Author: TechBrunch
There is a lot of controversy going on in the world of WordPress, one of the most popular technologies for creating and hosting websites. The central issue is a dispute between WordPress founder and Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg and WP Engine, which hosts websites built on WordPress. WordPress technology is open source, free, and powers a huge portion of the internet (approximately 40% of websites). Websites can host their own WordPress instance or use a solution provider like Automattic or WP Engine for a plug-and-play solution. In mid-September, Mullenweg wrote a blog post calling WP Engine “the cancer of WordPress.”…
ChatGPT usage is likely to become more expensive in the coming years. Citing an internal OpenAI document, the New York Times reports that OpenAI plans to increase the price of individual ChatGPT subscriptions from $20 per month to $22 per month by the end of the year. Further rapid growth is expected over the next five years. OpenAI expects to charge $44 per month for ChatGPT Plus by 2029. This aggressive move reflects pressure from investors to cut losses on OpenAI. According to the NY Times, the company's monthly revenue hit $300 million in August, but OpenAI is expected to…
Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Chao was released from U.S. custody on Friday after serving a four-month sentence in a low-security correctional facility. CZ's ruling is the result of a federal investigation that found Binance failed to prevent widespread criminal activity at the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. CZ pleaded guilty to the Justice Department's charges, paid a $50 million fine, and agreed to never serve as an executive at Binance again. Binance was forced to pay a $4.3 billion settlement to the U.S. government, the largest corporate fine in U.S. history. However, CZ still owns an estimated 90% stake in Binance,…
EV startup Canoo has added two new suppliers related to the drivetrains that power its electric vehicles, just weeks after the company began a major reorganization that included the resignation of its chief technology officer. is facing a lawsuit. According to a TechCrunch investigation, Canoo also parted ways with senior director of advanced vehicle engineering Christoph Kutner, who was the last remaining co-founder of the nine-person team that launched the startup in late 2017. Kuttner is one of nine co-founders who spun off from Faraday Future in late 2017 to launch Evelozcity, the original company behind Canoo. Those co-founders steadily…
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. It's been a busy week in the startup and VC world, with lots of funding news and, of course, the latest edition of YC's Demo Day. This week's most interesting startup stories Image credit: OpenAI Yes, AI, AI, AI. However, it is more eventful than you think. Retirements: Several key people are leaving OpenAI, including CTO Mira Murati, the company's chief research officer and vice president of research. There's too much context to summarize…
The U.S. Department of Justice announced criminal charges against three hackers working for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) over a four-year hacking campaign that included hacking into Donald Trump's presidential campaign this year. accused. On Friday, U.S. prosecutors filed an indictment accusing Masoud Jalili, Seyed Ali Aghamili, and Yasar Baraghi of targeting the Trump campaign, former White House and administration officials, and members of Congress as part of a hacking leak. The statement was announced. Surgery. According to the indictment, the operation was launched as part of retaliation for the Trump administration's killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in…
The U.S. Department of Justice announced criminal charges against three hackers working for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) over a four-year hacking campaign that included hacking into Donald Trump's presidential campaign this year. accused. On Friday, U.S. prosecutors filed an indictment accusing Masoud Jalili, Seyed Ali Aghamili, and Yasar Baraghi of targeting the Trump campaign, former White House and administration officials, and members of Congress as part of a hacking leak. The statement was announced. Surgery. According to the indictment, the operation was launched as part of retaliation for the Trump administration's killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in…
This episode of Equity had so many themes. Karaoke in VC, the SpaceX economy, moatless AI, OpenAI vs. open source, and more. When a conversation between host Kirsten Kolosek and fellow TCs Devin Caldwee and Margaux McCall begins with an evergreen question, you know it's going to work. “Is it ever okay to use a shirtless photo of myself in my Slack profile at work?” Answer: Yes and no. AI is again a hot topic in equity. But it just didn't stay the same old. Admittedly, the totally crazy valuations coming out of the AI sector have been a bit…
Wordy is a new iOS app that offers a unique way to learn English. This app automatically translates and defines unknown words while watching your favorite movies and TV shows. Wordy has over 500,000 titles available, including popular series like HBO's The Penguin and Disney+'s new show Agatha All Along. Created by Sándor Bogyó, a 23-year-old indie developer from Budapest, the app was born out of frustration with looking up phrases that aren't in your native language while watching English shows. After my experience with Language Reactor, a Chrome extension similar to Wordy, I realized the need for a mobile…
ChatGPT maker OpenAI's next funding round is said to be around $6.5 billion and could close as early as the end of next week. This is according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal, which also reveals that OpenAI's rumored transformation from a nonprofit organization to a for-profit company is now virtually certain. If OpenAI doesn't complete the transition within two years, investors in the new round will get their money back, according to WSJ. The WSJ article paints a picture of a startup company that recently hit $4 billion in revenue but is still suffering billions of…