Welcome to this week’s edition of Week in Review, where we recap the biggest news stories. This week, we’re covering OpenAI’s decision to cancel the release of o3, TikTok’s return to U.S. app stores, the latest developments in Elon Musk’s bid to acquire OpenAI, and more. Let’s dive in.

OpenAI Shifts Focus from o3 to a new model, GPT-5, which will integrate o3 into ChatGPT and its API. In a post on X, CEO Sam Altman announced that OpenAI will no longer launch o3 as a standalone model. Instead, the company plans to release GPT-4.5 before GPT-5, with the latter being the last “non-chain-of-thought model” according to Altman.

TikTok Restored to Apple and Google’s app stores in the U.S. after a month-long absence due to a national security law that banned the app. The restoration also applies to video editor CapCut and social media app Lemon8, which were removed to comply with the law. The move comes after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi sent a letter to Apple stating that the ban would not be immediately enforced.

Tim Cook Teases New iPhone, likely a fourth-generation iPhone SE, set to arrive on Wednesday. The new device is expected to ditch the Touch ID home button and utilize the same chip that powers the iPhone 16. This would be the first iPhone SE release in three years, with the previous model priced at $429.

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News

Musk’s Bid for OpenAI comes with conditions, as his lawyers stated that he will withdraw his $97.4 billion offer if the board agrees to keep OpenAI as a nonprofit. Musk claims his bid is “serious.” Read more

Meta’s CTO Speaks Out against employees who are frustrated with the company’s latest policies, suggesting they should quit if they don’t like the changes. This comes after an internal chat where an employee criticized Meta for cutting DEI programs. Read more

Tesla Wins Defamation Suit against Zhang Yazhou, who sued the company after a Tesla Model 3 allegedly crashed due to faulty brakes in 2021. A Chinese court has ordered Zhang to pay $23,000 in damages and make a public apology. Read more

Pinksky Launches on Android, offering a photo-centric social networking experience built on top of Bluesky. This app is one of many attempting to court former Instagram users by providing a similar experience but with open technology. Read more

Google DeepMind’s Robot Soccer demonstration showcases miniature humanoid robots playing a one-on-one game of soccer. The robots learned movement skills like walking, kicking, and recovering from falls. Read more

Google Expands NotebookLM Plus to users subscribed to the Google One AI Premium plan, offering higher usage limits and premium features. Read more

Zeta’s Valuation Increases to $2 billion after raising $50 million from a strategic investor. This marks a 70% increase in the Bengaluru-based startup’s valuation since 2021. Read more

Google Maps Updates the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America for U.S. users, following an executive order from President Trump. International users will see both names, while users in Mexico will only see the Gulf of Mexico. Read more

Perplexity’s Super Bowl Growth Hack involved using X to get users to download its app for a chance to win $1 million, resulting in a 50% increase in mobile app installs. Read more

Tumblr Joins the Fediverse with a planned move to the WordPress infrastructure, allowing users to federate their blogs via ActivityPub. Read more