TechCrunch Disrupt wrapped up with conversations from Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas, WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg, and Disney star turned space CEO Bridgit Mendler, among others.
Wiz co-founder Assaf Rappaport revealed that the startup declined a $23 billion offer from Alphabet, citing its vision for the cloud security space as a $100 billion opportunity. This decision came after Wiz had a private valuation of $12 billion.
Apple showcased its latest M-series chips and released the new M4 Pro alongside a tiny Mac mini. However, Apple’s desktop accessories transitioned to USB-C without offering an alternative charging solution for the Magic Mouse.
Dropbox laid off 20% of its workforce, citing a “transitional period” and aiming to design a more efficient team structure. The affected employees numbered around 528.
Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas discussed how his company defines plagiarism, emphasizing the importance of citing sources without claiming ownership.
Other notable news included OpenAI’s potential foray into AI chip production, a new marketplace called Arcade AI, and LinkedIn’s AI-powered Hiring Assistant. Bridgit Mendler opened up about her space startup Northwood Space, while Matt Mullenweg discussed his concerns over a potential fork in the open-source WordPress software.
Additional stories covered Olivia Wilde’s venture firm Proximity Ventures, Slice’s successful merger with an Indian bank, and Meta’s release of NotebookLlama, a podcast generation tool. Zoox co-founder Jesse Levinson expressed doubts about Tesla’s robotaxi ambitions due to technological limitations.
The Startup Battlefield 200 competition at TechCrunch Disrupt awarded Salva Health the top prize for its portable AI-powered breast cancer detection device, Julieta.
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/02/why-wiz-really-turned-down-googles-23b-offer