Author: TechBrunch

In recent years, the number of “operator VCS” (former founder became VCS). This is common in the United States, where the majority of VCs are former founders. The opposite is true in Europe as well. In Europe, most of it comes from banks and finance. Recent examples in Europe include the Wise Founder Taavet Hinrikus, the Glovo Founder Oscar Pierre (Yellow Fund), and the Pitch Founder Christian Reber. After coming to Salesforce with Mulesoft for a cool $6.5 billion in 2018, founder Ross Mason first set up Dig Ventures as Family Office and later moved to VC. He did this…

Meta Whistlebower Sarah Wyliliams, former director of Facebook's global public policy and author of the recently released Tell-All book, “The Careless People,” told the senator in testimony Wednesday that Meta actively targeted advertising based on emotional states. This claim was first documented by Wynn-Williams in her book. Her book is about her time on Facebook and the ability of tech companies around the world to do harm, documenting “carelessness” from top executives, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg and former COO Sheryl Sandberg. The focus of Wednesday's hearing is primarily on dealings with China and it may have misrepresented the plan at…

Meta is beginning to test new features in threads that allow users to follow the same creators they follow on X. “We are currently testing ways to find and follow creators from other platforms on the thread, making it easy to connect with people and conversations that are important to you.” Image credits: Maxwell Zeff/TechCrunch In recent years, several creators have left X due to competing platforms such as Threads and Blueski, but have lost massive followers in the process. Meanwhile, some users reportedly struggle to create the same community they've cultivated for years on X. This feature is intended…

According to new court documents, NSO group's infamous spyware Pegasus targeted 1,223 WhatsApp users in 51 different countries during its 2019 hacking campaign. The document was published Friday as part of a lawsuit filed by meta-owned WhatsApp against NSO groups in 2019, accusing surveillance technology manufacturers of targeting chat app vulnerabilities to more than hundreds of users, including more than 100 human rights activists, journalists and “other members of civil society.” At the time, WhatsApp said it had targeted around 1,400 users. The exhibit currently featured in court documents shows exactly in which country 1,223 specific victims were placed when…

Lerer Hippeau, a New York A-list venture capital seed fund, announced on Wednesday it had closed its $9 million fund. It said it was a step up from the eighth fund, closing at $140 million. The new fund will manage $1.4 billion in assets at Lerer Hippeau. Since its founding in 2010, Lerer Hippeau has supported a range of well-known startups that have been published or acquired. The list includes Allbirds, Axios, Birchbox, Brit+Co, Casper, i.e. Zipline, Warby Parker. The company also became an incident in a family where Andrea Hippo works as a partner. She is the daughter of…

Democrat Sen. Ron Wyden has put on hold Sean Plankey's nomination for the Trump administration to lead the federal government's top cybersecurity agency, citing “multi-year cover-ups” of security flaws at US telecoms. In a statement seen in TechCrunch and confirmed by a senator's spokesman, Wyden said he would block Planky's nomination until he agreed to release an uncategorized report for 2022, commissioning detailed security weaknesses commissioning uncategorized reports throughout the US telecom network. Senate rules allow senators to maintain their federal nominations unilaterally and indefinitely. As Reuters noted that first reported holds on Planky's nomination, lawmakers often use nomination holds…

Samsung has updated SmartThings, an app that lets users control the company's IoT devices. The new home automation feature is an obvious bid to cross-sell more smart home devices and appliances to existing customers. In addition to automation features, users will get new integrations to support more devices through Samsung Health App, Intercom features and Matter 1.4 Smart Home Connectivity Standard. Like Apple's shortcuts and IFTTT, the app's “routines” functionality is a basic no-code conditional programming interface that allows you to trigger tasks. Image credit: Samsung Users can now set up routines that are repeated weekly, monthly or annually, and…

Instagram appears to be quietly testing locked reels that viewers need to unlock with codes and tips provided. While this feature is an easy way to increase your creator's engagement with content, it also offers creators and celebrities a way to share exclusive reels with the most dedicated fans who are likely to know the answers to their tips. For example, creators can lock the reel with tips “My Birthday” or “My Dog Name” to share exclusive content with their loyal followers. It has been found that meta owned social networks test the functionality of their design accounts. There, they…

Although it has been several years since the day's event focused on the last topic, AI has not missed the opportunity to shape the future of AI as it transforms its tech landscape, delves deeper into 1,200 founders, CEOs, entrepreneurs, investors and what's next. On June 5th, at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley, California, TechCrunch Session: AI lands at the intersection of startups and the rapidly evolving AI boom. If you're building with high tech and want to be smart about where the industry stands and where it's heading, then this is the room you can enter. Book today's Early Bird…

Reddit Answers, Platform's conversational AI search tool, gets an upgrade through integration with Google Gemini. This has been more than a year since Reddit expanded its partnership with Google Cloud to access the Vertex AI platform and build AI agents. Google and Reddit announced an update Wednesday, explaining that by incorporating Gemini into Vertex AI, it will help improve search relevance and provide users with simple answers. Reddit Answers has been in beta since December 2024, allowing users to ask questions and receive curated summary of related comments and existing posts. This feature is designed to keep users on the…