Author: TechBrunch

US-based money transfer giant MoneyGram has blamed an unspecified “cybersecurity issue” for a multi-day ongoing outage affecting the company and its users. “We have identified a cybersecurity issue affecting some of our accounts,” MoneyGram said in a post on X on Monday. [sic] The company previously said the issue was caused by a “network outage.” “Upon detection, we immediately began an investigation and took protective steps to address the issue, including proactively taking offline systems affecting network connectivity,” MoneyGram's latest update said. “We are working with leading external cybersecurity experts and coordinating with law enforcement.” MoneyGram is the world's second…

Mortgage fintech company Mesa emerged from stealth on Tuesday with $9.2 million in seed funding and a novel idea for homeowners: The company offers cash back and rewards on all home-related expenses, including the mortgage itself. Mesa offers original or refinance mortgages that include 1% cash back on the loan in the form of a credit card. Additionally, Mesa offers a rewards credit card for homeowners that allows homeowners to earn points on mortgage payments and homeowner-related services such as homeowner association fees, utilities, repairs, home insurance and everyday purchases such as gas and groceries. This is a standard unsecured…

As the number of cyberattacks increases, the enterprise sector is increasingly interested in technologies that automate responses to breaches. According to a 2023 survey by analytics firm Devo, 80% of security leaders expect to increase investments in security automation technologies this year, with most citing the technology's potential to help mitigate cyberthreats. Forecasts suggest that the security automation market could reach $26.6 billion by 2032. One vendor that has had great success is Torq, which applies AI to abstract repetitive and tedious security-related tasks. Torq CEO Ofer Smadari told TechCrunch that the company has generated more than $24 million in…

ByteDance has announced that it will shut down its music streaming service, TikTok Music, in November. “We are sorry to inform you that TikTok Music will be shutting down on November 28, 2024,” said a notice on the TikTok Music website. The service was available in Indonesia, Brazil, Australia, Singapore and Mexico. According to the notice, subscribers can continue to use the service until November 28th, after which renewal will be automatically canceled. Users who want to transfer their playlists to other streaming services have until October 28th to do so, and refund requests must be submitted by November 28th.…

Last year, Pinterest created an engaging format called Collage, which allows users to combine images and cut-outs to create new content, and now the company hopes to encourage users to create more collages by introducing the Remix feature. Similar to the Remix feature on short-video apps like Instagram and Snap, the idea behind Pinterest's feature is that users can borrow existing collages and put their own spin on them. Users who don't want to be remixed can turn off collage remixing in settings. Collage Tools[コラージュ カードをリミックス]Go to Options or browse Pinterest for a collage you found.[リミックス]With the tap of a…

OpenAI’s official X press account has been compromised by cryptocurrency scammers. At least, that’s what it appears to be. Late Monday afternoon, OpenAI Newsroom, an account recently created by OpenAI to feature product and policy-related announcements, posted about a supposedly new OpenAI-branded blockchain token called $OPENAI. “[$OPEANAI bridges] “Bridging the gap between AI and blockchain technology,” the post reads. “All OpenAI users will be eligible to claim a portion of the initial supply of $OPENAI. Holding $OPENAI will grant you access to all upcoming beta programs.” Image credit: X The problem is, $OPENAI doesn't exist. X's post linked to a…

Many venture capitalists, from Keith Rabois to Ethan Kurzweil, have switched firms or spun out of prestigious venture capitalist institutions to launch their own funds this year. These hiring changes are surprising because, unlike many other fields, venture capitalists traditionally don't move around much, especially once they reach partner or general partner level. VC funds have a 10-year life cycle, and partners have good reasons to stay the course. In some cases, the firm's fund may have a “key person” in it, meaning that if that key person leaves, the fund's LPs have the right to withdraw their capital if…

California Governor Gavin Newsom is currently considering 38 AI-related bills, including the highly controversial SB 1047, which the state legislature has sent to the governor for final approval. These bills seek to address some of the most pressing issues in artificial intelligence, including the existential risks posed by future AI systems, deepfake nudes created by AI image generators, and Hollywood studios creating AI clones of deceased actors. “California, home to many of the world's leading AI companies, is leveraging these transformative technologies to address pressing challenges and studying the risks they pose,” Newsom's office said in a press release. To…

Founder mode? Hmmm. Who needs that when you can be the creative father and usher in a new era for humanity? Welcome to “God Mode”. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, an AI startup aiming for a $150 billion valuation, has previously pitched AI as a solution to the world's problems, despite the massive impact it will have on energy resources, carbon emissions, and water use to cool data centers, sacrificing the progress the world has made to combat climate change. In his latest post, OpenAI leader Altman offers a very positive update on the state of AI, touting its world-changing…

Microsoft made headlines last week when it announced it had signed a deal with Constellation Energy to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor to meet surging power demand for its data centers, bucking the decline that is seen as the end of the power source. Over the past decade, the United States has retired seven nuclear reactors and put only two new ones online. Meanwhile, the number of data centers has exploded, with more than 10,000 worldwide, half of them in the United States. And as cloud computing becomes more widespread, power industry research institute EPRI predicts that energy…