Hello friends! Welcome back to Week in Review, where every Saturday we round up a handful of the best londonbusinessblog.com stories from the past seven days. Want it in your inbox? Get it here!
This week marked the in-person return of londonbusinessblog.com Disrupt, with our team bringing the show back to the real world completely virtually after two years. It was a great show, with appearances from the likes of tennis legend (became investor) Serena Williams, comedian (became investor!) Kevin Hart, Lyft co-founder John Zimmer, and Figma CEO Dylan Field. Congratulations Minerva Lithium on winning the Startup Battlefield competition!
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Google’s ping pong robot“As if it wasn’t enough to make AI tan humanity’s skin (figuratively for now) on every board game in existence,” Devin writes, “Google AI has one working to destroy us all at Ping-Pong. “
Elon expects huge layoffs at Twitter: Musk reportedly wants to cut up to 75% of Twitter’s workforce — about 5,600 jobs — if/when his takeover of the company goes through. That number seems rather absurd. Even much smaller layoffs have an even bigger effect on things like team morale and productivity – just imagine how much knowledge/insight disappears when the majority is released from a company.
Kanye West buys Parler: Well, that’s a headline I would never, never, never have predicted. “Kanye West, the rapper who also goes by the name Ye, has reached an agreement to purchase the ‘uncashable platform for free speech’ Parler,” Manish writes, “in an effort [the involved parties say] will help individuals express their conservative views freely.”
Stability AI raises $101 million: The company behind the AI-powered image generator Stable Diffusion and the music-generating system Dance Diffusion has raised $101 million against a reported valuation of $1 billion.
Netflix explores cloud gaming: Just as Google is giving up its cloud gaming efforts, Netflix is diving in. Speaking to Disrupt this week, Netflix’s VP Gaming said the company is “seriously investigating a cloud gaming offering,” and said Google’s blinded attempt was a “technical success.” with “business model issues.”
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Here’s what’s going on in TC podcastland this week:
- Equity was live and personal! After years in pandemic mode, the Equity crew (Alex, Natasha and Mary Ann) kicked off Disrupt by recording a show in person For the first time.
- on Found itDarrell and Jordan caught up with Jerrica Kirkley and Matthew Wetschler and learned the story of Plume, their telehealth company that focuses on transgender care.
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What did TC+ members read most behind the paywall? Here’s a look:
2023 VC Predictions: What will venture capital look like in 2023 after a few wild years of ups and downs? Unlike Capital founder Eric Tarczynski weighs in.
Ron Explores Celonis and His $13 Billion Valuation: Celonis may not be a name everyone recognizes… but the 11-year-old data processing company has managed to raise billions of dollars in the past few years alone. What are they doing so well? Ron Miller takes us on a deep dive.
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