesting AI claims on the show floor. Our press team was on the field, and you can follow everything that caught our eye at this year’s fashion show right here.
Meta is reviewing its content moderation policies which he created in response to criticism that he helped spread political and health misinformation. The company is getting rid of its own third-party fact-checking program in favor of a Xu-like Community Notes model, which critics see as an attempt to pander to the incoming Trump administration. The reaction was quick, with interest in searches related to the deletion of the Meta account rising up.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company is losing money on its own ChatGPT Pro plan from $200 per month because people are using it more than the company expected. Launched late last year, ChatGPT Pro gives users access to an upgraded version OpenAI’s o1 AI “inference” model. and raises the speed limits on several of the company’s other tools, like the Sora video generator.
This is TechCrunch’s roundup of the week, where we summarize the biggest news of the week. Want this delivered to your inbox every Saturday as a newsletter? Apply here.
News
Forest fires against the horrors of capitalism: TikTok told its staff members in LA who were affected by the wildfires to use personal/sick leave 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 figures: At CES 2025, Nvidia unveiled Project Digits, a “personal AI supercomputer” designed for AI researchers, data scientists and students that provides access to the company’s Grace Blackwell hardware platform in a compact form factor. Read more
More copyright issues for Meta: A new filing claims Mark Zuckerberg gave the green light to the team behind Meta’s Llama AI model to use a dataset of pirated e-books and training articles, including works by authors such as Sarah Silverman and Ta-Nehisi Coates. Read more
A robot cat that cools your tea: The latest adorable gadget from Yukai Engineering is the Nékojita FuFu, a tiny robot cat that can be mounted on a cup or bowl and will blow air to help cool your coffee or soup. Read more
X clarifies his stance on parody accounts: X said it will start flagging parody accounts on the platform. Users have been mistaking posts from parody accounts for authentic statements since X ditched traditional verification tags in favor of paid verification. Read more
AI that simulates the real world: Google is forming a new team to work on AI models that can simulate the physical world. The team will be led by Tim Brooks, who was one of the co-leaders of OpenAI’s Sora. In October, he went to Google DeepMind. Read more
Cannabis brand hit by cyber attack: Popular Los Angeles-based cannabis brand Stiiizy has confirmed that hackers accessed sensitive customer information, including government-issued documents and cannabis medical cards, during a November cyber attack. Read more
This electric spoon can make your food tastier: Why add more salt to your meal when a $127 spoon can do it for you? Kirin Holdings has demonstrated an electronic spoon that uses a weak electric current to concentrate sodium ion molecules in your food. Read more
That’s a lot of money: A Delaware judge has approved a settlement that will see Tesla executives repay up to $919 million to the automaker, officially settling allegations that they overpaid themselves. Read more
The strangest gadgets at CES 2025: CES wouldn’t be without some truly daring products, claims and key moments. We’ve rounded up the most eyebrow-raising examples from the showroom. Read more
