Author: TechBrunch

Google's flagship AI research lab, Google DeepMind, wants to beat OpenAI in the video generation game. And that may be the case, at least for a while. On Monday, DeepMind announced Veo 2, the next generation video generation AI and successor to Veo that powers a growing number of products across Google's portfolio. Veo 2 can create clips longer than 2 minutes at resolutions up to 4K (4096 x 2160 pixels). Notably, this is more than four times the resolution and six times the duration that OpenAI's Sora can achieve. Admittedly, it's a theoretical benefit at this point. Veo 2…

Paragon, an Israeli spyware maker that has kept a low profile in recent years, was acquired by American private equity giant AE Industrial Partners last week, according to Israeli news reports. Tech news website Calcalist reported that the investment firm is acquiring Paragon for $500 million, and that the deal could reach $900 million depending on the company's growth. The Globes reported that the upfront payment was $450 million, with 20% going to Paragon's 400 employees, 30% going to its five co-founders, and the remaining 50% going to US venture capital fund Battery Ventures. and will be donated to Israeli…

YouTube is experimenting with new ways to engage with fans by giving creators the ability to post voice notes and reply to comments on their videos, the company announced Monday. The ability to post voice memos is currently limited to certain creators in the United States. YouTube says these audio comments can only be posted to your own channel via the iOS YouTube app. Creators who have this feature enabled can tap the new soundwave icon when replying to a comment, record their reply, and post it as a comment. Image credit: Screenshot by TechCrunch Only some creators can post…

Arctic Wolf has acquired Cylance, BlackBerry's struggling cybersecurity business, for $160 million. That's a steep discount from the $1.4 billion BlackBerry paid to acquire the startup in 2018. Under the terms of the transaction, which is expected to close in BlackBerry's fiscal fourth quarter, BlackBerry will sell Cylance assets to Arctic Wolf for $160 million in cash. BlackBerry will receive approximately $80 million at closing and the remaining tranche after one year, as well as approximately 5.5 million shares of Arctic Wolf common stock. “We believe this transaction is a win-win for our shareholders and all other stakeholders,” BlackBerry CEO…

Snapchat is introducing an improved integrated monetization program for creators. The new program rewards creators for content posted on Stories and its TikTok imitator, Spotlight. Previously, Snapchat monetized these two formats through separate programs. The new program allows creators to earn money from ads that appear within eligible Stories and Spotlight posts. “Spotlight viewership is up 25% year over year, and a unique and growing opportunity exists for creators to monetize this format in the same way as Stories,” the company said in a blog post. “Starting February 1, 2025, eligible creators will be able to monetize Spotlight videos longer…

Chinese shopping app Temu is once again the most downloaded free app in the United States, according to a list of top apps and games across the App Store released by Apple on Monday. The shopping app rose to the number one spot last year, dethroning TikTok, which held the title in 2022. Although currently facing a ban in the US, TikTok entered the list this year at number 3 behind Instagram Threads and moved up to number 2 after number 3 for the most downloaded apps in 2023. Apple compiles a list of top apps and games at the…

In a new interview with WWD, Skims co-founder Jens Grede admitted that IPO plans are on the back burner, at least for now. TechCrunch reported in August that investors were expecting the retail darling, which was last valued at $4 billion, to go public, and Information said it could go public in the first half of 2025 at the earliest. It was reported that it would happen. However, in an interview with WWD, Grede clarified. Company IPO plans. “We have never decided to go public,” he told the media. “What I've said all along, and maybe I was wrong, is…

Cybersecurity experts take a community-driven approach to solving problems. Security researchers share the vulnerabilities they discover with the broader cybersecurity community, so companies can patch security holes before something catastrophic happens. Prequel is trying to bring the same approach to its software. The startup is building a database of software failure patterns and misconfigurations in Linux workloads. The database is updated by a growing community of engineers and developers who exchange reliability information. Prequel's software resides within a company's existing software stack and pulls from this database, constantly checking for bugs and glitches. The company's co-founders Tony Meehan and Lyndon…

Juicyway, an African fintech that leverages stablecoin technology to enable fast and cheap cross-border payments, has announced that after processing more than $1 billion in transaction value for thousands of African businesses over the past three years, I'm secretly launching it. The fintech claims to have processed over 25,000 transactions and generated $1.3 billion in total payment value (TPV) from 4,000 users. These transactions leverage stablecoin technology at their core. According to its founders, the fintech has built up this number without any publicly available apps or marketing efforts. Instead, the fintech grew organically, acquiring similar businesses with thousands of…

Earlier this year, a Serbian journalist and activist had his cellphone hacked by local authorities using a cellphone unlocking device made by forensic tools manufacturer Celebrite. According to a new Amnesty International report, authorities aim not only to unlock phones and access personal data, as Celebrite allows, but also to use spyware to enable further surveillance. It was also possible to install . Amnesty International said in its report that it believed these were “the first forensically documented spyware infections” made possible through the use of the Cellebrite tool. This crude but effective technique is one of many ways governments…