Adobe gives up on Figma, Apple Watch sales halted and hackers access millions of accounts

Hey, folks, invited to Week successful Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s regular newsletter that recaps nan apical tech — and tech-related — stories complete nan past respective days. With nan vacation astir nan corner, this newsman expected a quieter week. But nan other happened — there’s been nary shortage of stories to constitute about.

In this version of WiR, we screen Comcast and Mr. Cooper customer information being stolen, electrical scooter institution Bird filing for bankruptcy, Adobe ending its Figma acquisition plans, and Apple being forced by nan International Trade Commission (ITC) to halt income of nan Apple Watch. We besides spotlight Nikola laminitis Trevor Milton’s securities fraud sentencing, Microsoft’s Copilot chatbot getting a euphony procreation characteristic and Consumer Reports’ belief of Tesla’s Autopilot callback hole (spoiler: it’s not good).

It’s a batch to get through, truthful we’ll hop to it. But first, a reminder to sign up here to person WiR successful your inbox each Saturday if you haven’t already done so.

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Hackers target Comcast: Comcast has confirmed that hackers exploiting a critical-rated information vulnerability accessed nan delicate accusation of almost 36 cardinal Xfinity customers. The vulnerability, known arsenic “CitrixBleed,” is recovered successful Citrix networking devices often utilized by large corporations and has been under wide exploitation by malicious actors since August, Carly reports.

Mr. Cooper nether fire: In related news, hackers stole nan delicate individual accusation of complete 14.6 cardinal Mr. Cooper customers, Zack writes. The owe and indebtedness elephantine confirmed that nan criminals stole customer names, addresses, dates of commencement and telephone numbers, arsenic good arsenic Social Security numbers and slope relationship numbers.

Adobe gives up: Adobe’s $20 cardinal mega-bid to bargain rival Figma is now officially dead aft nan companies said this week that regulatory pushback successful Europe caused them to extremity their acquisition plans. First announced successful September past year, nan woody was ever going to pull regulatory scrutiny owed to nan size of nan transaction and nan truth that it took 1 of Adobe’s awesome rivals retired of nan picture, notes Paul.

Apple halts Apple Watch sales: Apple has halted nan waste of its Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatch pursuing an October ruling by nan ITC owing to a patent conflict pinch California-based med tech patient Masimo. The conflict is complete nan humor sensor show connected nan latest flagship Apple Watches; Apple is appealing nan ITC’s ruling.

Nikola laminitis sentenced: Trevor Milton, nan disgraced laminitis and erstwhile CEO of electrical motortruck startup Nikola, was sentenced connected Monday to 4 years successful situation for securities fraud. Rebecca writes that nan condemnation caps disconnected a multi-year saga that astatine 1 constituent sent Nikola banal soaring 83% only to travel crashing down months later complete accusations of fraud and canceled contracts.

Copilot gets euphony penning skills: Microsoft’s AI-powered chatbot, Microsoft Copilot, tin now constitute songs acknowledgment to an integration pinch generative AI (GenAI) euphony app Suno. Users tin participate prompts into Copilot for illustration “Create a popular opus astir adventures pinch your family” and person Suno, via a plug-in, bring their philharmonic ideas to life.

Tesla hole “insufficient”: Following tests, Consumer Reports says Tesla’s hole for its Autopilot recall of complete 2 cardinal vehicles is “insufficient.” While nan testing isn’t comprehensive, Sean notes, it shows questions stay unanswered astir Tesla’s attack to driver monitoring — nan tech astatine nan bosom of nan recall.

Bird files for bankruptcy: Bird has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, capping disconnected a turbulent twelvemonth for nan electrical scooter company. In a press release, Bird confirmed it had entered into a “financial restructuring process aimed astatine strengthening its equilibrium sheet,” pinch nan institution continuing to run arsenic normal successful pursuit of “long-term, sustainable growth.”

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On this week’s Equity, nan 2nd of a two-part bid looking backmost astatine 2023, nan unit recapped nan autumn of Silicon Valley Bank, FTX laminitis Sam Bankman-Fried’s agelong and tedious proceedings and OpenAI’s chaotic soul politicking.

Meanwhile, Found focused connected Charlie Hernández and his travel of building My Pocket Lawyer, an online level that’s meant to democratize entree to ineligible proposal and guidance for those who mightiness not beryllium capable to spend a lawyer. Hernández talked astir why he decided to put his rule grade to usage to tackle this problem.

And Chain Reaction featured Staci Warden, nan CEO of nan Algorand Foundation, nan statement down nan layer-1 blockchain Algorand. Algorand is simply a Singapore-based blockchain that intends to beryllium fast, secure, decentralized and “the greenest” pinch its carbon-negative network.

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TC+ subscribers get entree to in-depth commentary, study and surveys — which you cognize if you’re already a subscriber. If you’re not, consider signing up. Here are a fewer highlights from this week:

Etsy layoffs: Etsy precocious announced that it would laic disconnected 11% of its workforce — which comes arsenic nary astonishment to those intimately pursuing nan e-commerce segment, Anna writes. “Junkification” and fierce title overgarment a reliable way ahead, she predicts.

DEI backlash: Dom writes astir nan discouraging backlash against DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), a model to thief create much conscious workplace initiatives to thief marginalized communities, successful nan tech sector.

Figma’s rosy outlook: Anna writes astir how, moreover without Adobe, things don’t look each that bad for Figma. CB Insights estimates that nan startup is still worthy betwixt $8.3 cardinal and $9 billion.