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Showing posts from September, 2024

Snapchat’s new Footsteps feature tracks your location history

Snapchat is quietly rolling out a new “Footsteps” feature to all iOS users this week, the company confirmed to TechCrunch on Monday. The new feature, which was previously only available to Snapchat+ subscribers, uses Snap Map to let you see how much of the world you’ve explored and track where you’ve traveled to. The first […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/T2sDRcA

Cruise gets $1.5 million penalty for keeping pedestrian crash details from safety regulator

General Motors’ self-driving subsidiary Cruise must pay a $1.5 million penalty to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, after its initial reports to the safety regulator about last year’s pedestrian crash omitted that the company’s robotaxi dragged the woman 20 feet. The penalty is part of a consent order announced by the regulator on Monday. […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/L29vrGg

Raspberry Pi launches camera module for vision-based AI applications

Raspberry Pi, the company that sells tiny, cheap, single-board computers, is releasing an add-on that is going to open up several use cases — and yes, because it’s 2024, there’s an AI angle. Called the Raspberry Pi AI Camera, this image sensor comes with on-board AI processing and is going to cost $70. In more technical […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/KTEc187

Fidelity has cut X’s value by 79% since Musk purchase

Elon Musk’s X is now valued at less than a quarter of its $44 billion purchase price, according to a new estimate from investor Fidelity.  The asset manager, which helped Musk acquire the social network formerly known as Twitter, has further reduced the value of its holding in X to a total markdown of 78.7% […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/awB9pek

Here is what’s illegal under California’s 18 (and counting) new AI laws

In September, California Governor Gavin Newsom considered 38 AI-related bills, including the highly contentious SB 1047, which the state’s legislature sent to his desk for final approval. He vetoed SB 1047 on Sunday, marking the end of the road for California’s controversial AI bill that tried to prevent AI disasters, but signed more than a […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/6ldHEuO

Gov. Newsom vetoes California’s controversial AI bill, SB 1047

California Governor Gavin Newsom has vetoed SB 1047, a high-profile bill that would have regulated the development of AI. The bill was authored by State Senator Scott Wiener and would have made companies that develop AI models liable for implementing safety protocols to prevent “critical harms.” The rules would only have applied to models that […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/ljCzL8k

In war-torn Sudan, a displaced startup incubator returns to fuel innovation

Businesses need stability to thrive. Unfortunately for anyone in Sudan, stability has been hard to come by for the past year and a half as the country quakes amidst a raging civil war. More than 20,000 people have been killed, and about 7.7 million people have been displaced just within the country; millions have had […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/zDsIN3R

X faces additional $1.9M fine to end ban in Brazil

X (formerly Twitter) could soon resume service in Brazil — if it’s willing to pay an additional fine. Reuters and other publications have reported on an order from the country’s Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes stating that the Elon Musk-owned social network could “immediately return to its activities in national territory” if it pays […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/RSQu8xc

Brian Williams might host a live election night special for Amazon

Amazon Prime Video could be getting into the live news business, if only for one night. Variety reports that the company is in talks with longtime NBC and MSNBC news anchor Brian Williams to host a live Election Night special, competing with more traditional TV news broadcasts to offer non-partisan coverage of the U.S. presidential […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/U9jO7yr

Binance founder ‘CZ’ released from custody after four-month sentence

Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao was released from US custody on Friday after serving out his four-month sentence in a low-security correctional facility. CZ’s sentence was the product of a federal investigation that found Binance had failed to stop widespread criminal activity on the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. CZ pleaded guilty to the DOJ’s charges, […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/zvCPWe1

Canoo hit with two supplier lawsuits as last remaining co-founder leaves

EV startup Canoo has been hit with two new lawsuits from suppliers linked to the drivetrains that power its electric vehicles, just weeks after the company kicked off a major reorganization that included the departure of its chief technology officer. Canoo has also parted ways with senior director of advanced vehicle engineering Christoph Kuttner, who […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/ZhpdlCM

AI dominated both YC Demo Day and startup news

Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. This week was a busy one for the startup and VC world, with its fair share of funding news and, of course, the latest edition of YC’s […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/bkBT04E

US government charges three Iranian hackers with Trump campaign hack

Three Iranian hackers working for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targeted the Trump campaign in an attempted hack-and-leak operation, according to the Department of Justice. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/9ypWXdl

Nomi’s companion chatbots will now remember things like the colleague you don’t get along with

As OpenAI boasts about its o1 model’s increased thoughtfulness, a small, self-funded startup Nomi AI is building the same kind of technology. Unlike the broad generalist ChatGPT, which slows down to think through anything from math problems or historical research, Nomi niches down on a specific use-case: AI companions. Now, Nomi’s already-sophisticated chatbots take additional […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/SeMnPh5

Uber snags another robotaxi deal, aviation startups land VC bucks, and where Rivian Foundation money is going

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! I’ve been thinking a bit about time — and specifically what trends, music, cultural practices, and even ways we move around that encapsulate a season or particular […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/WwK3T8v

Meta updates Ray-Ban smart glasses with real-time AI video, reminders, and QR code scanning

The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses got an update with new familiar smartphone features and AI capabilities coming later in 2024. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/qox9JSp

OpenAI rolls out Advanced Voice Mode with more voices and a new look

OpenAI announced it is rolling out Advanced Voice Mode (AVM) to an expanded set of ChatGPT’s paying customers on Tuesday. The audio feature, which makes ChatGPT more natural to speak with, will initially roll out to customers in ChatGPT’s Plus and Teams tiers. Enterprise and Edu customers will start receiving access next week. As part […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/tjcrey6

Some Kaspersky customers receive surprise forced-update to new antivirus software

After U.S. ban, Kaspersky's American customers were automatically migrated to UltraAV antivirus, in some cases without the customers' knowledge. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/lPnh3Qt

Ephos wants to shatter the market for AI and quantum chips with a new design based on glass

A theoretical physicist believes he has made a breakthrough in photonics research that will enable us to have faster and better processors — a major need in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and other tech with heavy workloads. Now, his startup has received early backing from NATO, the European government, and other key investors to produce […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/S67oXWt

Rabbit’s web-based ‘large action model’ agent arrives on r1 as early as this week

Rabbit is ready to release the first generic version, which is to say not specific to any app or interface, of its Large Action Model. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/TFVIPMs

David Energy is going up against Goliath energy incumbents

James McGinniss has been obsessed with decarbonization and the energy grid since he was a high schooler over a decade ago. Now, his startup David Energy has a lofty goal: getting the energy grid to run entirely on clean energy in the next 10 years. Brooklyn-based David Energy is a software-enabled retail energy provider. It […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/VrCE0oJ

Jump raises $12M to help freelancers get benefits just like employees

Jump offers full-time contracts to freelancers looking for some stability and the benefits involved with a full-time job. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/1SWjzMv

SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son has been planning his comeback

A new Financial Times profile of Mayayoshi Son opens with SoftBank CEO seeming to hit bottom, staring at his “ugly” face on Zoom and telling himself, “I have done nothing I can be proud of.” The scene is presented as the prelude to a hoped-for a comeback, with Son largely disappearing from the public eye […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/aMgZ5JH

Matt Mullenweg calls WP Engine a ‘cancer to WordPress’ and urges community to switch providers

Automattic CEO and WordPress co-creator Matt Mullenweg unleashed a scathing attack on a rival firm this week, calling WP Engine a “cancer to WordPress.” Mullenweg criticized the company — which has been commercializing the open source WordPress project since 2010 — for profiteering without giving much back, while also disabling key features that make WordPress […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/DqTG4Iu

The TechCrunch Cyber Glossary

This glossary includes some of the most common terms and expressions we use in our articles, and explanations of how — and why — we use them. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/jkfrHUy

Some startups are going ‘fair source’ to avoid the pitfalls of open source licensing

The fair source concept is designed to help companies align themselves with the "open" software development sphere, without encroaching into existing licensing landscapes. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/pCB2cVw

Google CEO Sundar Pichai announces $120M fund for global AI education

Speaking Saturday at the UN Summit of the Future, Google CEO Sundar Pichai described AI as “the most transformative technology yet” and announced a new fund for AI education and training around the world. Pichai pointed to four broad opportunities he sees for AI and sustainable development, according to a transcript of his prepared remarks […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/LgQkSpK

X reverses course in Brazil

It seems that Elon Musk-owned social network X (formerly Twitter) is backing down from a confrontation with Brazil’s Supreme Court. The New York Times reported on a new court filing in which the company’s lawyers said X had complied with the court’s orders — blocking designated accounts, paying fines, and naming a new formal representative […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/h0UyTrF

Apple breaks down iPhone 16 repair process

Apple published step-by-step instructions for swapping out the new handset’s battery. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/v2aI54P

The 25 battery tech startups that just got a piece of $3B in federal funds  

This tranche of funding went to startups across 14 states, but there were certain winners that will see the bulk of the expected 18,000 jobs to be created as a result of this funding. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/I9RB6DJ

Internet surveillance firm Sandvine says it’s leaving 56 ‘non-democratic’ countries

Sandvine sold its internet surveillance products to authoritarian regimes, including Belarus, Egypt, Eritrea, the United Arab Emirates, and Uzbekistan. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/G2qQaxU

Apple, Google wallets now support California driver’s licenses

California residents can now store their driver’s license or state ID in their Apple Wallet apps, the state’s government announced on Thursday. California started allowing digital IDs through Google Wallet just last month. Californians with an ID in the Apple Wallet or Google Wallet app can use their mobile devices to present their ID in […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/yOSdVkU

Apple Intelligence is now live in public beta. Here’s what it offers and how to enable it.

Starting Thursday, those who are enrolled in Apple’s public beta program will be able to experience the generative AI-fueled platform the company has been talking up since June. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/bni6lvR

Bill requiring AM radio in new cars gets closer to law

A House committee overwhelmingly voted to approve a bill that would require new cars to be built with AM radio at no additional cost to the owner. The AM for Every Vehicle Act will now head to the House floor for final approval. If successful, it’ll go to the president’s desk to be signed into […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/s0ArJ8y

HTC takes on Apple’s Vision Pro and PC Gaming with $1,000 Vive Focus Vision

The Vive Focus Vision has enough firepower under the hood to appeal to PC gamers tethered via the DisplayPort. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/vcErmd7

Three new ways to personalize your iPhone’s Home Screen in iOS 18

iOS 18 offers the most control over the look and feel of your iPhone's user interface than any other version of Apple's mobile operating system to date. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/wtNLgjl

Ursa Major nabs $12.5M from U.S. Navy, DoD for 3D printed rocket motors

Ursa Major, a startup that produces rocket motors through 3D printing, received a $12.5 million grant to develop new solid fuel rocket engines © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/idhxpL5

Snap’s new AI feature lets you create Snapchat Lenses by simply describing them

Snap, Snapchat’s parent company, is expanding its suite of AI tools for creators. At this year’s Snap Partner Summit in Santa Monica, California, Snap announced a new feature, Easy Lens, that translates plain-English descriptions into Lenses, Snap’s brand of augmented reality (AR) objects, 3D effects, characters, and transformations for photos and videos. Available in Snap’s […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/lhMSR2F

Microsoft Copilot: Everything you need to know about Microsoft’s AI

In this post, we explain the many Microsoft Copilots available and what they do, and highlight the key differences between each. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/0CSsniw

Fisker Ocean owners stuck paying for recall repairs

As EV startup Fisker enters the fourth month of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy process, existing owners have received some bad news: they will have to pay labor costs to resolve two of the five outstanding recalls on their Ocean SUVs. Fisker broke the bad news Sunday night in an FAQ posted to its website. The […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/acskNSx

Salesforce Ventures ups its AI fund to $1 billion, doubling it again

Salesforce Ventures just doubled its AI fund with another $500 million, and is helping San Francisco grow its attraction as the city for AI startups. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/hOztrMF

Amazon mandates full five-day return to office

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy sent a memo to the company’s employees Monday morning, calling for a full return to office at the start of 2025. For the last fifteen months, Amazon employees have been expected to work in the office three days per week. Now, Jassy expects five days of in-person work from employees, with […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/EFVcHI0

Myntra bets on 4-hour delivery amid India’s quick commerce boom

Myntra, India’s largest fashion e-commerce platform, is trialling a four-hour delivery service in four Indian cities, two sources familiar with the matter told TechCrunch, a dramatic acceleration from its standard 2-3 day delivery timeframe as the surge of quick commerce reshapes consumer behavior. The Flipkart Group-owned firm is piloting the fast-tracked delivery service in cities […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/skv98c7

AWS brings OpenSearch under the Linux Foundation umbrella

AWS today announced that it is transitioning OpenSearch, its open source fork of the popular Elasticsearch search and analytics engine, to the Linux Foundation with the launch of the very aptly named OpenSearch Foundation. AWS first launched the OpenSearch project in 2021, after Elastic changed its license for its Elasticsearch and Kibana projects to its […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/D6ukGT2

Insight Partners is closing in on a whopping $10B+ new fund

Insight Partners is reportedly on the cusp of on more than $10 billion in capital commitments for its 13th fund, per the FT.  The FT report notes that two of Insight’s portfolio companies were acquired in the last week. One of these, the threat intelligence company Recorded Future, which sold to Mastercard for $2.65 billion, […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/FGV0vYI

Port of Seattle shares ransomware attack details

The Port of Seattle released a statement Friday confirming that it was targeted by a ransomware attack. The attack occurred on August 24, with the Port (which also operates the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport) saying it had “experienced certain system outages indicating a possible cyberattack.” The Port is now describing this as “a ‘ransomware’ attack by […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/5g9KqLU

Every fusion startup that has raised over $300M

Fusion startups have raised $7.1 billion to date, with the majority of it going to a handful of companies.  © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/uijFJ2h

‘Hot Ones’ could add some heat to Netflix’s live lineup

Netflix has never quite cracked the talk show formula, but maybe it can borrow an existing hit from YouTube. According to Bloomberg, the streamer is in talks with BuzzFeed to create live episodes of the popular YouTube talk show “Hot Ones.” Netflix and BuzzFeed did not immediately respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment. The show […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/L0Ondq3

Why ORNG’s founder pivoted from college food ordering to real-time money transfer

Alex Parmley has been thinking about building his latest company, ORNG, since he was working on his last company, Phood.  Launched in 2018, Phood was a payments app that let students use dining dollars to order food from third-party apps and merchants anywhere in the world. It built the first campus-integrated debit card and worked […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/v5UxSbe

Sam Bankman-Fried appeals conviction, criticizes judge’s ‘unbalanced’ decisions

Lawyers representing Sam Bankman-Fried, the FTX CEO and co-founder who was convicted of fraud and money laundering late last year, are seeking a new trial. Following crypto exchange FTX’s collapse, Bankman-Fried was found guilty on all seven counts, then sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to pay $11 billion in forfeiture. He has […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/lrvu3NE

Fintech Bolt is buying out the investor suing over Ryan Breslow’s $30M loan

Bolt says it has settled its long-standing lawsuit with its investor Activant Capital. One-click payments startup Bolt is settling the suit by buying out the investor’s stake “after which Activant will no longer hold any interest in Bolt,” the company said in a statement. Activant’s suit accused founder and then CEO Ryan Breslow of adding […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/5of3OGQ

First impressions of ChatGPT o1: An AI designed to overthink it

OpenAI released its new o1 models on Thursday, giving ChatGPT users their first chance to try AI models that pause to “think” before they answer. There’s been a lot of hype building up to these models, codenamed “strawberry” inside OpenAI. But does strawberry live up to the hype? Sort of. Compared to GPT-4o, the o1 […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/o5aeBMI

A fight is brewing as TuSimple tries to move $450M to China and pivot from self-driving trucks to AI animation

TuSimple, once a buzzy startup considered a leader in self-driving trucks, is trying to move its assets to China to fund a new AI-generated animation and video game business. The pivot has not only puzzled and enraged several shareholders, but also threatens to pull the company back into a legal morass mere weeks after reaching […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/RbXSu5F

Announcing the final agenda for the Space Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024

We’re out-of-this-world excited to announce that we’ve finalized our dedicated Space Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024. It joins Fintech, SaaS and AI as the other industry-focused stages — all under one big roof. To top it off, we’re thrilled to share we’ll be hosting a pitch competition this year called “The Space Challenge, powered by […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/edA9E7X

Bolt has quietly settled its lawsuit with Fanatics amid ongoing boardroom drama

Online sports apparel retailer Fanatics has agreed to settle and drop a lawsuit that it filed against troubled one-click payments provider Bolt in March, according to court documents obtained by TechCrunch.  The settlement occurred as Bolt was in the thick of a new gambit to raise a large round of financing, including a “cramdown” threat […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/Y4FP0ft

Why Y Combinator companies are flocking to banking and HR startup Every

Rajeev Behera’s new all-on-one HR startup, dubbed Every, is either brilliant or crazy. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/KTA9XEW

OpenAI reportedly in talks to raise at $150B valuation

OpenAI is reportedly in talks with investors to raise $6.5 billion in new funding, valuing the startup at $150 billion, according to Bloomberg and the Financial Times. The new valuation, which doesn’t include the money being raised, is significantly higher than OpenAI’s previously reported valuation from earlier this year, $86 billion, and far higher than […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/p6DSu2C

These sub-1mm robots morph and crawl with an electric zap

Along with biological organisms, the robots were inspired kirigami, a variation of origami wherein objects are cut in addition to folded. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/RSkoFhZ

Bluesky catches up to X with native support for video

With native video support, Bluesky will be able to better compete with other X rivals, including Instagram Threads and the decentralized service Mastodon, among others. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/LZCg1Fp

Google Gemini: Everything you need to know about the generative AI models

Gemini is Google’s long-promised, next-gen generative AI model family. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/Rc56kDs

Apple punts on AI

One would have expected that "Apple's first phone made from the ground up for Apple Intelligence" would justify being so. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/0Ny1f9j

Apple says AirPods Pro 2 can be used as ‘clinical-grade’ hearing aids

Both the hearing aid feature for AirPods Pro 2 and the hearing test for iOS 18 will launch this fall via a software update in over 100 countries and regions. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/tDr1a6w

European VC Atomico closes $1.24B across two funds for early and growth-stage startups

Atomico has historically leaned toward earlier funding rounds while dipping into later stages where it made sense; now it's setting itself up to focus just as much on the later stages of a startup's journey. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/Z5NUWoK

Apple Intelligence delays could impede iPhone 16 ‘supercycle’

When Apple unveiled its AI plans at WWDC in June, analysts suggested the feature could put the iPhone 16 on track for another “supercycle.” Like the addition of 5G before it, industry watchers believed that Apple Intelligence’s arrival might convince holdouts to bite the bullet and upgrade their device. We’ll have a much better picture […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/yZYtW2h

Elon Musk says Tesla has ‘no need’ to license xAI models

Elon Musk has denied a report that one of his companies, Tesla, has discussed sharing revenue with another of his companies, xAI, so that it can use the startup’s AI models. The Wall Street Journal wrote yesterday that under a proposed agreement described to investors, Tesla would use xAI models in its driver-assistance software (known […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/XnYI3WG

Electro-hydraulic muscles help these robot legs stand straight on uneven terrain

Along with the ability to automatically adjust to the surface they’re traversing, the legs move faster and jump higher than their more standardized electric counterparts. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/lKOUMob

Telegram reportedly ‘inundated’ with illegal and extremist activity

A New York Times analysis of more than 3.2 million Telegram messages from 16,000 channels found that the messaging platform has been “inundated” with illegal and extremist activity. Specifically, The Times found 1,500 channels operated by white supremacists, two dozen channels selling weapons, and at least 22 channels where MDMA, cocaine, heroin and other drugs were […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/13bWCrg

Bluesky grows to 9M+ users

Bluesky keeps growing: The company announced that as of Friday morning, it had added 3 million new users, bringing its total user count to more than 9 million. In other words, the social platform’s user base has grown by around 50 percent in the week or so since a Brazilian court banned X (formerly Twitter). […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/xNO3pmU

Payroll startup Warp disavows ‘affiliate’ who posted about white superiority

Warp is under the spotlight following controversial posts from an account tied to the company. On Thursday, an account posting under the name Vittorio wrote on X, “i like White people more, they do more, they are better for the roles i need to climb the kardashev scale i’ll let blacks run and play basketball.” […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/AHIxL1e

How a cold email to a VC helped salon software startup Mangomint raise $35M

Mangomint seeks to make it easier for spa and salon owners to run their businesses. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/21NRdLz

University of Texas opens robotics program up to incoming freshmen

The honors program is one of the first in the U.S. that allows incoming freshmen to apply for the program as part of their initial admission application. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/JmU5Z4C

Meta will let third-party apps place calls to WhatsApp and Messenger users — in 2027

Meta on Friday published an update on how it plans to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the European law that aims to promote competition in digital marketplaces, where the law concerns the company’s messaging apps, Messenger and WhatsApp. As Meta notes in a blog post, the DMA requires that it provide an option […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/KEgWcyb

US charges five Russian military hackers with targeting Ukraine’s government with destructive malware

The U.S. government indictment demonstrated deep knowledge of the Russian spies' activities, including their real-world meetings at a cafe in Moscow. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/a2dkQjl

Driverless car-sharing startup Vay steers toward B2B services

The new business-to-business division is a bet on what co-founder and CEO Thomas von der Ohe thinks is the future of mobility. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/NLkfa0q

Ryan Breslow’s $450M Bolt deal said to involve a restraining order now

Ryan Breslow’s plan to get himself reinstalled as CEO of fintech company Bolt — and push through a $450 million fundraising deal that would value the startup at a staggering $14 billion — has apparently stalled. According to Forbes, Breslow sent an email to shareholders thanking them for signing off on the deal. The problem is that many […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/FhXlqre

Short series app My Drama takes on Character.AI with its new AI companions

Maybe a lack of AI characters is what Quibi got wrong. At least, that’s what one startup appears to believe.  My Drama is a new short series app with over 30 shows, with a majority of them following a soap opera format in order to hook viewers. The app is now launching an AI-powered chatbot […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/MDUgKy9

Woman who allegedly killed two people using Ford BlueCruise charged with DUI homicide

A 23-year-old woman who allegedly killed two men in March while using Ford’s hands-free system, BlueCruise, has been charged with DUI homicide by Pennsylvania State Police. The woman, Dimple Patel, turned herself in on Tuesday. Patel was also charged with homicide by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter, tampering with evidence, careless driving, reckless driving and prohibited text-based […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/ZvFTCkR

X is hiring staff for security and safety after two years of layoffs

The hiring effort comes after X, formerly known as Twitter, laid off 80% of its trust and safety staff since Musk's takeover. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/Fdpbvy7

Volkswagen is rolling out its ChatGPT assistant to the US

Volkswagen is taking its ChatGPT voice assistant experiment on the road. Or more specifically, to vehicles it sells in the United States.  The German automaker announced in January at CES 2024 plans to add an AI-powered chatbot into all Volkswagen models equipped with its IDA voice assistant. But the U.S. was excluded in that initial […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/IqelazG

Android 15 will be available on supported Pixel devices in the coming weeks

Google announced on Tuesday it’s releasing Android 15 and making its source code available ahead of the coming consumer launch, which will bring the new mobile operating system to supported Pixel devices in the coming weeks. The company also revealed that Android 15 will launch on select devices from Samsung, Honor, iQOO, Lenovo, Motorola, Nothing, […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/Oa3cvlH

Android’s latest update improves text-to-speech, Circle to Search, earthquake alerts and more

Android introduced five updates on Tuesday as part of its latest release of the mobile operating system. Available for smartphones, tablets, and Wear OS watches, the new features include audio descriptions of images, text-to-speech technology for web pages in Chrome, and the ability to look up songs with “Circle to Search,” among other things.  Initially […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/0Ckcezp

‘Hospital at home’ startup Doccla raises $46 million for its European expansion

Hospitals around the world regularly face bed shortages — an issue that can get exacerbated to breaking point when a health scare or other large-scale disaster occurs. A startup called Doccla is bringing technology to bear address the issue: it’s building “virtual bed” tech to help doctors remotely manage patients who have either been discharged […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/qS6DcUs

BigEndian founders hope to use their deep chip experience to help establish India in semiconductors

India's fabless semiconductor startup BigEndian has raised $3 million in a seed round led by Vertex Ventures SEA and India. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/4MPjBgw

SparkLabs closes $50M fund to back AI startups

SparkLabs — an early-stage venture capital firm that has made a name for itself for backing OpenAI as well as a host of other AI startups such as Vectara, Allganize, Kneron, Anthropic, xAI, Glade (YC S23) and Lucidya AI — is gearing up to double down more startups in the space. The VC firm announced […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/tnYKe0u

Want to branch out beyond Google? Here are some search engines worth checking out

If you have never considered a search engine beyond Google, you might be surprised to see what else is out there. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/NwIQeJg

Customers of Indian crypto exchange WazirX unlikely to recover full funds

Customers of WazirX, the Indian cryptocurrency exchange that suffered a $234 million hack in July, are unlikely to recover their funds in full through the ongoing restructuring process, a company legal adviser said on Monday. George Gwee, a director at restructuring firm Kroll working with WazirX, said that at least 43% of the money any […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/Qs25vV9

Validus, a Singapore-based digital SME lending platform, secures $50M debt financing to help enterprises in Indonesia

Validus, a Singapore-based digital lending platform for small and medium businesses, has secured $50 million in debt financing from HSBC under the ASEAN Growth Fund strategy. Validus will use the proceeds to support the financial inclusion of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Indonesia, addressing the challenges they face in accessing financial resources. With […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/CpmkUSY

Apple may ditch those old familiar USB-A ports in the new Mac mini

The Mac mini will be the next Apple device to say goodbye to USB-A, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Apple customers have probably gotten used to seeing the familiar, rectangular USB-A ports replaced with their thinner USB-C siblings. And while USB-C has its advantages, the transition can sometimes leave users confused and scrambling for adapters. […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/N2inX0C

Why do so many home robots still suck?

Home robots’ unfulfilled potential is neither because of lack of demand on the part of consumers nor lack of effort from manufacturers. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/jvkJGnL

From InstaDeep to Paystack: Here are Africa’s biggest startup exits and how much they raised

As we continue to monitor the growth of Africa's tech ecosystem, it’s essential to highlight and analyze the biggest disclosed acquisitions. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/WStRQqz