Windows adds support for RAR, Netflix cracks down on passwords, and Meta lays off workers

Welcome, folks, to Week successful Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s regular file that rounds up the week successful tech news. Dunno astir y’all, but it’s felt similar a agelong 1 — and I’m thankful for the extended weekend. For those observing Memorial Day, bash enjoy. Those not, instrumentality the clip disconnected wherever you’re able. We each request remainder present and there.

First, a fewer PSAs.

This week, TechCrunch Live hosted Flint Capital and Sensi.AI, a startup utilizing audio-based bundle to show patients and assistance aesculapian unit and household members with care. To those of you who tuned in, galore thanks. But if you missed it, not to interest — we’ll person the signaling up shortly.

Then, successful September, there’s Disrupt, TC’s yearly conference. Whether you’re a startup rookie learning the ropes, a seasoned capitalist searching for the adjacent large happening oregon a laminitis hell-bent connected changing the world, Disrupt volition present the tools, cognition and connections to assistance you marque it happen.

Now, connected with the news.

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After 28 years, Windows gains RAR support: Devin writes astir Microsoft bringing autochthonal enactment for the RAR archive format to Windows. Miraculously, it took the amended portion of 3 decades for the .rar record to yet beryllium supported successful Windows without immoderate benignant of further software. That’s longer than I’ve been alive, beloved readers — not to day myself!

Netflix begins password crackdown: After a delayed launch, Netflix’s crackdown connected password sharing is present opening to rotation retired to U.S. subscribers and different planetary markets. The streamer had originally planned to introduce “paid sharing” to U.S. subscribers successful the archetypal 4th of this twelvemonth but pushed the commencement day backmost to the summertime aft seeing cancellations successful markets wherever it had already launched the changes.

More layoffs astatine Meta: Meta is waging its latest circular of layoffs connected Wednesday, estimated to interaction astir 6,000 people. These cuts are portion of the company’s alleged Year of Efficiency, successful which Meta is being massively restructured to prevention wealth and flatten the enactment structure.

EU orders Meta suspension: In different Meta news, Meta was deed this week with a ceremonial suspension bid requiring it to halt exporting EU idiosyncratic information to the U.S. for processing. Today, the European Data Protection Board announced that Meta has been fined €1.2 cardinal (close to $1.3 billion), which the Board confirmed is the largest good ever issued nether the bloc’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Meta forced to sell: Meta, dominating the headlines erstwhile again this week, sold Giphy — the animated GIF hunt motor it acquired for $400 million 3 years agone — to Shutterstock. The merchantability wasn’t voluntary, necessarily; 7 months ago, the U.K.’s antitrust authorization issued a last order for Meta to merchantability Giphy, connected the grounds that the merger reduced competition.

WhatsApp adds connection editing: WhatsApp announced 1 of the app’s astir anticipated features this week — connection editing. WhatsApp users tin present modify a connection wrong 15 minutes of sending the message. The edited messages volition person an “edited” tag adjacent to the clip stamp to people the change.

The occupation with paid verification: The fake Pentagon onslaught hoax that went viral this week shows the perils of Twitter’s paid verification scheme. The gist? The operation of paid bluish checks and generative AI makes it each excessively casual to dispersed misinformation — and quickly.

Investing successful India: Amazon plans to put $12.7 cardinal into its unreality concern successful India by 2030, the e-commerce radical said Thursday, arsenic it pushes up to standard up the AWS infrastructure successful the cardinal overseas marketplace astatine a clip erstwhile it has pared backmost respective different services in the region.

Bigger and better: Amazon launched its biggest tablet this week. Called the Fire Max 11, it has an 11-inch screen. The institution is pricing the instrumentality astatine $229.99 — offering a cheaper enactment for users than the 10.9-inch iPad and the caller Pixel tablet with a similar-sized screen.

AI to physique websites: This week astatine its yearly Build conference, Microsoft launched Copilot successful Power Pages — an AI-powered adjunct for Microsoft’s low-code concern website instauration instrumentality — successful a preview for U.S. customers. Given prompts, Copilot tin make text, forms, chatbots and web leafage layouts and tin make and edit representation and tract plan themes.

TechCrunch (virtually) successful Atlanta

On June 7, TechCrunch volition big City Spotlight: Atlanta. We person a slate of astonishing programming planned, including a fireside chat with Ryan Glover, the co-founder of the fintech Greenwood, arsenic good arsenic a sheet that examines the task ecosystem wrong the Atlanta portion and identifies the champion ways to rise and conscionable with section task capitalists. But that’s not all. If you are an early-stage Atlanta-based founder, use to transportation to our sheet of impermanent investors/judges for our unrecorded pitching competition; the victor gets a escaped booth astatine TechCrunch Disrupt this twelvemonth to grounds their institution successful our startup alley. Register here.

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In request of a podcast (or several)? You’ve travel to the close spot — there’s nary shortage of options retired of TC HQ. This week connected Found, the unit was joined by Sarah Sandnes, the co-founder and CTO of SafetyWing, which is creating a planetary information nett for distant workers. TechCrunch Live, meanwhile, featured Mark Rostick from Intel Capital and Garima Kapoor from MinIO, a startup that recovered a niche selling entity retention portion competing straight with Amazon S3.

TechCrunch+

TC+ subscribers get entree to in-depth commentary, investigation 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:

Profitability implicit growth: In this portion by Kate, 5 investors explained their mantra for South Korean startups. Kate spoke to prime investors who marque investments successful the South Korean marketplace to perceive their predictions for 2023, their concern strategy, which sectors excite them and more.

Cybersecurity downturn: Alex writes astir how, connected the backmost of beauteous beardown net reports and valuations, nationalist cybersecurity companies are outperforming the broader exertion segment. Yet, backing for cybersecurity startups has flatlined.

Startups successful the endeavor AI race: Another portion by Alex explores whether startups person a changeable successful endeavor AI. Given however lucrative selling bundle to ample corporations tin prove, helium notes, the players aren’t chasing a tiny market.