Author: TechBrunch
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. As the saying goes, money attracts money. This week seemed to confirm that, with several startups announcing new funding rounds just months after their last one, and familiar names launching new ventures. This week's most interesting startup stories Image credit: Romain Dillet / TechCrunch Whether it's an IPO, lobbying, or public offering, finding momentum is the key to success. Confetti time: Salva Health won TechCrunch Disrupt 2024's Startup Battlefield competition with its promise to…
Earlier this year, Microsoft developers discovered that someone had inserted a backdoor into the code of XZ Utils, an open source utility used in virtually all Linux operating systems. The operation began two years ago when a person nicknamed JiaT75 began contributing to the XZ Utils repository on GitHub. Cybersecurity experts called the attack a “nightmare scenario” and “the most successfully executed supply chain attack they have ever seen.” This attack comes on the heels of other high-profile cybersecurity incidents involving open source software, including Heartbleed, Shellshock, and Log4j, which pose a significant security risk given its widespread use. I…
If you ask the field's top cybersecurity leaders what's on their worry list, you might not expect bored teenagers to be top of mind. But in recent years, this entirely new generation of money-driven cybercrime has led to some of the largest hacks in history, and shows no signs of slowing down. Meet the “advanced and tenacious teenager” as the security community calls him. These are skilled, financially motivated hackers like Lapsus$ and Scattered Spider who have proven capable of digitally infiltrating hotel chains, casinos, and tech giants. These hackers use tactics that rely on credible email lures and persuasive…
Pixelmator was announced Friday to be acquired by Apple. The image editing platform didn't discuss what life would be like under the corporate umbrella, but said there are “no material changes” to the Pixelmator Pro, Pixelmator for iOS, and Photomator apps, at least for now. . If Apple's acquisition history is any indication, that level of autonomy could soon change once Pixelmator functionality is integrated directly into the Photos app. Pixelmator is currently available on iOS, macOS, iPadOS, and visionOS, but not in the Android ecosystem. I didn't expect this last part to change so soon. This image editing startup…
Perhaps one of the most important elections this country has ever seen is right around the corner, but many people still don't know the details they need to cast an informed vote. It's not necessarily their fault. Some voting information can be very hard to find, especially when it comes to knowing the political stance of a recalled judge or what a particular new amendment might mean in daily life. There's an app called MyBallot AI that's trying to help with this, in a very Silicon Valley way. This is an interactive mobile platform designed to make voting information more…
The decline of X (formerly Twitter) under Elon Musk has led to increased engagement with alternative social networks such as Bluesky, Threads, and Mastodon, but it also poses challenges for early adopters who have too many places to post. Naturally, some entrepreneurs are working to solve this problem with apps that allow you to cross-post to multiple platforms at once. One of these apps, Openvibe, has become even more useful with its recent support for Instagram's X competitor, Meta's Threads. Released earlier this summer, Openvibe initially lets you connect with friends and followers across Mastodon, Nostr, and Bluesky by allowing…
Chinese researchers associated with the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the military wing of China's ruling party, have reportedly developed a tool for defense use using Meta's “open” AI. According to Reuters, Chinese researchers, including two from the People's Liberation Army's research and development group, used Meta's Rama 2 AI model to create a military-specific chatbot. The chatbot, called ChatBIT, is designed to not only collect and process information, but also provide information for operational decision-making, Reuters reports. Mehta told Reuters in a statement that the use of a “single and outdated” Llama model (Llama 2 is about a year old)…
Instagram on Friday announced updates to DM, its direct message inbox, that will improve the experience for creators, influencers, and other people who receive a high volume of inbound messages. Now, the app is introducing a tool that allows users to sort and filter “message requests,” or messages that don't arrive in the main inbox, based on user-set controls. New tools will allow users to sort and filter message requests by number of followers, verified accounts, brand, creator, and other factors. This allows authors to better identify high-priority messages that may need to be responded to because they may impact…
Buying a home has always been complicated. You need to know how much money to put down as a down payment and how that will affect your monthly mortgage bill. Then there are closing costs and fees. Kevin Bennett launched Further to make the financial process easier to navigate, especially for first-time buyers. Additionally, there are fintech platforms that guide users through the financial aspects of buying a home. The company's first product, launching Friday, is a calculator that shows how much money people can afford and what their monthly mortgage payments and closing costs will be, among other metrics…
For startups that want to save the world, or at least make it a better place, balancing impact and profit can be difficult. “Investor and shareholder expectations are often misaligned with how difficult and intractable the problems we face as a society are,” said Co-Founder and CEO of Vibrant Planet. CEO Alison Wolf spoke on the Builders Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024. In a way, we're a bit stuck. ” But it's not impossible. Wolff's company develops cloud-based software to model and respond to wildfire risk for utilities, insurance companies, and land managers such as the U.S. Forest Service. To…