Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Welcome to TC PM! Today we learn of multiple tech company layoffs; we get an update on LinkedIn's push into video; and we hear about a man bringing a Polish delicacy to the International Space Station. Blast off!

TechCrunch Top 3

Image Credits: Getty Images

🚗 Cuts at Cruise: Cruise, GM's robotaxi unit, has laid off nearly 50% of its workforce as GM prepares to shut down its operations. Cruise's CEO, chief safety officer, and global head of policy are also departing. Read more

🎉 Apple launches Partiful: Apple launched a new app today called "Invites," which allows iCloud+ members to create and send invitations to events. This seems like Apple's way of taking on the very popular event invitation app Partiful, which already made a dig at Apple on X. Read more

😩 We're doomed: Deepfaked videos can have disastrous consequences if viewers can't tell whether the altered videos are real. ByteDance's OmniHuman-1 model shows that video generators are getting significantly better, which doesn't bode well for trying to keep people safe. Read more

Afternoon must-reads

Image Credits: Ron Miller / TechCrunch

👀 More layoff news: Okta, an identity management company, laid off 180 employees this week, just one year after the company laid off 400 workers. TechCrunch estimates this latest round of cuts affects around 3% of employees. Read more

🤖 Government AI: Thomas Shedd, the director of Technology Transformation Services, outlined an "AI-first" strategy for the government org. Shedd also plans to run the government department like a "startup." So it's going to burn cash? Read more

🎥 LinkedIn leans into video: LinkedIn is reporting that video creation on its platform has gone up 100% compared to last year. Video uploads also increased 36% in the same timeframe. The only video I've watched on LinkedIn was that CEO crying about layoffs. What videos are you watching? Read more

👻 More models: Social media platform Snap released a text-to-image AI model today. The model can produce images in about 1.4 seconds and runs on a mobile device as opposed to a server. The company expects it will help power features on the app in the future. Read more

🚚 Cruise control, not autopilot: TechCrunch's Maxwell Zeff tested OpenAI's new Operator AI agent and found that while it was pretty good at navigating websites and filling out forms, he had to help it more than he thought he would. Read more

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Around the web

🍽️ Scientific marvel: Pierogis in space, I repeat, pierogis in space! Polish astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski has been working with a company to create pierogis that he can bring with him on his mission to the ISS. The real question is: Did they make freeze-dried mushroom gravy? Read more

🙈 No thanks, VCs: Invisible Technologies, an AI clickworker startup, is taking a different approach to VC. While many of its competitors continue to raise larger rounds, Invisible is working on buying out its VCs. Read more