Author: TechBrunch

Social network Bluesky has released a new update to its app that includes a separate mentions tab in notifications, protection against username squatting, and new controls for sorting replies. The company announced that with the v1.96 rollout, it will add a new mentions tab, allowing you to view these posts individually. Previously, all notifications were under one tab. Bluesky also adds protection against username squatting by reserving the original Bluesky username (.bsky.social suffix) when changing the username to a custom domain. The platform said it only reserves the most recent Bluesky usernames and there is no expiration date. Recent incidents…

AI poses a dilemma for businesses. If you don't implement it yet, you could be missing out on productivity gains and other potential benefits. But if done incorrectly, it can expose your business and customers to unmitigated risks. This is where a new wave of “security for AI” startups arrives, assuming that threats such as jailbreaks and prompt injections cannot be ignored. Mindgard, a spin-off from a British university, is one of them, as is Israeli startup Noma and US-based competitors Hidden Layer and Protect AI. “AI is still software, so all the cyber risks you've probably heard apply to…

Robin Capital, the German-based solo GP-led VC fund of former entrepreneur Robin Haack, has reached the final close of 'Robin Fund One' at €13 million. Combined with an additional growth-focused investment vehicle of €2 million, the fund now has a total of €15 million under management. In the realm of European solo GPs, which typically raise much less than their US equivalents, this is a decent number. Founded in 2023, Robin Capital targets European B2B mid-sized enterprise SaaS startups with a focus on the DACH region at pre-seed and seed stages. This is being deployed across sectors such as HR,…

Apparently the writing was on the wall. Sequoia Capital partner Matt Miller announced Wednesday that he is leaving the major firm after a 12-year career to start his own new firm focused on European founders. He added that he intends to remain a venture partner at Sequoia and maintain a seat on the company's board while fleshing out “the details of what happens next.” London-based venture capitalists including Saul Klein, Tom Hulme, Matthias Ljungmann and Miller's colleague Luciana Liksandl are working with Miller, who moved to London in 2021 to lead Sequoia's expansion into Europe. blessed. Still, few people will…

Rapido, a popular ride-hailing platform in India, has fixed a security issue that exposed personal information related to users and drivers, TechCrunch has learned exclusively. The flaw, discovered by security researcher Renganathan P, was related to a form on a website aimed at collecting feedback from Rapido autorickshaw users and drivers. The form exposed an individual's full name, email address, and phone number, which TechCrunch confirmed based on details provided by the researcher. Researchers told TechCrunch that the leaked data pertained to one of Rapido's APIs and was intended to collect information from feedback forms and share it with third-party…

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman testified before Congress about the dangers of AI in 2023. He has repeatedly told U.S. lawmakers at the time that he doesn't own any shares in OpenAI, insisting that he just runs the company because he loves it. However, Altman recently said that he actually held OpenAI stock through the Sequoia Fund at one point, and has since sold that stock. In an interview with Bari Weiss published Thursday, Altman was asked how much stock he might own if OpenAI were to successfully transform into a for-profit company. Here's what the OpenAI CEO had to say:…

AI-powered search engine Perplexity has reportedly completed a $500 million funding round, valuing the startup at $9 billion. The round was led by Institutional Venture Partners and closed in early December, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. In an email to TechCrunch, a Perplexity spokesperson declined to comment. As competition in AI-powered search intensifies, huge tranches emerge. OpenAI recently launched ChatGPT Search, its answer to Perplexity. And Google is developing features that rival some of the features Perplexity offers, such as AI-generated summaries and answers on search results pages. This week, The Information reported that Google is planning…

Logistics are the name of the game during the holiday season. During this period, companies that can close contracts and get people and goods where they need to go on time will make money. But behind that demand lies massive inefficiency and fragmentation. Are logistics companies ready to leverage AI to help improve their services? A startup called Boon believes the answer is yes. The company has now raised $20.5 million to prove it by providing a platform that can better leverage data from disparate applications to improve operations, planning, and overall efficiency. “Think of Boon as your second employee…

Accounting firms are struggling to implement high-tech solutions. This is according to a survey conducted by Rightsworks earlier this year, which found that while 88% of businesses believe technology is having a positive impact on their efficiency, 60% believe that systems are disconnected, inconsistent, etc. Processes were found to suffer from a lack of standardized workflows. Startups like Aiwyn are trying to meet the demand. Founded in 2020 and based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Aiwyn sells software designed to address the revenue cycle aspects of CPA businesses. Aiwyn's platform automates and reconciles payments and invoices for both CPAs and their…

TuSimple completes its transformation from self-driving trucking to AI animation and gaming with a rebrand. The company will now be known as CreateAI. The rebranding comes as TuSimple is embroiled in controversy over the company's plans to move its remaining U.S. assets to China to finance new business ventures, which it first announced in August. TuSimple closed its U.S. self-driving truck business and was delisted from the stock market in January 2024, three years after raising $1.35 billion in an IPO. The company initially planned to restart operations in China, but parted ways with most of its self-driving staff earlier…