Author: TechBrunch

Cerebra Systems' IPO on Thursday was a huge success, netting the company, its founders and key investors billions of dollars in profits. Among the big winners is major shareholder Benchmark, which owns 9.5% of the company's stock. Eric Vishlier, one of the company's general partners, has been on Cerebras' board since the AI ​​chip maker was founded in 2016 and co-led the $25 million Series A round. But these billions of dollars only happened to Benchmark. That's because Vishria met with the startup almost against his will, he told TechCrunch. “We had five founders and one deck, and it was…

Earlier this week, hackers took over several open source projects used by dozens of companies and pushed updates aimed at spreading malware. This is the latest in a recent series of so-called “supply chain” attacks targeting software developers and their projects. OpenAI acknowledged on Wednesday that two of its employees' devices were “affected by this attack.” However, the company said in a blog post that its investigation found “no evidence that OpenAI user data was accessed, that our production systems or intellectual property was compromised, or that our software was modified.” OpenAI said its employees' devices were compromised in an…

Ian Crosbie's previous startup, Bench Accounting, which famously closed in 2024 before being acquired for scrap, is taking on a new challenge: building a business by automating the arduous task of bookkeeping. His new startup, Synthetic, aims to build a fully autonomous AI bookkeeper that can generate accrual-based financials without direct human involvement. Although the product is still in the design stage, and Crosby acknowledges that his vision may not be technically feasible yet, the startup has raised $10 million in a Seed funding round led by Khosla Ventures with participation from Basis Set Ventures and Shopify CEO Tobias Lütke.…

Earlier this year, Donncha Ó Cearbhaill, a security researcher investigating spyware attacks, found himself in an unusual position. Only once did he become the target of a hacker. The message I received on my Signal account said, “Dear User, this is the Signal Security Support Chatbot. We have detected suspicious activity on your device that may lead to a data breach.” “We also detected an attempt to access your personal data in Signal,” the message says. “To prevent this, you must enter the verification code into the Signal Security support chatbot and pass the verification step. Do not give the…

Technology giant Cisco is cutting fewer than 4,000 jobs, or about 5% of its workforce, despite reporting better-than-expected profits and sales in its fiscal third quarter. The network equipment maker said it would cut headcount in order to change its “cost structure” and invest in AI and cybersecurity. Cisco's decision follows a recent trend in which technology companies increasingly cite AI spending priorities as a reason to lay off employees. Cloudflare and General Motors have laid off employees in recent days despite reporting strong financial results. Cisco said it plans to increase investment in cybersecurity as it continues to battle…

Your chances of getting VC access, global recognition, TechCrunch coverage, and $100,000 in equity-free funding are running low. Startup Battlefield 200 applications will officially close in just two weeks. If you're launching a breakthrough startup or know the founder of one, now's the time to take action. Apply by May 27th for a chance to join 200 of the world's most promising early-stage startups at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. Image credit: Kimberly White/Getty Images This window will close immediately Pre-Series A founders, consider this a countdown reminder. The strongest startups are already entering this space. If your startup has already been…

Malware research group vx-underground, which claims to have the largest collection of malware source code, said in a post on X that its archive of data amounts to approximately 30 terabytes. Bernardo Quintero, founder of VirusTotal, an online service that scans files for malware with multiple antivirus engines at once, responded that his service has about 31 petabytes of malware samples provided by users to date. (A petabyte is approximately 1,000 times larger than a terabyte.) Both cases require large amounts of data. By way of background, cybersecurity companies, AI researchers, and threat intelligence companies value such repositories for training…

Malware research group vx-underground, which claims to have the largest collection of malware source code, said in a post on X that its archive of data amounts to approximately 30 terabytes. Bernardo Quintero, founder of VirusTotal, an online service that scans files for malware with multiple antivirus engines at once, responded that his service has about 31 petabytes of malware samples provided by users to date. (A petabyte is approximately 1,000 times larger than a terabyte.) Both cases require large amounts of data. By way of background, cybersecurity companies, AI researchers, and threat intelligence companies value such repositories for training…

Foxconn, the electronics manufacturing giant that makes devices and components for tech giants including Apple, Google, Nvidia and Sony, acknowledged on Monday that it had suffered a cyber attack and some of its factories may have been affected. In a statement sent to the press, Foxconn said the cyberattack affected its facilities in North America and that “the affected factories are now resuming normal production.” Ransomware group Nitrogen claimed responsibility for the Foxconn breach in a statement on its dark web leak site. The group publicizes its victims in order to blackmail them. Typically, hacking groups release stolen data if…

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives are calling on representatives of twice-hacked education software maker Instructure to testify about the company's response to a cyberattack in which hackers stole the personal data of millions of students around the world. The House Homeland Security Committee, which has jurisdiction over government activities related to homeland security, investigates hacks and data breaches, the committee's chairman, Rep. Andrew Garbarino, said in a letter to Instruct CEO Steve Daley. The US cybersecurity agency CISA was called in to assist with the incident. In a letter cited by TechCrunch, Garbarino said the commission is seeking…