Week in Review:  Meta reveals its Oakley smart glasses

Welcome again to Week in Assessment! Heaps in retailer for you immediately, together with Wix’s newest acquisition, Meta’s new good glasses, a have a look at the brand new Digg, and far more. Have a terrific weekend!

Good specs: Meta and Oakley have teamed up on a new pair of smart glasses that may document 3K video, play music, deal with calls, and reply to Meta AI prompts. They begin at $399 and have double the battery lifetime of Meta’s Ray-Bans. A $499 limited-edition Oakley Meta HSTN mannequin will probably be accessible beginning July 11.

Unicorn watch: Wix bought 6-month-old solo startup Base44 for $80 million in money after it shortly gained traction as a no-code AI software for constructing net apps. Created by a single founder and already worthwhile, Base44’s speedy rise made scooping it up irresistible.

Sand to the rescue: Finland simply turned on the world’s largest sand battery — sure, precise sand — which shops warmth to assist energy the small city of Pornainen’s heating system and lower its carbon emissions. The low-tech, low-cost system is constructed from discarded hearth soapstone, is housed in an enormous silo, and might retailer warmth for weeks, proving you don’t want fancy lithium to battle local weather change. You simply want a pile of sizzling rocks.

That is TechCrunch’s Week in Assessment, the place we recap the week’s largest information. Need this delivered as a e-newsletter to your inbox each Saturday? Sign up here.

Information

We’re again, child: VanMoof is back from the brink with the S6, its first e-bike since chapter — and it’s sticking to its signature customized design, regardless of that being what almost killed the corporate. Backed by McLaren tech and a beefed-up restore community, the brand new VanMoof guarantees smoother rides, smarter options, and (hopefully) fewer stranded cyclists.

House lasers: Baiju Bhatt, finest recognized for co-founding Robinhood, is now building lasers in space. His new startup, Aetherflux, has raised $60 million to show that beaming solar energy from orbit isn’t a fantasy, with a demo satellite tv for pc set to launch subsequent 12 months and early backing from the Division of Protection.

Oh no: One in every of SpaceX’s Starship rockets exploded during a test in Texas, seemingly pushing again the car’s subsequent launch, which had been tentatively set for June 29. SpaceX says the blast, attributable to a pressurized tank failure, didn’t injure anybody, however it’s yet one more setback in a rocky 12 months for the corporate’s bold mega-rocket program.

That lossless feeling: Spotify’s long-awaited lossless audio tier nonetheless hasn’t launched, however fresh hints buried in the latest app code recommend that it’s underneath energetic improvement and might be nearer than ever. However with years of delays and no official timeline, followers may need to mood their pleasure till Spotify confirms the rollout.

I can Digg it: Digg’s reboot has entered alpha testing with a fresh iOS app geared toward turning into an AI-era Reddit different. The app provides a clear, easy design with curated communities, AI-powered article summaries, and gamified options like “Gems” and every day leaderboards.

We wish you: The U.S. Navy is speeding up how it works with startups, chopping purple tape and zeroing in on actual wins like saved time and higher morale. Division of the Navy CTO Justin Fanelli says it’s main with issues, looking for game-changing tech in AI, GPS, and system upgrades. And with Silicon Valley lastly paying consideration, the Navy’s turning into a go-to associate for innovators able to shake issues up.

Money ain’t king: Mark Zuckerberg is throwing out huge money — as much as $100 million — to lure top AI talent from OpenAI and DeepMind. However OpenAI’s Sam Altman says none of his key individuals have bitten, praising his crew’s mission over cash. In the meantime, OpenAI retains pushing forward with new AI fashions and even hints at launching an AI-powered social app that might outpace Meta’s personal shaky makes an attempt.

Earlier than you go

San Francisco’s newest startup saga? Cluely’s after-party for YC’s AI Startup College blew up on Twitter, drawing 2,000 celebration crashers, however it turned the “most legendary party that never happened” after getting shut down by cops earlier than a single drink was spilled. Founder Roy Lee’s viral advertising and marketing might have promised chaos, however the actual celebration’s ready. Possibly as soon as the climate warms up?