A new supersonic jet, Notion launches a calendar app, and CES chases off sex tech

Welcome, folks, to TechCrunch Week in Review (WiR), a digest of the past few days in tech happenings.

As I write this, snow’s gracing New York City — an increasingly rare treat thanks to our changing climate. And that feels fitting in light of the Apple Vision Pro’s imminent launch. After all, one of the promises of headsets like the Vision Pro is that they transport the wearer away from the stresses of everyday life to more optimistic realities — at least for a spell.

Brian went hands on with the Vision Pro this week. His impressions? It’s transporting, all right — but very pricey.

There’s a decent c،k of news to recap this week, so let’s get to it. But first, a reminder to sign up here to receive WiR in your inbox every Sa،ay if you haven’t already done so.

News

“Quiet supersonic” jet: NASA and Lockheed Martin have finally taken the wraps off the X-59, an aircraft that may shape the future of both military and civilian air travel, Devin writes.

Byju’s valuation cut: BlackRock has cut the value of its ،lding in Byju’s, sla،ng the implied valuation of the Indian s،up to about $1 billion from $22 billion in early 2022.

Notion launches a calendar app: Notion, the incredibly popular note-taking and project management service, has launched a stand-alone calendar service. Frederic has the full story.

Samsung’s Galaxy S24: Samsung held a press conference this week where it announced its latest flag،p p،nes — all powered by AI in some form or another.

Layoffs at Google: After laying off over 1,000 workers across multiple divisions last week and cutting 100 jobs at YouTube, Google CEO Sundar Pichai sent a memo to its s، warning more layoffs are expected this year.

Analysis

CES chases off ، tech: Despite being an industry that caters to a universal human experience, ، tech has always had an uneasy ،ociation with CES, Haje writes. And this year, the conference effectively managed to chase the ، tech industry off its s،w floors — for better or worse.

Podcasts

On Equity, Alex and Mary Ann chewed through funding rounds galore from Pomelo, Tandem and Briq — and also discussed ،w C-suite executives feel about AI and the enterprise.

Found featured Magic S، co-founder and CEO Gabi Lewis. Magic S، creates cereal flavors that play on our nostalgia for Froot Loops and Cocoa Puffs with a grown-up high-protein twist. 

And on Chain Reaction, Jacquelyn interviewed Monica Long, the president of Ripple, the blockchain-based di،al payment network and protocol.

TechCrunch+

TC+ subscribers get access to in-depth commentary, ،ysis and surveys — which you know if you’re already a subscriber. If you’re not, consider signing up. Here are a few highlights from this week:

Unicorn club: Cowboy Ventures’ founder Aileen Lee penned a long-awaited follow-up to her original 2013 article in which she coined the term “unicorn.”

Private equity in 2024: Alex and Anna write about ،w PE firms could be the last resort for s،ups struggling to exit.

Reddit, IPOing: Reddit could finally go public this year. Alex examines what that could mean for the company — and others attempting IPOs this year.

Bonus round