Author: TechBrunch
Bluesky, the social network that has seen a surge in users this week as users abandon X, says it has “no intention” of using user content to train its generative AI tools. The social network announced on the same day that X (formerly Twitter) will implement new terms of service that will allow the platform to use public posts to train its AI. “Many artists and creators are based on Bluesky, and we hear their concerns about other platforms training their data,” Bluesky said in a post on the app. “We do not use your content to train our generative…
Is the grass greener next door? I'm not sure, but I'm sure the sky is bluer. It's been two years since Elon Musk bought Twitter (now known as X) and people started setting up shop on alternative platforms. Mastodon, Post, Pebble (two of which are no longer in operation), and Spill have been mentioned as potential replacements, but with the exception of Meta's Threads, few companies have achieved the speed of growth that Bluesky achieved. Bluesky was invite-only for almost a year, but became available to everyone in February 2024, gaining about 800,000 new users in a single day. As…
WhatsApp on Thursday won a legal victory by persuading a US federal judge to release three court documents containing new revelations about the inner workings of Pegasus, a spyware made by Israeli surveillance technology maker NSO Group. . The newly unsealed documents include information gleaned from NSO employee depositions and internal documents during legal proceedings, as well as WhatsApp messages exchanged between NSO employees (ironically). In particular, it also includes information obtained by WhatsApp by subpoenaing NSO. The documents also reveal that NSO has blocked access to Pegasus spyware for 10 government customers in recent years due to misuse of…
OpenAI at one point considered acquiring Cerabras, an AI chip manufacturer that is going public, according to new legal filings. Elon Musk's ongoing lawsuit against OpenAI includes how OpenAI considered acquiring Cerebras around 2017, a year after Cerebras was founded and just a few years after OpenAI began operations. Contains new evidence to explain why. In an email to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Musk, Ilya Satskever, one of OpenAI's co-founders and former chief scientist, said that he would sell Cerebra through Musk's EV company, Tesla, in an email to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Musk. The idea of acquiring…
Welcome to Startups Weekly — a weekly roundup of must-sees from the world of startups. Want it delivered to your inbox every Friday? Sign up here! Despite the short work week in many regions, the last few days have been filled with deal announcements and fundraising news, but it's hard to find out just how much was on hold before the US election. is too early. This week's most interesting startup stories Image credit: Daniel Harvey Gonzalez (Opens in new window) / Getty Images There are early signs that the U.S. IPO window may reopen, but don't get ahead of…
Last summer, a twin-engine propeller plane landed in the gray, cratered landscape of Greenland's capital Nuuk. The 28-year-old man disembarked and planned to march on the Nordic parliament building with a bold proposal. “I went looking to buy Greenland,” Praxis founder Dryden Brown later wrote in a viral tweet. On a call with TechCrunch last week, he penned down an edgelord rant. “They obviously take some sort of pride in the idea of being acquired, and it's almost condescending,” he says. “But they really want to be independent.” So instead of buying Greenland, he wondered if he could work with…
If you landed on this page, there's a good chance you're looking for a VPN, or virtual private network. Perhaps someone recommended a particular product or service or an ad caught your curiosity? Maybe you value your privacy or simply want to stay online in an ever-changing world. Maybe you want to maintain your privacy. Before we jump into unfamiliar territory, we want to tell you that you might not actually need a VPN after all. Today's VPNs can do a lot, from protecting your privacy from surveillance to increasing your internet speed and protecting you from malicious online threats.…
Phone scams are nothing new, but with the advent of AI, it's harder than ever to know if the person you're talking to is who they say they are. But British mobile network O2 has turned the tables and created what it calls an “AI grandma” that keeps tabs on scammers for no good reason. The bot, called Daisy, uses “human-like rambling chat” to keep the scammer talking. Its stated purpose is to waste your time by talking about your family, knitting, and divulging completely fabricated personal information, including your bank account details. Created with the help of YouTuber, software…
Big changes are coming to ABL Space Systems. The seven-year-old startup's leaders made the big announcement on social media last night. The company will no longer focus on the commercial launch market and will instead focus on missile defense. ABL is developing a small launch vehicle called RS1 and a mobile ground system designed to fit inside a shipping container, with the goal of delivering the first truly portable and responsive launch to the market. I was holding it up. To achieve this objective, the startup has invested significant capital in in-house technology development and infrastructure, including new rocket engines.…
Big changes are coming to ABL Space Systems. The seven-year-old startup's leaders made the big announcement on social media last night. The company will no longer focus on the commercial launch market and will instead focus on missile defense. ABL is developing a small launch vehicle called RS1 and a mobile ground system designed to fit inside a shipping container, with the goal of delivering the first truly portable and responsive launch to the market. I was holding it up. To achieve this objective, the startup has invested significant capital in in-house technology development and infrastructure, including new rocket engines.…