Author: TechBrunch
Kofi Ampadu, a partner at a16z who led the company's Talent x Opportunity (TxO) fund and program, has left the company, according to an email sent to staff obtained by TechCrunch. This comes months after the company suspended TxO and laid off most of its employees. “I was deeply grateful for the opportunity and trust to lead this work during my time in the office,” Ampadu wrote in an email sent Friday afternoon with the subject line “A16Z Chapter Closing.” “Identifying out-of-network entrepreneurs and helping them hone their ideas, raise capital, and grow into confident leaders was one of the…
From the street, the only sign I could find that it was Physical Intelligence's headquarters in San Francisco was the pi symbol on the door, which was a slightly different color than the rest of the building. Once inside, you'll immediately encounter activity. There's no reception desk, no logo glowing in the fluorescent lights. Inside, it's a huge concrete box, with long blond wooden tables arranged haphazardly, making it a little less solemn. Some are clearly for lunch, dotted with boxes of Girl Scout cookies, jars of Vegemite (I'm Australian here), and small wire baskets stuffed with way too many…
A confidential informant told the FBI in 2017 that Jeffrey Epstein had a “personal hacker,” according to documents released Friday by the Justice Department. The document, released as part of the Justice Department's legally mandated effort to release documents related to investigations into deceased sex offenders, does not specify who the alleged hacker was, but it does contain some details about the hacker. According to sources, the hacker was an Italian national from southern Calabria who specialized in finding vulnerabilities in iOS, BlackBerry devices, and the Firefox browser. The hacker allegedly developed and sold zero-day exploits and offensive cyber tools…
Billionaire tech mogul Reid Hoffman is appealing to Silicon Valley tech moguls not only to condemn the killing of two Americans at the hands of Border Patrol agents, but also to stop placating President Trump. “We in Silicon Valley cannot bow our knees to Trump,” Hoffman wrote in a post for X and an opinion column for the San Francisco Standard. “We cannot bow down and hope the crisis fades. Hope without action is no strategy. It is an invitation for Trump to trample everything in sight, including our own business and national security interests.” There was some backlash against…
The Polish government said Russian government hackers took advantage of the insecurity to infiltrate parts of the country's energy grid infrastructure. On Friday, Poland's Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), part of the Ministry of Digital, published a technical report on incidents late last year in which suspected Russian government hackers hacked wind, solar and thermal power plants. The hackers did not encounter much resistance, the report said. The targeted systems were using default usernames and passwords and did not have multi-factor authentication enabled. Both were incredibly basic mistakes. The hackers infected the compromised systems with wiper malware designed to erase…
This one. The clock is running low. With demand surging and early stock nearly gone, tonight is your last chance to secure record low prices for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 and secure +1 passes at 50% off while limited passes remain. If Disrupt is on your must-attend list, now is the time to take action. Save up to $680 on passes and get +1 for half price before this offer ends. This pricing ends tonight, January 30th at 11:59pm PT, or the moment the last +1 pass is sold out. There is no extension. There are no exceptions. Register now to…
Fintech company Marquis told customers it plans to seek compensation from its firewall provider for a breach that allowed hackers to steal customers' personal and financial data. In a memo shared with customers this week seen by TechCrunch, Marquis said he believes the August 2025 ransomware attack occurred because SonicWall, the company's firewall service provider, suffered its own data breach that exposed critical security information about customers' firewalls. The memo states that a previous SonicWall breach allowed hackers to obtain the credentials needed to launch a ransomware attack against Marquis. Marquis said a third-party investigation found that hackers obtained information…
A new security feature introduced this week to some models of the latest iPhones and iPads will make it more difficult for law enforcement, spies and malicious hackers to obtain a person's precise location data from their phone provider. According to Apple, enabling this new feature limits the accuracy of the location data that iPhones and mobile-enabled iPads share with customers' carriers. The company claims it protects the privacy of device owners by sharing less precise location information, such as general neighborhoods rather than street addresses. Apple said turning on this feature will not affect the accuracy of location data…
Outtake, which develops an agent-based cybersecurity platform that helps businesses detect, investigate and stop identity fraud, has raised $40 million in a Series B round of funding. That may not sound like a lot considering some AI companies raise huge sums of money, but the names involved in this funding seem to be from the tech industry. The round was led by ICONIQ's Murali Joshi, who led the company's investments in companies such as Anthropic, Datadog, Drata, and 1Password. Angel investors include Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Nikesh Arora, CEO of Palo Alto Networks. Bill Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Holdings.…
The 50% off Plus One Pass is almost sold out. The clock is really ticking now. In just three days, the best deals on TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 tickets are gone. With demand already surging and early stock moving quickly, this is your last window to lock in record low prices and secure a Plus One at half price while passes are limited. If Disrupt is on your must-attend list, now's your chance to save up to $680 on passes and get 50% off your Plus 1. This price ends on January 30th at 11:59pm PT or when remaining Plus One…