Author: TechBrunch
Meta's thread has begun testing a new feature that will allow people to add interest to their profiles on social networks. Instead of profiling topics like topics you might post with only ads to profile visitors, the new interest feature will direct users to active conversations about the topic. The company believes this will help users find discussions to join with their platform X rivals without knowing which people to follow on specific topics like technology or sports. This feature can also make threads more appealing for newcomers who want to quickly connect with others who discuss their favorite subjects.…
Just a few weeks after Google said it would review its diversity, equity and comprehensive program, the Startup Founders Fund webpage is packed with changes. Most notably, Google uses past tenses to describe all fund programs for underrated founders. According to the Internet Archives, this is a change made since December. The site also states that there are currently zero fund programs available. Google's Startup Founders Fund was launched in 2020 and provided currency grants, mentorship and product support with underrated founders, including women and people of African and Latinx descent. The site says it provides over $50 million in…
June 5th, TechCrunch Sessions: AI kicks off. And you can be part of the industry-changing conversations that take place. Members of the AI community have open invitations to lead breakout sessions and discussions with more than 1,200 startup founders, VC leaders, and AI enthusiasts taking part in the latest event at Zellabach Hall in Berkeley, California. There's only one catch. By midnight on March 7th, we will need to apply to be considered a speaker, so we head here to do so. You only have 4 days left to get your application before our team before we choose! As the…
Welcome to Startups Weekly – Summary every week everything you need to miss from the startup world. Want to put it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. That's exactly the problem: the problem. But in many cases, they are also feed. This week has brought a mixture of startups facing adversity, sometimes things they do, and other people who are thriving. The most interesting startup story of the week Image credits: Lamp/co-founders Karim Atiyeh, Eric Glyman, and Gene Lee Some startups have earned revenue and contracts. Others filed lawsuits. Ramp Up: Fintech Start Up Lamp has more than…
The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday announced criminal charges against the administrators of Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex, promoting money laundering by criminals and terrorist organisations, allegedly violating US sanctions. The two managers are Alexedz Beshkov, 46, a Lithuanian national and resident of Russia, and Alexander Mira Serda, 40, a Russian national living in the United Arab Emirates. The DOJ said Garantex “received hundreds of millions of criminal revenues and was used to promote a variety of crimes, including hacking, ransomware, terrorism, drug trafficking, and processed at least $96 billion in cryptocurrency transactions since 2019. In the indictment, prosecutors accused…
California's most controversial AI safety bill of 2024 may be dead, but its author has not retreated. State Sen. Scott Winner is back with SB 53, the new AI bill that takes away the most controversial portion of last year's failed legislation, while maintaining a major whistleblower protection and a public cloud computing initiative called CalCompute. Will the bill gain some traction as the AI industry and even the federal government support innovation away from AI safety regulations? Today, TechCrunch's equity podcast is hosted by Kirsten Korosec, Max Zeff and Anthony HA, unpacking the latest AI regulation moves alongside Tech…
Google is testing a new AI-powered Gemini side panel in Google Calendar, allowing users to quickly and conversationally check their schedules, create events, and search for event details. This feature is available as part of Google Workspace Labs, Tech Giant's Early Access Testing program. You can access Gemini by clicking the “Gemini Ask Gemini” icon in the top right corner of the Google Calendar window. You can then select the suggested prompt or create your own. For example, Gemini might suggest “add a lunch event” or “find the next meeting” with someone. If you need more suggestions, you can select…
Japanese telecom giant NTT Communications (NTT COM) confirmed that hackers accessed data from around 18,000 corporate customers during the February cyberattack, affecting the number of unknown individuals. Tokyo-based NTT COM, which provides telephone and networking technology to businesses, said it discovered a data breach on February 5 after determining that hackers had gained “unauthorized access” to the internal systems used to manage service orders. Stolen data includes customer names, contract numbers, phone numbers, email addresses, physical addresses and information regarding the use of services belonging to 17,891 organizations. NTT COM has not yet said that the number of individual employees…
Collx, a company that offers the online trading card market, has raised $10 million in Series A funding. The round was co-led by the Austin-based brand foundry venture and the Philadelphia-based 114 venture, both former investors. Other investors including Next Coast Ventures, FJ Labs and Ben Franklin Technology Partners also participated in the round. The startup has also added its key partner, Kansas City Royals baseball player Bobby Whitt Jr. (card collector himself). To date, Collx has raised over $15 million in multiple rounds. The US collectable card market shows promising signs of expansion, with billions increasing over the next…
TechCrunch Session: AI will begin on June 5th at ZellerBach Hall in Berkeley, California. We want AI leaders to participate in conversations that change the industry. Mark with key breakout sessions and discussions with more than 1,200 startup founders, VC leaders and other industry pioneers in the TC session: AI. But don't wait, you need to apply until 11:59pm tonight. Are you an innovator driving discourse and hoping for the unusual opportunity to appear on centre stage? TC Session: AI wants to highlight your expertise. To lead a 50-minute breakout session, we'll complete presentations, panel discussions, and audience Q&As, discuss…