Author: TechBrunch
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice charged Russian nationals Roman Vitalievich Ostapenko, Aleksandr Evgenievich Oleinik, and Anton Vyaklavovich with running a service that helped criminals launder cryptocurrencies.・Announcing the indictment of Mr. Tarasov. The three were allegedly involved in operating two crypto mixers, Bender.io and Sinbad.io, which were used as “safe havens for the laundering of criminally derived money, including the proceeds of ransomware and wire fraud. It was working,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brent Wible. The statement was made in a press release by the Bureau of Criminal Investigation at the Ministry of Justice. Bender.io and Sinbad.io…
“We put AI into this. Does it work? Let's see.” That seemed to be the theme for some companies attending CES 2025, but beyond the experimental hype. Looking back, there were some (I think) important developments and cool new products. Today on TechCrunch's Equity Podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Margaux MacColl, Anthony Ha, and Max Zeff return to the mic to discuss the week's top news and hottest technologies. Listen to the full episode and hear what's next. Stocks will be back next week, so stay tuned! Equity is TechCrunch's flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo and posted every Wednesday and…
Chinese hackers have reportedly broken into key offices within the U.S. Treasury Department tasked with reviewing foreign investments and transactions that could threaten U.S. national security. CNN cited a U.S. official familiar with the incident as saying that the Chinese hackers were using the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which can approve or deny transactions with the United States, as well as transactions that pose national security risks, such as mergers and acquisitions. CFIUS) was targeted. Contains U.S. classified information. Treasury officials confirmed to TechCrunch last week that the company is investigating a “major cybersecurity incident” following…
Popular Los Angeles-based cannabis brand Stiiizy has admitted that hackers accessed a range of sensitive customer data during a cyberattack in November, including government-issued documents and medical marijuana cards. In a data breach notification filed this week with the California Attorney General's Office, Stiizy said it was informed by its POS processing vendor that an “organized cybercriminal group” had compromised the data of some of its retail stores. Ta. In a letter sent to affected customers, Stiizy acknowledged that hackers obtained processed customer data from an anonymous vendor between October 10, 2024 and November 10, 2024. Stiizy said the stolen…
Developers Max Brodeur-Urbas and Rahul Behal say AI has the potential to automate many business-related tasks, but many AI-powered automation tools on the market today are unreliable and expensive. We believe that this is the case. Brodeur-Urbas told TechCrunch that part of the problem is that users expect too much from AI. For example, users assume that they can handle highly specialized and niche workloads where accuracy is important. “If users want to use AI for enterprise purposes, the technology needs to have no margin for error,” Brodeur-Urbas said. “It is not realistic to completely delegate certain workflows to AI.…
CES 2025, the annual consumer technology conference in Las Vegas, is fast approaching. You can find all live updates here. Over the next few days, TechCrunch reporters will be on the ground bringing you the latest announcements and product announcements from Samsung, Nvidia, Toyota, Sony, and more. AI will likely be the focus of most companies' presentations, and we can expect it to be covered extensively throughout the event, from smart home upgrades to details on the hardware that powers AI in consumer devices. Beyond AI, robotics and transportation remain at the core of CES, and we may see some…
Social network X, owned by Elon Musk, announced today that it is rolling out labels to distinguish parody and satirical accounts from other accounts. In the past, users, including news presenters, have misinterpreted posts from parody accounts as genuine statements made by real people or organizations. The label will appear on both accounts and posts, according to the company's secure account on the platform. “We are rolling out profile labels for parody accounts to clearly distinguish these types of accounts and their content on our platform. “We designed this account so that it would not appear that the account belongs…
Hippocratic AI, a startup building AI solutions that can handle non-diagnostic patient-facing tasks, has secured a massive $141 million Series B funding led by Kleiner Perkins at a $1.64 billion valuation announced on Thursday. The funding comes nine months after Hippocratic AI raised $53 million from General Catalyst and Andreessen Horowitz and five months after it raised $17 million from Nvidia. The startup is less than two years old. While most healthcare-generated AI companies focus on reducing administrative burden, Hippocratic AI is creating agents that can perform simple tasks such as pre-surgical procedures, remote patient monitoring, and appointment preparation. By…
Nvidia unveiled a prototype AI avatar that resides on your PC's desktop at CES 2025. R2X, an AI assistant, looks like a video game character and helps you navigate apps on your computer. R2X avatars are rendered and animated using Nvidia's AI models, and users can run their avatars in a popular LLM of their choice, such as OpenAI's GPT-4o or xAI's Grok. Users can also talk to R2X through text and voice, upload and process files, and enable the AI assistant to see what's happening live on the screen and camera. Technology companies are creating a lot of AI…
ICON Technologies Inc., which uses 3D printing to build homes, plans to lay off 114 people, according to a warning letter filed with the Texas Labor Commission. A company spokesperson confirmed the news to TechCrunch, saying ICON “recently made the difficult decision to realign our team and team size in order to focus on our top priorities and continue to invest in our best growth opportunities.” issued a statement. ” ICON was founded in late 2017 and announced the first permitted 3D printed home in the United States during SXSW in March 2018. The 350 square foot house took about…