Sunday, May 12, 2024

Image Credits: Apple

Apple announced new iPad Pro devices this week, as well as a new M4 chip, but it was an Apple commercial that got the most attention — one where everything from paint buckets to a piano to an arcade game gets spectacularly crushed, leaving only an iPad Pro in their place.

TechCrunch’s Devin Coldewey was one of many observers to criticize the commercial. As he noted, the ad itself is reasonably well-executed, even amusing, but the underlying message felt off: “Does your child like music? They don’t need a harp; throw it in the dump. An iPad is good enough.”

Maybe a commercial like this would have come off as harmless fun a decade ago, but it feels tone-deaf at a time when anxiety is growing around the way technology has transformed culture, not to mention what might be around the corner with AI.

The backlash was strong enough that the company canceled plans to air the ad on television, and Apple’s VP of marketing later said it had missed the mark. But don’t worry: You can still preorder those new iPads.

Read on to see what TechCrunch has been covering this weekend.

Weekend news and opinion

Image Credits: SAUL LOEB/AFP / Getty Images

Tesla’s Supercharger network is in limbo: Elon Musk laid off Tesla’s entire Supercharger division in April, then said the company will spend $500 million to expand and upgrade its network of fast-charging stations. How will it do so without a team in place? Tim De Chant doesn’t answer the question definitively, but he helps us understand the context with a deep dive into the network’s history and future. Read More

Humanity triumphs at the AI Film Festival: Kyle Wiggers attended the second annual AI Film Festival (put on by generative AI startup Runway) and returned surprisingly hopeful that “AI isn’t hastening in a blob future.” Even when a movie incorporates AI, it seems that the human touch — whether in the form of a well-written script or a convincing voice performance — makes all the difference. Read More

Motional cuts around 40% of its employees: Autonomous vehicle maker Motional laid off around 550 employees, according to filings and company sources. As Rebecca Bellan reports, one employee told TechCrunch that every team has been affected, with the company’s chief operating officer departing. Read More

Emerging venture funds could face a reckoning: Christine Hall looks at the emerging venture fund landscape — of the 10,000+ funds currently trying to raise money (according to PitchBook), more than 45% are run by emerging fund managers. With more firms fighting for less money, we can probably expect many of these funds to fail, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Read More

What else we’re reading

Image Credits: Getty Images / PM Images

While pregnant with her second child, the New Yorker’s Jia Tolentino decided to conduct an unusual experiment: She didn’t Google anything pregnancy-related, didn’t buy any pregnancy-related goods online or with a credit card, and didn’t look at pregnancy accounts or forums. The goal? To avoid alerting any data brokers or internet giants that she was pregnant. Read More

Also, New York Times columnist Kevin Roose spent a month hanging out with 18 (!) AI companions, and he had some nice things to say about them. Read More