Google Acquires Wiz: Week in Review

This Week's Top Tech Stories

Welcome to this week’s review of the most significant developments in the tech world! We’ll be covering key events, including highlights from Nvidia GTC, the return of NASA astronauts, a notable lawsuit involving Rippling, and Google’s substantial acquisition of Wiz. Let's dive into the details.

Major Acquisitions and Developments

Google Completes Landmark Acquisition: This week marked a pivotal moment for Google, as the company finalized its acquisition of Wiz for a staggering $32 billion. This represents Google’s largest acquisition to date.

Google intends to integrate Wiz as a platform supporting a multicloud environment, ensuring it remains accessible beyond Google’s own cloud services. Previously, Google had offered $23 billion for Wiz last year, demonstrating the value of strategic negotiation.

xAI Expands Capabilities: Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, has acquired Hotshot, a startup specializing in AI-driven video generation technology. This move suggests xAI is actively developing its own video generation models.

The acquisition positions xAI to directly compete with leading video generation platforms such as OpenAI’s Sora and Google’s Veo 2.

Nvidia GTC Announcements

Nvidia’s Key Announcements: Nvidia’s annual GTC conference concluded on Thursday, with TechCrunch providing comprehensive coverage. The company unveiled a range of innovative products and technologies.

These announcements included the introduction of two new personal AI supercomputers, as well as Groot N1, a foundational model designed for humanoid robotics. Furthermore, Nvidia revealed its next-generation GPUs: Blackwell Ultra, Vera Rubin, and Feynman.

Further Details from Nvidia GTC

Groot N1: A foundational model specifically tailored for the development of humanoid robots.
Blackwell Ultra: Represents a significant advancement in GPU technology.
Vera Rubin & Feynman: New GPU architectures designed for diverse computational workloads.

This is TechCrunch’s Week in Review, a summary of the week’s most important tech news. To receive this recap directly in your inbox every Saturday, please subscribe here.

News

Legal battle intensifies: Rippling, a human resources firm, has initiated legal proceedings against Deel, a competitor. The lawsuit alleges racketeering, trade secret misappropriation, and interference with business relations. Deel has formally refuted these claims.

Return from orbit: After a prolonged nine-month mission, two NASA astronauts have safely returned to Earth. Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore descended into the Gulf of Mexico aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule following a 17-hour journey from the International Space Station.

New Smartphone Release

Pixel innovation: Google recently unveiled its latest smartphone, the Pixel 9a. Priced at $499, this device boasts a 6.3-inch Actua display, offering 35% increased brightness compared to the Pixel 8a. A significant design change involves the removal of the camera bar on the rear of the phone.

Data Breach Alert

Security compromise: The Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) has reported a substantial data breach. Sensitive personal information belonging to over 500,000 members was reportedly stolen by hackers.

Account details at risk: The compromised data included member account numbers, PINs, passwords, and security codes, as detailed in a notification sent to those affected by the security incident.

AI and Minecraft

AI creativity tested: A high school student has developed a website, Minecraft Bench (MC-Bench), designed to evaluate the creative capabilities of artificial intelligence. The platform pits two AIs against each other in building challenges within the Minecraft environment.

Programming benchmark: MC-Bench functions as a programming benchmark, requiring AI models to generate code for constructing the requested builds.

Google Inbox Updates

Smarter email search: Google is implementing changes to its email search functionality. Instead of solely relying on chronological order, the system will now leverage AI to prioritize emails.

Relevance over time: Factors such as recent activity, frequently opened emails, and common contacts will influence the order of search results. Users will have the option to switch between “Most relevant” and “Most recent” views.

Robotics Advancement

Humanoid robots enter homes: Interest in humanoid robots for domestic use is growing. Norwegian robotics company 1X plans to initiate in-home testing of its Neo Gamma robot.

Real-world trials: The company intends to deploy Neo Gamma in “a few hundred to a few thousand” households before the end of the year for practical evaluation.

Recent Developments in the Tech Landscape

Nvidia's Position in AI: Currently, Nvidia holds a leading position within the artificial intelligence sector. However, the company is navigating challenges including U.S. tariffs and emerging competition from entities like DeepSeek. Furthermore, evolving requirements from key AI clients are influencing its strategic direction.

During this year's GTC event, Nvidia aimed to reinforce confidence among attendees and the broader industry. The core message was that the demand for its processing chips is expected to remain robust in the foreseeable future.

Wayve's Expansion Strategy

Founded in 2017, Wayve has secured over $1.3 billion in funding in recent years. The company is now transitioning towards a licensing model for its self-driving software.

Wayve intends to offer its autonomous driving technology to both automotive manufacturers and fleet operators, with Uber being a notable potential partner. Alex Kendall, co-founder and CEO of Wayve, expresses optimism regarding the commercialization of the startup’s technology.

Key Takeaways: