Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Friday. Helloooo, startup nerds! I spent much of this week in San Jose hanging out in the world of AI startups and tech giants at GTC, and I have a ton of fun stories in the pipeline from there, so stay tuned for all of that. In the meantime … let’s look at the exciting goodness that has been the past week of TechCrunch startup coverage! Most interesting startup stories from the week Let’s talk about microbiomes… Image Credits: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg via Getty Images In a dramatic turn of events, Microsoft has effectively absorbed Inflection, a once-promising AI startup that raised a staggering $1.3 billion just nine months ago. The acquisition sees Inflection’s co-founders, Mustafa Suleyman and Karén Simonyan, along with a significant portion of their team, transitioning to Microsoft to spearhead the newly formed Microsoft AI division. This move leaves Inflection, under the guidance of Reid Hoffman and new CEO Sean White, in a precarious position as it attempts to salvage what remains of its co-founders’ ambitious project. Microsoft’s role in this saga raises eyebrows, as it positions itself as both a savior and an opportunist, capitalizing on the struggles of its investments to consolidate its dominance in the AI space. Meanwhile, over in the land of biotech, the sector’s latest fascination, the microbiome, has been hail… Click below to read the full story from TechCrunch
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